A Teacher Tapper got in touch and asked us to find out what misconceptions they hear from their students about the job of a teacher. We said, no problem! And asked Tappers to share their stories of things students say about teaching or how schools work that are wildly wrong. We split the responses (1,742 of them!) by primary and secondary (after all, younger pupils perceptions vary significantly from secondary!) but we found there were a few that appeared in both lists!

Here is what we found out:

Myths that exist in both primary and secondary

1. Work hours: The absolute top-ranking myths across both phases are that holidays are complete “time off” (231 mentions) and the “9 to 3” working day (203 mentions). “My students are convinced I just work 9-3,” wrote one Tapper. “I’m sure they think I’m a robot who is rolled out on a morning and put on charge at night.”
2. Teacher existence: The “living at school” fantasy (52 mentions) held by primary school pupils matures into a milder but related “living at school” shadow (10 mentions) in secondary school, where teenagers are still stunned to discover their teachers have hobbies, families, and exist outside of school hours.
3. Holidays and professional training: Both sets of pupils believe inset days are “days off” and hold a deep misunderstanding of holiday pay.

In primary schools

1. The “living at school” myth (literal interpretation): 52 mentions Tappers told us how their primary school pupils (especially in EYFS and Key Stage 1) genuinely believe their teachers live in school cupboards, sleep in the “role play area,” or have beds above the ceiling.
2. Early Years / Reception is “just playing” or “colouring in”: 14 mentions The misconception that early years teachers “just play all day” and do no “real” teaching or work.
3. Year group hierarchy as “promotion or demotion”: 9 mentions. Pupils assume that moving from a higher year group to Reception is a demotion, while teaching Year 6 is a highly prestigious “promotion”. One Tapper wrote, “A child said to me, ‘Why don’t you get promoted to teach the bigger children, you’re quite a good teacher!'”
4. Oddly specific myths: 8 mentions These include beliefs that the headteacher pays teachers directly in coins, that the caretaker used to be in the SAS, that the site manager trains the teachers, or that teachers plan the daily school lunch menu.

In secondary schools

1. Detentions are handed out for fun (20 mentions): Pupils don’t always see it as staff enforcing a uniform or behaviour policy. A Tapper told us, “They think teachers are on a power trip and enjoy telling pupils off.”
2. PPA is a rest break (13 mentions): Free periods viewed as time to sit in the staffroom and do nothing.
3. Private school fees fund teacher salaries (13 mentions): In fact, pay is often similar to, or lower than, the state sector. “They assume that as I work in an independent school I get paid more than state when my salary is significantly lower,” wrote one Tapper.
4. School trips are a free holiday (13 mentions): Leading a residential assumed to come with overtime or extra pay.
5. Lessons are provided, not written (10 mentions): Pupils astonished that teachers write their own lessons, assuming exam boards, Google or the government must supply them ready-made. “One student was amazed when I told her we have to plan lessons; she thought they were all just given to us by the exam board,” explained one Tapper.
6. Classroom teachers can change whole-school policy (10 mentions): The uniform, the phone ban, whether school closes for snow…One Tapper said their students think classroom teachers are “able to just change rules and make decisions about policies, even when we’re just classroom teachers”.
7. Good grades earn a bonus (9 mentions): And, one Tapper even said their student told him he thought a teacher would “have [his] salary reduced if they don’t get their target.”
8. Mock exams marked by lunchtime (3 mentions): A full set of essays, marked and handed back before the bell. One Tapper wrote in to explain a particularly infuriating (if familiar!) story of when a student “handed me a full exam paper at the end of the day on Friday. She came to see me Monday morning before school to collect… She wanted to know why, given I’d had ‘four days’ to mark it!”

Some of these misconceptions are amusing, and some feel infuriating! A few are perpetuated by TV and movie depictions of teachers, but others feel like myths that just won’t go away. Which misconceptions have you come across? And do you always correct them? Tell us what you think at England@teachertapp.co.uk 📧.