Overburdened teachers grappling with unmanageable workloads are turning away from traditional classrooms and embracing online teaching, with some earning as much as £100,000 annually.
According to a report by Think Tank Britain, the number of educators leaving the profession has hit a five-year high, prompting many to seek alternative ways to achieve their career goals.
Two such teachers, 29-year-old Brook Edgar and 31-year-old Louis Provis, have shared why they left conventional teaching behind to focus on video-based education.
Both now work for MyEdSpace, a digital platform designed to make learning more accessible through live-streamed lessons and affordable tutoring.
Founded two years ago by Sean Hirons and Kharis Yanakidis, the platform already boasts 6,000 users and millions of views across videos covering subjects like maths, English, and chemistry.
Teachers like Brook and Louis are championing the platform—and for good reason.
While the average starting salary for a teacher in the UK hovers around £30,000, educators on MyEdSpace can significantly increase their earnings, sometimes adding up to £70,000 more annually.
“When I first started teaching, I had no idea how emotionally draining it would be,” said Brook, a physics teacher from Ireland.
“I cried a lot in the first few weeks.
“Managing students’ emotions, juggling the need to print endless resources, handling disruptive behaviour, and feeling the constant pressure from looming OFSTED inspections was just overwhelming.
“I couldn’t even find time to use the bathroom because I’d see students misbehaving in the corridors and felt responsible for addressing it.
“I looked at senior teachers working 13 to 14 hours a day, visibly stressed, with no work-life balance, and I realised that wasn’t the path for me.
“I love teaching, but the traditional classroom setup, paired with constant misbehaviour, meant I wasn’t spending much time actually teaching.”
Since joining MyEdSpace, Brook has rediscovered her passion for teaching.
She said: “I really connect with the MyEdSpace mission of providing high-quality, affordable education.
“Every child deserves access to great learning opportunities, and I’m glad to be part of something that makes this possible.”
Louis, a former head of sixth form and English teacher from Birmingham, has managed to double his salary since transitioning to live-streamed lessons.
In just his first four weeks, the 31-year-old taught over 1,000 students.
“In my last role, I had nearly maxed out on the pay scale. The only way to earn more was by moving into leadership, which would have taken me further away from the classroom.
“But teaching is my passion.
“It’s incredibly rewarding.
“I had already been helping a friend with his YouTube content in my free time, so when I saw the opportunity with MyEdSpace, it felt like a perfect match.
“A job where I could stream educational content to students? It couldn’t have been a better fit.
“I’m now making over 50% more than I was before, with the added bonus of earning opportunities.
“It’s not all about the money, but it’s discouraging to think that by 31, I had almost reached my top earning potential in traditional teaching.”
Parents are also seeing the advantages of this digital alternative to education.
While private tutoring can cost as much as £60 per hour, according to Teachers To Your Home, MyEdSpace lessons are priced at just £5 per hour.
The platform caters to a generation raised on social media, using live video streams as its primary tool.
Currently, it offers classes in English, biology, chemistry, physics, and maths, with millions of views on its clips and plans to expand into more subjects in the future.
Students can actively engage in real-time conversations during live-stream lessons through a chat feature, asking questions or discussing lesson material.
On average, students send about 20 messages per lesson, demonstrating the high level of interaction and engagement on the platform.
Teachers are carefully selected from hundreds of applicants based on their experience, teaching methods, academic strengths, and their ability to engage students in an online environment.
“Every child deserves the chance to succeed,” said co-founder Sean Hirons.
“But the current education system has many gaps, leaving millions of children struggling and disengaged in school.
“Parents often don’t know how to help their kids catch up, and most can’t afford to spend thousands on private tutors.”
Kharis Yanakidis, the other co-founder, added: “We didn’t want to create just another online learning tool.
“The shortcomings in education demand more radical solutions.
“We built MyEdSpace to provide a high-quality learning experience without sacrificing affordability, using language and content that resonates with children, modelled on the world of online streaming they’re already familiar with.
“Our goal is to ensure premium education is accessible to everyone by offering prices that are more than 10 times cheaper than traditional tutoring.”