[Closed] How does the private sector view teachers/ex-teachers?

I guess it depends on role and sector, but we certainly don't discriminate against ex-teachers. In fact, one of us is a ex-teacher, this is her first role outside of education. She's killing it too - her skills have transferred over fantastically.

I think the bigger issue is at the entry level/junior end there is a lot of competition. Maybe look at how you're coming across like others have said....

Cheers, I shall run through my CV again and see if there is any tweaking that I need to do. I'll try and also get some more eyes on it before sending it out.

I think I am also use to applying for teaching jobs and getting an interview straight away, due to the shortage of teachers. Private is more of a numbers game? something will eventually crop up.

I went from 10y of science teaching to a training role for 3 years and back to science teaching.

You just need to find the right job who are looking for your skills.

I had a 5 month notice period on the way out and on the way back in to teaching, that proved a stumbling block on a couple of roles.

Now I'm back in I was pretty surprised to get a thank you letter for 100% attendance since September! What that says about my schools work place attendance I'm not sure 😉

Martin, what made you go back in to teaching then?

as a teacher – i’m not sure how 7:15am-4:30pm AT wor and then working at home is 6hrs per day

But that’s not normal for teaching as a whole though. I appreciate some in a particular role might do that for a time but it’s not typical through

I would say that it is normal, maybe slightly more than average but not by much. I work 7.30 to about 4.30 most days, add in later finishes at least 1 a week and bits and bobs at home and its about me and I've been doing it the best part of 15 years, less experienced teachers work much longer hours as do those with extra responsibility which I dont have either.

Having seen teacher application forms they are bloody awful things and nothing like other sector CV’s / applications.

Don’t take this wrong, but are you aiming too high ie trying to maintain salary ? Teachers are quite well paid, and are you going to take someone on in a £25k + role who has direct experience or a newbie ? Unfortunately a lot of private companies are not as enlightened as you might think

Transferable skills are all well and good but realistically you can expect to take a pay drop unless you can bring specialist skills to the role.

I imagine that most jobs have lots of transferable skills but as someone who spent quite some time in recruitment most companies recruit externally when they are looking for a specific skill set.

Unless it's education related the likelihood is there aren't many jobs out there with 30k salaries for folks who just bring 'transferable skills' to the table

I’m hopefully going the other way. How does the school sector view 47yr old ex captains of industry with transferable skills being 3 kids under 8 😂

Not getting into an argument with teachers about how many hours they work, you above anyone should know. But

as a teacher – i’m not sure how 7:15am-4:30pm AT wor and then working at home is 6hrs per day

This adds up to 15.25 hours a day or 76.25 hours per week. Thats not this.

I would say that it is normal, maybe slightly more than average but not by much. I work 7.30 to about 4.30 most days, add in later finishes at least 1 a week and bits and bobs at home and its about me

Maths not you speciality AA. A bit of googling suggests averages of 48-55 which when you allow for longer holidays works out to 39-44 hours over the year,( those are averages, I'm sure there's exceptions)
I think teachers are great and you work hard but no more than a lot of other people who don't constantly harp on about their work load.

P.s I should go back to school to learn how to do multiple quotes 😳😳

 

Maths not you speciality AA

I didnt do any maths just pointed out what the guy said seems about right.

as a teacher – i’m not sure how 7:15am-4:30pm AT wor and then working at home is 6hrs per day

He wrote this which is correct it doesnt add up to 6 hours a day as said. You need to read it more carefully!

This adds up to 15.25 hours a day or 76.25 hours per week

Nor does it add up to this like you said, again read it a bit more carefully. Adds up to about 8 hours a day "and then some at home".

I couldnt give a flying arse what others work, I was just saying it seemed about right, which your own data agrees with. If you can read.

I was just saying it seemed about right, which your own data agrees with. If you can read.

It would appear not 😳 apologies for my lack of comprehension.

 

One of the best Stress Engineers I ever met was a math teacher who taught solid mechanics for 10years at A-level.

He wrote this which is correct it doesnt add up to 6 hours a day as said. You need to read it more carefully!

I think you need to read the question again though (is that not what you teach your students!) - the question wasn't what do you think teachers actually do - it was how do they view teachers. Rightly or wrongly there will be plenty of people who have a perception of teachers working short days, taking long holidays, drinking tea in the staff room whilst moaning about their workload, all in a quite unionised environment. If you perceive teachers like that then someone leaving teaching is probably not the most attractive hire.

Personally I've only interviewed one ex-teacher (AFAIR I've only seen one ex-teacher CV). I'm afraid that she did little to bust the above perception, with IT and presentation skills that were well behind those of typical new graduates we see with a healthy dose of patronising everyone like they were 12 yr old kids. If you were in a sector that saw a lot of ex-teacher applicants and this is a common occurrence I could see it putting you off.

I think you need to read the question again though (is that not what you teach your students!) – the question wasn’t what do you think teachers actually do – it was how do they view teachers.

I think you need to understand a conversation can move on.
But you carry on with the snide little comments I'm sure they make your existence a little brighter.

It would appear not 😳 apologies for my lack of comprehension.

No worries.

You must have missed the training day on how to get a proper job after leaving the closed/insulated shop of teaching.

Aldi are recruiting and the wages are terrific says our local paper, apply there and work up.

Ex teacher here. Only did two years in my twenties,then changed career via a graduate scheme (so probably not helpful given your experience).

12+ years later I've come across a few ex teachers in my industry ( project management) heaps of transferable skills (if you can manage 30 kids you can manage a project team of arguing adults), but all of them had to start as juniors etc.

In a position now where i hire people for the teams, I would be interested in the transferable skills, but as others have said it's hard to just give someone a job because they have transferable skills but no experience in a more senior role.

Apprenticeship are now available for all ages and could be a quick route in, once you're in if it's the right company you can progress quickly.

I've been looking at apprenticeships and graduate schemes. A friend a similar age to me has just finished his graduate training, some 15 years after graduating.

I am not averse to taking a pay cut at all, as I took a large one to relocate and to give me time and space to think about next steps.

a_a,

You carry on with the snide little comments

I think if you are going to accuse people of that you probably don’t want to sign off your previous post with this:

If you can read.

I think taxi25 might have hit the nail on the head about SOH failure.

If you get an interview remember to tell them that one of the reasons you are looking for a change is so that you can knock off at 5 every day. Those private sector folk love that shit.

I think taxi25 might have hit the nail on the head about SOH failure

Probably stress through over work. Still, must be half-term next week? I'm sure it's at least 5 weeks since the last holidays.

I think taxi25 might have hit the nail on the head

when he said oh yeah I was wrong sorry, you able to do that?

Scotroutes best thing is there is a literally **** tonne of vacancies for this cushy number....dont tell anyone though the government dont like talking about teacher shortages!!

Scotroutes, I'll say for the proper 9-5,pay rises, bonuses and all that extra jazz you get in the private sector 😉

Scotroutes, I’ll say for the proper 9-5,pay rises, bonuses and all that extra jazz you get in the private sector

Don't forget the fantastic pensions.

Sigh.

Facts.
Teachers paid c.£3k below average salary for level of qualification (cf. national for postgraduate level).
Average teacher working hours per week 48.5.
Teachers' paid working hours per week 32.5.
Teaching unions pretty much ineffectual these days in terms of national influence (they do do brilliant work on behalf of individual members though).

To be honest, no idea how that compares to the private sector (20 years since I worked there), but if you're going to knock the profession at least move out of the 70s with your insults.

Regardless of sector and position, IMO you are a mug if you are regularly* working over and above your paid hours. Do you think you will ever get that time back or be thanked for it?
You will not! It will not take long for extra hours to be expected by your employer rather than appreciated.

FFS this is time to enjoy your life we are talking about!

And time spent at work measured as a dick waving competition? What a load of crap!

Those with the biggest penises set a very clear expectation to their employer, that the employer needs to prioritise the time of said well-endowed employee.

I don't care what pressure you think is on you. Meekly accepting your employer's unreasonable demands will not help you. Work out how to tell them to **** off with their requests for your unpaid time (in the nicest possible way of course)

(* exceptional cases - fair enough, give and take, works in your favour if kept in check otherwise)

IMO

I don’t care what pressure you think is on you. Meekly accepting your employer’s unreasonable demands will not help you. Work out how to tell them to **** off with their requests for your unpaid time (in the nicest possible way of course)

This has always been my life philosophy. But in the real world it doesn't always work as you'd like. I've said f$@!k you more times than I care to remember, guess what I now happily drive a taxi. That's ok for me but if everyone had the same attitude who'd educate our children, care for the sick, or even collect the rubbish.
Somewhere there's a balance between being a bitch to your occupation and a hackneyed cynic. But at some point enoughs a enough don't accept the guilt trip and take a stand.

