I taught in a state school for 13 years – this is why I’m quitting

The Department of Education in 2026 asked more than 900 teachers, head teachers and Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOS) across England how long they planned to stay in teaching, and almost half of those in post said they were considering leaving in the next five years, while one in ten were planning to spend less than a year in the role. Primary school teacher Zoe*, 38, who has not used her real name in order to protect the school and her own future job prospects, has experienced first-hand why there is a teacher shortage in English state education. She lives in Somerset and handed in her notice in April 2026 after 13 years of teaching. After much agonising, she has no plans to return to the classroom in the new school year and will be changing careers. Here, she explains to Kasia Delgado why she‘s quitting. There have been many times over my teaching career where I’ve felt that there is no better job in the world. It’s never been an easy job – it’s not “just colouring”, which is what some people seem to think primary teaching is – but it can be so rewarding. I love being with the children, helping them “get” things for the first time and just being that formative part of their early years. There are some really funny moments and some kids who are so lovely and make great progress. We need good, committed teachers, and I felt I was one and was really proud of it. I honestly thought of teaching as a vocation which I’d never want to stop doing and thought it was a bit weird when colleagues would leave to go and do something else. I’ve taught at three different state schools in thirteen years and the culture has been different in each one. I haven’t wanted to go to a private school, just because I feel I’m making more of a difference in the state sector and it’s what I believe in. Shorts I consider myself a pretty tough person who can handle a fair bit of stress and I have never looked for an easy life as a teacher. But over the last four years in particular, the expectations and pressures placed on me in primary schools have made it an unsustainably stressful, impossible job. So, after much agonising, I left my job in April and am not returning to school this September. For years now I have been having stress dreams and really disturbed sleep (even when my young children are sleeping well) and spend my weekend feeling dread about the coming week. I regularly cry on the way home from sheer exhaustion. I’m awake at 5.30am worrying about how I’m going to manage the safeguarding (there are a few children I feel so concerned about and extremely responsible for), and the long after-school meetings with parents, or senior leadership, who don’t support us like they should. A huge issue is the depleted resources and funding cuts for support staff, which means I have less help with the growing needs of SEND students. With less support, behaviour gets worse and is left unchecked. I regularly have to intervene in fights, often solo. Then there are the huge, huge piles of admin – it’s not just progress reports and lesson plans. You have to write down and detail every single thing and be held accountable by management and parents. As everyone knows, there are also school inspections, which add huge stress. There literally aren’t enough hours in the day for it all. Even on lunch breaks, I’m dealing with some issue, and I genuinely struggle to have time to go to the loo. I am at school from 7.30am until 5pm at least and then usually have to do some work in the evenings once my kids are in bed. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t do at least two hours of work on a Sunday. I have a supportive husband who takes on a lot of domestic work. Without him, I’d have had to quit a while ago. I spend lots of half term marking assessments, writing reports, following up on more safeguarding concerns. It is also a role where I feel I literally cannot be unwell. That’s also really tough when you have young kids like I do and they get a bug from nursery. There’s a massive culture of powering through, whatever the cost to your wellbeing, and there’s just no flexibility at all in my school. My £53,000 a year salary is good but it absolutely doesn’t come near to being equal to the hours, responsibility and workload teachers now have in most schools. The holidays are great in theory and would be so useful once my children start school but it’s not an incentive enough to carry on like this. Lots of my teacher friends are considering quitting in the next few years and trying something else as they feel so drained. I’ve seen how the media and people out there often think teachers are moaning about nothing and being “snowflakes” and that just makes us feel even worse and undervalued. Unless you’ve taught in a busy state school in the current economic climate, I don’t think you have a clue about the reality of it. I know teachers who are much more experienced than me who say they loved teaching when they did it 25 years ago but wouldn’t enter the profession now. I do have a couple of friends who are sticking with it for a bit longer but one of them teaches performing arts at a small, independent school where the pressure seems quite low and there are some lovely perks. Another one is part-time in a state school in a wealthy area and she has a really supportive senior leadership team. It’s still tough but she’s not lying awake at night. I hope that teaching can become a profession again which feels valued, appreciated and better funded, where the classroom teaching is the most important and time-consuming part of the job. Until that happens, I can’t see myself returning to it. I’m terrified about leaving and feel really guilty for leaving my kids behind. The head was quite defensive when I handed in my notice and made it clear it was a big inconvenience but I stuck to my guns – there was no help offered to address my stress levels. I don’t have some unrealistic idea that my next job will be perfect or even as meaningful but I have to do something new, just to have a better personal life and mental health. I’ve accepted a job at an education resources company, which is a small pay cut, but offers flexible working and then I’ll think about what might work for me longer term. Maybe I can one day work in education, with kids but in a different capacity. I feel disloyal saying all this negative stuff about teaching and I don’t want to think of my career so far as a waste. But my time as a teacher has, for now, come to an end. If I don’t get out, I’m heading for a full mental breakdown by the time I’m 40, and that’s the way I’m heading if I don’t get out.