Cheery Thistle

Yeah I don’t want to actually teach but was hoping to use those qualifications to enter. I am now actually in L and D as an elearning developer.

Just wanted to say thanks for all input so far. Still keen to hear of success (or horror) stories of those who have moved in their 40’s and beyond.

I’m a UK qualified ex-secondary teacher (4 year honours degree, plus 1 year PGDE). I have been out of the classroom 4 years now, currently working in L and D. My question is really do I need to have recent experience to qualify for a skilled visa? I checked the AITSL for the skills assessment and there is no mention of recent experience, just the qualifications and level of English.

That’s great, good for you. Sounds like you have done well. I wonder what the actual average in the super is. It’s usually the case that people over-estimate what they have.

Personally I think it’s best to have a range of investments but I’m a relative amateur. Once people get to their 50’s here and mortgages are cleared they tend to make what we call AVC’s into their work pensions to boost their pot. Pensions are A consideration but not the only one. I have seen more than one person not make it to pension age. It’s partly why i left teaching - couldn’t stay miserable in a job for another 30 years just for a ