Leadership

Teacher Retention and Turnover Research: How Do Teachers Compare To Nurses And Police Officers?

How do working hours and earnings in the teaching profession compare to nursing and policing, two of the other large and important public sector professions in England? This NFER research compares the characteristics of each profession’s workforce, their hours worked, earnings, and job satisfaction. Leadership Briefing (140)

The analysis shows that despite working the joint highest number of hours annually and having the joint lowest average hourly pay, teachers remain satisfied with their jobs and incomes. However, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the amount of leisure time they have, which may be affecting retention.

Nurses have the highest average age at 44 years old, followed by teachers (42) and police officers (40).

Of the three professions, nursing has the largest proportion of part-time workers at 29 per cent, compared to 16 per cent for teachers.

Teachers work the longest hours at 50 hours per week during term time, followed by police officers (44) and nurses (39). Working long hours over prolonged periods, as teachers are doing, can create pressure and stress, with potential negative effects on health and well-being.

The long hours that teachers work during term time substantially exceeds the amount of extra holiday time they may receive.

Teachers have a real average hourly pay rate of £17.70 per hour, which is about the same rate as nurses. By comparison, police officers’ real average hourly pay is £18.80 per hour.

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