'You almost have to sign away life outside of work'

A former primary school teacher from Nottingham says he has got his life back after quitting the profession - after just five years.

As a part of our special report series, our Education Correspondent Peter Bearne spoke to Rich Fisher about his experiences:

Rich Fisher from Nottingham became a primary school teacher in Nottingham teaching 7-11 year olds and loved his time in the classroom.

But he became more and more disillusioned with the job because of the amount of paperwork and "box-ticking" - planning lessons, monitoring pupils' progress against set targets, etc. - things which he feels added nothing to the experience of the children in class.

When he got married and started a family, he was worried that his lack of work-life balance would deprive him of time with his wife and son, and felt "something had to give".

An ITV News Central survey has shown more than 8 out of 10 Midlands teachers have considered quitting in the last two years, many because of excessive workloads.

On the other side of the coin, some look at the figures and say at least we are getting five years teaching from 6 out of 10 teachers in a world in which people change careers more often.

Special Report: More than 80 percent of Midlands teachers have considered quitting