Teachers paid c.£3k below average salary for level of qualification

They don’t. First year teacher gets around the same as a newly qualified doctor, science graduate etc. They go up to 28-30 pretty quickly. Most I ever got on a undergraduate pay scale was 26k and that was the very top.

Has no one mentioned the view that male teachers being covert paedophiles?

Doesnt really matter how much they are paid or how long they work compared to others the simple fact is we have huge shortages in many areas so something needs to change.

The average graduate’s starting salary is around £30,000

http://www.educationbusinessuk.net/features/long-and-short-%C2%A0-uk-teacher-crisis

Teachers start at 23-24 I think, would take 4 or 5 years to get to 30k I think by then most have left teaching.

Average teacher working hours per week 48.5.

That's way below what most claim on here.

There was a thread a while back where 80 hrs a week/16 hrs a day or so was being stated.

Teachers’ paid working hours per week 32.5.

Is that in their contract? If so, why are their extremely vocal unions so shit at really protecting their members?

48.5 hours reported by Teaching Policy institute. Same survey found that 20% of teachers are working 60+. Anyone claiming to regularly work 80 is either deeply inefficient or lying. Personally I average 45-50.

32.5 paid hours comes from the 'standard' teaching contract of 1265 hours of directed time per academic year.

I wasn't whinging when posting those figures. I still enjoy the job. Just get a bit fed up with outdated notions of what the job is and the gammonesque ire often directed at the profession.

32.5 paid hours comes from the ‘standard’ teaching contract of 1265 hours of directed time per academic year.

So what does the contract say about duties outside of "directed time"?

They don’t. First year teacher gets around the same as a newly qualified doctor, science graduate etc. They go up to 28-30 pretty quickly. Most I ever got on a undergraduate pay scale was 26k and that was the very top.

First year Doctor 27k.

First year teacher just under 24k.

Median starting salary for those with a postgraduate qualification (so PGCE in education terms) reported to be 32k,but admittedly this looks like it varies wildly depending on field.

Lazy moaners who spend all day on forums. Well enough of the private sector back to the teachers.

From union guidance on the 1265...

28. The STPCD provides that the employer ‘must not determine’
the amount of time for professional duties beyond the 1265
hours of directed time, nor when these hours will be worked.
29. It is up to the teacher to decide the number of additional hours
necessary and where and when such duties will be performed.
30. Neither the place where the work is undertaken nor the
number of hours required to discharge the teacher’s
professional duties outside the 1265 hours of directed time
can be determined by the head teacher, the governors, any
relevant voluntary body or the local authority.
31. The duties undertaken in additional hours will be those that are necessary for the individual teacher and which can be undertaken by that teacher alone. They include marking and
preparation, which relate solely to the teacher’s own teaching,
and will exclude activities which require the involvement
either of staff or pupils. They will exclude duties that the
teacher is required to undertake at a time determined by the
head teacher, which would be part of directed time.
32. This element of the STPCD is not a licence for head teachers to
require teachers to undertake additional work or activities
outside directed time. Though, evidently, this is work done as
part of the teacher’s whole job, and is a consequence,
therefore, of general direction by the head teacher, the time
spent on professional duties cannot be subject to the head
teacher’s specific direction. All work undertaken in this period of
non-directed time must be determined by, and be relevant to,
the teaching commitments and duties of the individual teacher.

And you're right, in all sorts of ways this is not great. Problem is...

(a) whatever the public might perceive, nearly all teachers do care and any form of industrial action harms the students and doesn't work as intended - parents don't get behind it to get the kids back in school ASAP, they just resent it as they have to organise childcare.

(b) there isn't the money in the system to address the issue thanks to government policy.

(c) any action by teachers and unions would require wholesale public support to work, and we don't have that. I sadly have a suspicion that the not-particularly-positive attitude towards the profession still stems from the 80s strike and 00s work to rule.

That’s way below what most claim on here.

There was a thread a while back where 80 hrs a week/16 hrs a day or so was being stated.

