u/threeonezeroeight

Hi everyone! I’m a secondary school teacher in the UK and was wondering if there are any useful discounts, memberships, or perks specifically for teachers.

I’m aware of Blue Light Card, but I’m wondering if there are any other teacher-specific discounts, memberships or schemes worth knowing about.

I’m thinking of things like shopping, travel, food, entertainment, subscriptions, professional memberships, or anything else that’s genuinely worthwhile.

What teacher discounts or memberships have you found useful? Would love to hear your recommendations!

Hi everyone,

My current teaching contract finishes at the end of April, and I'm trying to plan ahead.

When would you recommend I start looking and applying for new teaching jobs? Is it better to start applying a few months before my contract ends, or should I begin much earlier?

I'm open to hearing from teachers who have been in a similar situation. I'd like to avoid having a gap in employment if possible.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to understand how a full-time teaching timetable works in a UK secondary school that has 6 lessons per day (excluding form time).

How many lessons per week would normally count as a full-time timetable? How can I work out if I'm over timetable or teaching more than a full-time allocation? How much PPA should I receive as a full-time teacher? Is it based on the number of lessons or total teaching time?

I'd really appreciate hearing how it works in your school. Thanks

Edit: Thanks so much, everyone! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain how timetables, PPA, and full-time allocations work in your schools. Your replies have been really helpful and have given me a much clearer understanding of what to expect and what to check. Thanks again for sharing your experiences—I really appreciate it!

I interviewed for a teaching job just before half term and it's now been over a week with no response at all. I've never experienced this before, so I'm wondering if I should take the silence as a rejection?

I felt the interview went reasonably well, but I wasn't given a clear timeline for when decisions would be made.

Also, is it too late in the year to be looking for a new teaching job? My current school is actually a good place to work and I'm not unhappy there, but I've been feeling like I want to explore other opportunities and see what's out there.

Has anyone else heard back from schools after a longer wait, or found a new teaching role this late in the recruitment cycle?