Lucy Kellaway's recent article in The Times Magazine is a wonderful reflection of Now Teach's first ten years. It captures perfectly the ambition that led Lucy and Katie Waldegrave to establish the charity, the genuine challenges of changing careers into teaching - not for the faint hearted - and the determination that has brought us to where we are today. It also reminds us how far we've come.
Since 2016, more than 1,500 people have taken the step into teaching with Now Teach, bringing experience from sectors including engineering, finance, media technology and healthcare into schools across the country. Many have gone on to build fulfilling teaching careers, contributing significantly to their pupils' learning and the wider life of their schools.
A turning point
The end of our Department for Education funding was a significant challenge. After years of delivering a national programme supporting career changers into teaching, we needed to rethink our funding model and build a sustainable future.
But we had strong foundations: specialist expertise in career-change recruitment and support, an established Network, growing evidence of above-average teacher retention and a clear understanding of the contribution career changers can make in schools. Something that we call ‘the career changer difference’.
Thanks to the commitment of our team, Board and supporters and belief from our network and education partners, and the generosity of our philanthropic funders, we've been able to build on those foundations.
Today, Now Teach is an independent charity with an established operating model, a structured network offer and a clear strategy for impact.
More than a route into teaching
One of the most important lessons has been that attracting experienced professionals into teaching is only the beginning.
Changing careers later in life means moving from an established profession into one where you are a beginner again. Teaching is a highly skilled craft, and previous professional success doesn't automatically translate into classroom expertise although it can be hugely helpful in wider school life.
That's why we've developed a structured approach to supporting career changers, from exploring teaching and navigating training options to entering the classroom and, focussing on the impact they want to have and developing their careers.
Our specialist team provides tailored guidance throughout the transition, while our lifelong Now Teach Network offers a professional community where career changers can share experiences, ride out the highs and inevitable lows, learn from one another and make the most of the expertise they bring.
We've also strengthened our partnerships with schools, multi-academy trusts and training providers, bringing together our expertise in career-change recruitment and support with their experience of training and developing teachers. We are delighted to bring together founding multi-academy trust partners in this work including Ark, Co-op, Lift, TKAT, KMT, Future Academies and Teach First. Together will be recruiting talented career changers and showcasing the impact they make to their school and community. This sees us shifting from broad reach in terms of where our Now Teachers choose to train, to measurable impact within specific organisations for whom we commit to finding and supporting teachers long term. These partnerships will make career changer classroom impact visible, trackable and replicable and ensure we prioritise working with schools serving areas of greater disadvantage
Our focus isn't simply on helping people become teachers. It's on helping them thrive and remain in the profession and maximising the benefit to young people.
A clear strategy for our next decade
As we approach our tenth anniversary, we have set ourselves an ambitious goal: to double the size of the Now Teach Network, bringing more industry-experienced teachers into the schools, subjects and communities where they can make the greatest difference.
We are building our strategy around the areas where we believe we can have the most impact.
First, we will build on our strengths in STEM recruitment. Career changers with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics can bring valuable subject knowledge and experience into classrooms, helping pupils understand how their learning connects to future opportunities and ensuring specialist teachers can bring these subjects to life
Second, we will continue to focus on retention. Attracting new teachers matters, but so does helping them build lasting careers. Our experience of supporting career changers to stay helps us play our part in supporting workforce stability.
Third, we will deepen our partnerships with schools and multi-academy trusts. By working more closely with the organisations training and employing teachers, we can improve the experience of career changers and ensure our work responds to the needs of schools.
And fourth, we will strengthen the Now Teach Network, helping teachers harness their previous professional experience for the benefit of pupils and their schools. Drawing on their recent experience in industry, Now Teachers can bring subjects to life through practical examples, share insights into different careers and help pupils understand how what they learn in the classroom connects to opportunities beyond school. Through their knowledge, experiences and professional networks, they can broaden pupils' horizons, raise aspirations and inspire young people to see new possibilities for their own futures.
Underpinning all of this is a commitment to reaching the young people who stand to benefit most. We are deliberately increasing our focus on schools serving areas of greater disadvantage, where access to professional networks, career insights and opportunities beyond school can be particularly valuable.
And as we grow, we're committed to demonstrating our impact. We know that Now Teachers aged 40+ are 30% more likely than the average to continue teaching 3 years after qualifying, and 26% more likely to continue teaching 4 years after when compared to similarly aged cohorts. In 2027, we'll publish new more in-depth research with the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), examining Now Teach's contribution to teacher recruitment and the difference our support makes to retention.
We also want to better understand the distinctive contribution career changers make in classrooms. It's not about being better teachers, but bringing different skills, knowledge and perspectives that complement those already in schools.
The next chapter
Lucy and Katie started Now Teach with a bold idea. Ten years on, that idea has become an established charity with a specialist offer, a growing professional Network and strong partnerships across education.
We've learned, adapted and become clearer about where we can make the greatest difference. The end of government funding was a challenge, but it has helped shape a new chapter in which we're more focused, independent and ambitious about our impact.
We're enormously grateful to everyone who has helped us reach this point, and excited about what comes next.
Our ambition for the next decade is simple: more experienced professionals becoming and thriving as teachers, and more young people benefiting from the skills, knowledge and experience they bring.