It’s a very similar situation in England as well (I cannot comment on education in Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales). I completed a PGCE teacher training course in 2011 — it was gruelling and one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done. Once I finished my course, I put classroom teaching behind me, I hated it.

I saw amazing teachers that had been in the job for 25 years who were struggling to keep up with the constant changes to the curriculum and policies. If you can’t get to a comfortable and capable place in your job after 25 years, there’s something extremely wrong with the education system.

People say to me ‘but you get lots of holiday’ — erm no, any extra weeks off are used recovering and preparing for the next term. Teachers getting ill over the holidays (because their bodies finally relax) is a thing I saw very often.