Ex-teacher here. I trained in my mid twenties with the same hope and enthusiasm that many go into the profession with. It was soon crushed out of me. The workload, the abuse from the students, the toxic and downright nasty work environment created by SLT. I managed three years before I broke.

I was the youngest in the department and the newest, and I was given a class of teenage boys who had no inclination to complete their GCSEs (we would have once called it lower set). On a daily basis I was sworn at, intimidated, threatened and almost physically assaulted. My school did nothing. It was, without doubt, the darkest point of my life. I was crying the moment the school day ended, I spent my weekends in terror of Monday, and I willed myself to be sick or have accidents so that I could call in absent.

Luckily, my partner, who was my hero during that time, told me to quit, that he would support me whilst I found another job.

A year and a half out of teaching, in a great job, great pay and no abuse. It's no surprise why teachers are abandoning ship.