Life as a teacher is not easy, especially if you are just starting out!
James is a teacher and he’s kindly passed on his experience, struggling to make ends meet financially as he builds a career in teaching:
‘When I decided to train as a Secondary English teacher, the numerous financial incentives offered by the government to address the current staffing shortage were almost as instrumental in me making the decision as my need to answer the question “what do you do with a degree in English?”
Joking aside, I had considered being a teacher for quite some time. An inspirational teacher, a great love of literature and an even greater love of holidays had nudged me in the direction since I was a student myself. Two years after finishing university, and rather disappointed in my achievements since (notably one call centre job and far too many hangovers), I completed the application form and found myself, not too long after, a very nervous PGCE student, faced with his own classes and the responsibility for the education of the citizens of tomorrow.
It wasn’t all ideology – my desire for financial stability was unquestionable, and I couldn’t wait to not have to count every penny and scrape through by the skin of my overdraft every month. Unfortunately, my qualifying as an English teacher coincided with the shortage of my sort disappearing. I found myself as one of upwards of ten candidates for most of the jobs for which I applied, and finally, come September, unemployed. I registered as a supply teacher, and against my wishes, had to take out a loan to pay for the essentials until work came in, which it eventually did. I then secured my current, permanent post at Christmas, and have been here for two years now.
So this was real life – I had a career, a car, a 50 mile daily commute to work, repayments on a loan and soon after, a family to support.
Happy? Certainly!
Financially secure? Not a chance!
Those adverts which tell you that teachers can earn upwards of £35,000 are guilty of, to use a government-approved phrase, “sexing up” the figures. My salary is, in my third year of being qualified, over £10,000 less than that (the previous figure represents the very top of the “upper pay scale”, access to which is not guaranteed). The cost of quite literally everything has gone up, from petrol, to car insurance, to groceries, to bills (oh my, the bills).
I am not alone – my colleagues, some of whom are 30+ years into their careers are similarly hard up. Those who bought houses or cars on hire-purchase recently make my situation seem prosperous. Then we have the falling birth-rate with which to contend – there are less pupils of secondary school starting age every year and schools are closing. There are rapidly become fewer jobs than qualified teachers, and people cannot be pushed into early retirement and voluntary redundancy fast enough.
Finally, we have our biggest bugbear. Teachers’ pay rises are consistently below the rate of inflation. In April 2008, the first national teachers’ strike in 21 years occurred. We aren’t that big a bunch of malcontents – for the most part we are happy with the contribution to society we make, and the money this earns us. The figures, however, do not add up. The pay increase for 2008 was 2.45 per cent, with RPI inflation at over twice that. That, in anyone’s terms, is a pay cut. With utility bills having risen by over 30% in the past two years, we are much worse off than we were.’
Do you recognise your own situation? Let us help you, as we have helped many teachers, to bring life back under control.
What We Can Do
The most important thing that our team at Education Debt do is to listen to you. Once we know the position that you are in, we can offer you assistance. We do not have a ‘one product fits all’ policy and we will look for the solution that best suits your needs.
Debt Management Plan
This is an ethical and cost effective way to manage the repayment of your debts to your unsecured creditors, with one regular and affordable payment.
Education Debt will agree an amount that you can afford each week or month with you. We will then contact your creditors to agree acceptance of the offer and ask for suspension of fees and interest.
We will also conduct regular reviews of your situation, issue you with statements quarterly, deal with correspondence from your creditors whenever necessary and provide you with updates on request.
Full & Final Settlements
If you have recently received a lump sum of money for example, from a remortgage, inheritance, back-pay or any other source, that wouldn’t fully repay your existing unsecured creditors; speak to us. Education Debt could negotiate to settle more of these debts than the actual funds you have available.
Individual Voluntary Arrangements (I.V.A.)
Working with hand picked specialist partners, Education Debt is able to assist customers who are looking for a more structured repayment term than a Debt Management Plan, clearing your debts by instalment within pre-agreed timescales without the need for Bankruptcy.
Contact us in confidence on: 08448 247 268, or Email