Really, do you have a link? Teachers on this thread seem broadly in agreement. I reckon now I do about 40-44 on average. Until last year when I ditched my extra responsibility it was more like 45-50. I rarely work at weekends now beyond an hour. Back then I used to do a good 4 hours each weekend.
This isnt willy waving either, I think its a shit situation and is the main driver behind people leaving the profession.

the not-particularly-positive attitude towards the profession still stems from the 80s strike and 00s work to rule.

I think you're probably right here. Teaching, like many public sector jobs is often harmed in terms of public perception by very vocal union leaders/activists who (at least publicly) seem more interested in causing disruption to service & throwing their weight around than entering into meaningful negotiations. As a result, the sector gets a reputation for being heavily unionised by the wrong type of union. And to a private sector business, industrial action hampering operations is lost profits at best, a failed business at worst.

So getting back on point, I'd suggest finding a GOOD recruitment consultant to work with, talk through everything from your aspirations, your reasons for wanting out of teaching etc, how to break free of the preconceptions of what a teacher's mindset is. They in turn will help you with how to frame your achievements in the right way for private sector applications, as well as how to handle interview questions, present yourself, and generally sell yourself to a new employer in the private sector.

Really, do you have a link?

Apologies, the main claim was for 60 not 70 hrs per week but there are claims of teachers getting to school at 7.00am and working at home until 11.00pm, 5 days per week.

60hrs a week

the not-particularly-positive attitude towards the profession still stems from the 80s strike and 00s work to rule.

Not so for me. My negative attitude towards the profession comes from the lazy, sadistic psychopaths, who taught me in the 1980's.

TBH honest 60 is not outrageous. I regularly meet my sons teachers leaving school at 5.30-6 when I get him from after school club. Primary does seem to have longer hours.

Me two years ago"

I’d say I do around 50-55.

Me now:

. I reckon now I do about 40-44 on average. Until last year when I ditched my extra responsibility it was more like 45-50

At least my numbers overlap 😁
Maybe I have forgotten how bad it was. I did used to spend a lot of time working at weekends. Taking a pay cut and demotion was the best thing I ever did!! Used to work a lot in the "holidays" too, including days in school teaching kids.

My negative attitude towards the profession comes from the lazy, sadistic psychopaths, who taught me in the 1980’s.

Not dismissing the impact of your own personal experience, but you truly therefore believe that to be true of all teachers?

the not-particularly-positive attitude towards the profession still stems from the 80s strike and 00s work to rule.

I think you’re probably right here. Teaching, like many public sector jobs is often harmed in terms of public perception by very vocal union leaders/activists who (at least publicly) seem more interested in causing disruption to service & throwing their weight around than entering into meaningful negotiations. As a result, the sector gets a reputation for being heavily unionised by the wrong type of union. And to a private sector business, industrial action hampering operations is lost profits at best, a failed business at worst.

There is so much within the above quotation with which I disagree; but since I’m on holiday I’ll just hope that someone else will provide a suitable retort.

you truly therefore believe that to be true of all teachers?

Of course not.

However, IME there were a significant number who fitted that description. I am pretty sure that their behaviour would not be tolerated for a second nowadays.

The only experienced teacher I have spoke to recently told me she goes to work at 8.30 and leaves at 4.00, so about a 6 - 7 hour working day, after lunch etc. She has been doing for over 25 years and isn't a HOD or anything.

Lunch? I do duty most lunch times.

Teachers, like police and medical staff - especially doctors - spend their working lives telling members of the public what to do. They are accustomed to being obeyed and not questioned. They are trained for this and in many ways it is necessary in their professional lives.

However many of them cannot switch off from this mode when not on duty. This gives all of them a reputation for being dictatorial loudmouths. Prospective employers do not want new staff to come in and start giving out orders and disrupting existing working arrangements.

I've had first hand experience of this and it never ends well. Sad, but true.

Lunch? I do duty most lunch times.

So you don't eat during the day?

Lazy moaners who spend all day on forums. Well enough of the private sector back to the teachers.

🙂

I eat on duty, walking around site.

Teachers, like police and medical staff – especially doctors – spend their working lives telling members of the public what to do. They are accustomed to being obeyed and not questioned. They are trained for this and in many ways it is necessary in their professional lives.

However many of them cannot switch off from this mode when not on duty. This gives all of them a reputation for being dictatorial loudmouths. Prospective employers do not want new staff to come in and start giving out orders and disrupting existing working arrangements.

