Best places to work as a teacher revealed

Personal finance research company Nimblefins has researched which areas have the best salaries for teaching compared to the cost of living, as well as the areas with the most job opportunities.

The research found that Scotland is the best place to work as a nursery and primary school teacher and Wales is the best place to work as a secondary school teacher.

The North East is the best paid region outside London for nursery and primary school teachers (average salary is £31,390).

Wales is the best paid region outside London for secondary school teachers (£34,692), while the East Midlands is the 2nd best paid region in England outside London (£34,676).

The North East has the highest pay to the cost of living ratio for both teaching disciplines.

Job density is best in Scotland for primary teachers and the South East for secondary teachers.

Erin Yurday, CEO of Nimblefins said: “There are more than 1.2 million jobs relating to teaching and education in the UK, according to the Office of National Statistics, meaning one in every 18 jobs in the country are in the education sector. But teachers are in constant shortage.

“While some regions have raised salaries to try and attract the best talent, our comprehensive research shows teachers may not always be best off in the areas which pay the most. Teachers need to assess their cost of living which can be high in areas such as the South East and East of England.

“But some teachers who feel they may want to move schools frequently should also take into account the number of jobs available, with areas including Scotland and the South East having the top densities of jobs in the country."

Research found Wales and Scotland come out on top for both primary and secondary school teachers, but differences in average pay mean some regions are better suited for careers in nursery and primary schools rather than secondary.

In nursery and primary schools the average salary is £30,402. In Scotland that number rises to £31,276. Salary added with the number of jobs available, plus the low cost of living making disposable income 20% above average, the country is a clear winner.

Scotland is closely followed by Wales, which has only a slightly lower average salary of £31,242. And while the cost of living is much lower, the number of jobs available is weaker, meaning the country narrowly missed out on the top slot.

The North West comes in third, with one of the highest numbers of available jobs and relatively low cost of living making up for the lower average salary of £30,132.

The worst area for nursery and primary school teacher salaries is the East Midlands which pays on average £27,339. But its jobs availability is only slightly below average (11.3 jobs per 1,000 people) strengthen its positioning with the region coming in at seventh place out of 11.

The East of England was the worst place to live for nursery and primary school teachers with slightly below average salaries (£29,817) and a higher than average cost of living compared to wages. What really let the region down was the lack of jobs, with 24% fewer jobs per working person than the UK average.

However it isn’t all bad news for the East of England, with the region faring better for secondary school teachers. The average salary (£34,338) is only slightly under the UK average. Salary compared to the cost of living is only 0.1% below average, but again low job availability brought the area’s score down.

Wales ranked as the best place to live and work as a secondary school teacher. Average annual pay of £34,692 in Wales is second only to London, where secondary teachers earn £39,593 a year. When adjusting pay for typical costs of living in the region, teachers in Wales have more money to live on than in any other region - 22% higher than the UK average.

Scotland, although in second place, did not come close to Wales. Its average salary was £2,000 less at £32,892. And the ratio of salary and cost of living was 10% higher than the UK average.

Jumping from fifth place for primary teachers to third for secondary teachers is the West Midlands. Despite the average salary of £33,291 coming in 4% lower than the UK average, the cost of living is such that disposable income is 13% higher than the average.

The best place for jobs availability though was the South East, with 14.7 jobs per 1,000 people – 22% above the average. (This was a similar picture for nursery and primary school jobs, with the second highest concentration of jobs – 13.1 per 1,000 - 15% higher than the UK average. Only Scotland had higher, with 14 jobs per 1,000 people.)

In conclusion, while Scotland and Wales may be best locations when taking into account all aspects – salary, cost of living and job density - quite a mix of regions come out on top when assessing singular aspects, meaning most regions have some attractive qualities.