‘I earn £70k as a private school teacher. My state school experience was horrific'

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13-05-2025

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Working at an elite boarding school can be a dream: the beautiful grounds, the excellent students, the traditions.
But for the eight months that you're in term time, it's boom or bust. There is no life; no time for personal development. It's a Monday-to-Saturday role, and occasionally Sundays too. You start lessons around 8.30am, and then the days can go on until 11pm if you're on evening duties at the boarding houses.
Yes, you get four months off across the year. But by the time summer holidays come around, you need it – you're so mentally gaunt. Then, as the end of the holidays approaches, you think: 'I don't want to go back into captivity!'
That said, we're definitely better off than teachers in state schools. They can easily put in 60 to 70 hours a week, including marking and lesson prep. To think they start on around £30,000 – it's horrendous. It's no surprise many teachers end up thinking 'the juice isn't worth the squeeze'.
Relative to that, it's definitely more comfortable at a private school; it's just intense in a different way. My salary is now around £70,000, and then on top of that there's cheaper (or, for some, free) accommodation, plus meals. You can work your way up the pay scale fairly quickly with extracurricular duties, or heading up a department.
The pension traditionally has also been very generous. With the Teachers' Pension Scheme, the employer contribution is more than 20pc, which is unheard of. That's gold plated, so it's no surprise why private schools are withdrawing – they simply can't afford it.
I don't have a lot of sympathy for (private school) peers who are complaining that their pensions will be reduced. I think: 'Take a hike, I know you work hard, but you have no idea what's going on in the working world if you think you're hard done by.'
I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be in education. I had an exceptional teacher who I'd see reading on breaks, and that had a big influence on me.
I got a job at my current school straight out of university, so it's the only place I've ever taught full time. But I did have a brief placement at a failing state school as part of my training. That was horrific. They talk about classroom control, but all you do there is riot control. I got spat on. A Year 7 once squared up to me and said 'come and fight me'. I was tempted to throw in the towel right then.
I don't think I could teach in the state sector. I'm just not cut out for what I saw. Some teachers are – and they probably have far more impact than I do, teaching spoon-fed kids.
That experience did give me confidence around controlling the classroom. While private schools tend to have less acute behavioural issues, students can misbehave in other ways. They're very smart, and they can immediately sense weakness if you're junior. It's a form of bullying. Especially with young female teachers, an all-boys class can be cruel.
You have to avoid getting pulled in. I once got in an open confrontation with a slightly difficult character, and it was a public showdown, which is never a good idea. He took me on, and I lost all authority. It can take a few years to really get that institutional knowledge and show them you know what you're doing.
Generally, the students at schools like mine have a lot of natural talent. When they're good, they're stratospheric. But truthfully, you'd expect to see more, given the access they have to this insane level of education. Basic smarts will normally only get you so far. We really have to push students to do the legwork.
They often fall down when they go to Oxbridge interviews. State school students will have put 10 times more work in, and they'll shine. Whereas some of our boys have this air of entitlement that can be hard to shake.
As for the parents, overall they're very respectful. I only had one parent who blamed me after her son did poorly on his GCSE mocks. I tried to explain his track record across the board, and she pushed back by referring to herself as a 'customer', and told me I should do more.
That's rare in my experience, although perhaps I'd be the same if I were paying what they are. The fees are north of £10,000, and that's gone up since the VAT rule changes by the Government.
The changes to the VAT rules on private schools have been challenging for many institutions, particularly because it was introduced mid-year. That was a disaster for financial planning, and many schools had to absorb the cost rather than pass it on to parents.
It's a difficult political debate; should you charge tax on private schools? Personally, I think the answer is probably yes. That said, I think the Government has gone about it the wrong way and with the wrong motivation.
The Chancellor shackled herself by saying she would not increase working people's taxes, so then they had to target employers' National Insurance and VAT instead. That meant private schools got a double hit, which was pretty steep.
I'm not worried about my school because it has a very good reputation. But there's been a climate of fear around what the VAT changes will mean for private boarding schools which rely on domestic appetite. You're hitting the middle to high-income earners. It might hurt some schools, which don't have much of an international reputation.
It's also why there are reports of bursaries at lots of schools getting cut. My school currently has a pretty generous charitable arm, and I'm sure that will be affected in the future.
I just hope this isn't in vain and they actually invest in the state schools with the extra money they're generating. I'd like to see them pay the teachers more and reduce class sizes. You'd see immediate benefits from that.
Over the years, I have seriously considered changing careers. The hardest thing is that teaching is widely undervalued, especially given its potential to change lives.
But schools like mine are a hard place to leave, and we do get a lot of lifers. It's also not easy to pivot out of the sector. You'd need to retrain, because your main skill is … well, teaching. It's quite scary. So many end up staying in education in one form or another – even if it's just tutoring.
Ultimately, though, this job is hugely fulfilling. It never repeats; it just rhymes. It's a very sociable job and it keeps you in touch with the young generation.
When you have a really good lesson, you'll just walk away with this strange glow. That's what you hold on to – and if you get that once a month, you're doing well.
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