Absolute nonsense.

Absolute nonsense

Yeah you just needed to look at who posted to know that.

Absolute nonsense.

Absolute nonsense.

I eat on duty, walking around site.

Why? Are you the only member of staff who can walk?

Sets a rather poor example to the children as well.

Sets a rather poor example to the children as well.

Yeah it'd be much better to leave them unsupervised to smash things and knock lumps out of each other! Oh and the idea of a lunch "hour" is very outdated.

Oh and the idea of a lunch “hour” is very outdated.

Unless you live somewhere like France of course; but then they’ve got those pesky union types - it’s all very confusing.

Oh and the idea of a lunch “hour” is very outdated.

Interestingly, most forward looking organisations encourage taking a proper lunch break, away from your desk as it's proven to improve productivity. But then, forward thinking companies recognise that output is the correct success metric, not input measurements like time at desk, hours worked etc.

My partner is a primary school teacher, she did a full teaching degree which is 4 years. Left with a debt of £20k after 15 years in the profession she is now capped at under £36k. The only scope for more money is take on a headteacher role.

I'd like to share a week in the life of primary school teacher:

• 50+ hours is the norm. You have to be in school from 8:00am for morning briefings and
organise your staff. Yes you have staff to manage, every teacher does. Teaching
assistants, trainee teachers and special need carers all need attention. If you manage
people you'll understand how much you have to be "on it" with them. She currently has 2
TA's, one trainee and special needs carer to manage.
• Her class size is 32. Have you ever had to manage 32 children?
• 35% of them do not speak English as first language - lessons must be tailored to account
for this. This requires extra planning each week.
• The children are split into 4 sets of ability. Each lesson must be tailored for these 4
sets so that they are either challenging enough or not too difficult because…
• A large part of her week is dealing with parents, angry parents, passive aggressive
parents, "I'm going to the governors" parents. Because they feel their child isn't
getting the attention they deserve or they've read a blog about a new teaching technique
they want her to try. Everyone is an expert because they went to school once. Believe me,
if you're one of these parents, you are getting slagged off in the various teaching
Facebook groups that exist. Go find one, have a read - see how difficult you're making an
already hard job.
• Marking, Marking, Marking - it never ends. She comes home and marks for 2 hours each
night. It's a really important part of teaching. Without it you can't gauge how well
children are doing to ensure they get the right education.
• Her free time consists of planning, planning and more planning of lessons. It's all she
seems to do. Lessons for 9 year olds have to be engaging and relevant to the curriculum.
The curriculum changes each year so there is no opportunity to re-sue materials.
• 2 of the children have severe disabilities and require extra care and specialist
lessons. No they are not packed off to a "special school" - the funding doesn't exist.
• A handful of children are under "Safe Guarding" which means they have troubled home
life's. This could be suspected sexual abuse or they are full time carers for disabled
parents. These children display emotional issues in the school from physical violence to
full emotional violence. Could you deal with feeling helpless to help these children -
her hands are tied by red tape and over stretched Social Services. She does the best she
can for them.
• She is constantly monitored by Offsted visits, peer reviews and governor reviews. Does
someone come and watch you work once every two weeks? If standards aren't met the school
is put into special measures, funding is cut and people start to lose jobs. The pressure
is immense and never ending.
• Spending our money on school equipment. There is no money left in the system. She easily
spends up to £1k a year on books, materials and even furniture for her class. How much
of your pay do you spend on your job?
• Extra responsibilities - you're expected to take on extra responsibilities. This could
be sports clubs after school to being the coordinator for a topic. She is the literacy
coordinator which means she has a responsibility to ensure all the teachers in the
school (25 of them) are meeting government targets and guidelines. This requires peer
reviews, sitting in on classes and 2 hour meeting each week in her own time. No extra
pay is given for these extra responsibilities.
• She is constantly ill, the school is germ breeding ground.
• You're not allowed time off. It's an un-written rule that you go in no matter how ill
you are. The school cannot afford to bring in stand in teachers.
• Training - after hours training is the norm. New government guidelines, new policy, how
to disarm a 12 year old with a knife (no joke), how to spot if a child is being abused.
You're expected to be an expert in everything.
No one supports you. As this thread has clearly demonstrated teachers are perceived as
overpaid baby sitters, lazy, failures at securing a proper degree or even paedophiles!

But hey, you know… "you get summer holidays you lazy sod". By the time half term rolls around she is burnt out. We're already talking about how she moves out of the profession because she can't maintain this pace into her 50's and 60's. They took on 6 trainee teachers this term. 4 of them have quit the course as the work load is too much.

The average graduate’s starting salary is around £30,000

http://www.educationbusinessuk.net/features/long-and-short-%C2%A0-uk-teacher-crisis

Teachers start at 23-24 I think, would take 4 or 5 years to get to 30k I think by then most have left teaching.

The article is wrong. It is £30k for the 'top 100 graduate employers'. It real average is £19-22k. Compare that to the £24k starting salary for teachers, with £2k (?) yearly increases. It is not the case that teachers are paid less than the average graduate.

When I looked at teaching, it seemed very difficult to gain the classroom experience needed to get a place at uni, unless it was a career you were focused on before doing your undergrad.

But then, forward thinking companies recognise that output is the correct success metric, not input measurements like time at desk, hours worked etc.

And who would look after the kids during this long lunch hour?

When I looked at teaching, it seemed very difficult to gain the classroom experience needed to get a place at uni,

If phoning a local school and saying can I come and have a look is too hard for you it was probably for the best!

Average grad salary £19-22k. Source here:

https://www.graduate-jobs.com/gco/Booklet/graduate-salary-salaries.jsp

From experience recruiting graduates (media sales/marketing), starting salary £22kish.

It worries me seeing that Education Business piece - they either have very poor research due diligence processes before publishing or are trying to see false information as part of an agenda. Either way, the net effect is that young teachers are falsely led to believe they're hard done by in terms of the wider job marketplace and salary expectations.

I’d like to share a week in the life of primary school teacher:

While I recognise some elements of that example of a teaching job, in my experience its in no way typical or average. It obviously depends on the area of the country and demographic of the school but that is pretty much a worst case scenario. I'd be looking at moving schools if that was my situation.

Beicmodur.

Whilst I do sympathise, it’s not exactly a gravy train in the private sector either.

I too work 45-50hours per week (40 in the office, 10 at home) over 4 days, manage a team of engineers and have approximately 20-30 undergrads, PhDs and post-docs working on upwards of 10 different research projects. In addition, I have my own technical responsibilities/objectives and have to prepare new projects for submission, review research and publish. Failure to meet my objectives means my customers displeasure and significant costs for my employer, all of which would be laid at my feet.

I too (like many others) don’t get extra money or credit for working extra (our hours are recorded, but only for funding reclaim against projects)but do get to do the job in the way I like it.

I like my job, and this is the price I pay. My salary is not substantially more than your wife’s and my holidays are substantially less.

What I don’t have are the special needs and I can imagine the struggle there.

May I ask why new lessons need to be planned each year? Surely unless there’s a change in curriculum, you should have the previous years material and just deploy it at the correct time and level for each group?

And who would look after the kids during this long lunch hour?

Can't kids look after themselves these days, part of development is it not? Don't remember any supervised play when I was at school. Maybe the janny or one of the teachers took a quick walk around once in a while but that was it.

The Graduate Market in 2016, the median starting salary for UK graduates in 2016 is £30,000. However, graduate-jobs.com estimates the average starting salary for graduates is £19,000 - £22,000.

What utter garbage of a paragraph. Do they mean mean? Is a graduate job different from jobs graduates get? So many unknowns.

Can’t kids look after themselves

No, if little Johnny gets hurt and I was supposed to be supervising I go to court.

No, if little Johnny gets hurt and I was supposed to be supervising I go to court.

Why not take your employer to court for breaching employment law?

Is a graduate job different from jobs graduates get?

I'd say that a graduate job is one where a degree is a condition of offer. And from my experience recruiting grads for media sales/marketing positions, it's about right at low £20k's.

That in turn would make the phrase "median" correct as it's talking mid point not average.

But as you correctly allude to, so e graduates take lower paid first jobs for whatever reason is their motivator at that moment in time.

May I ask why new lessons need to be planned each year? Surely unless there’s a change in curriculum

With all the huge staff turnover I expect few primaey teachers are teaching the same year twice. At secondary the curriculum at A level and GCSE changes everyv5 years and had a massive change about 3 years ago. Last years Science GCSE's were the first year through these changes. So to summarise, yes it changes all the time.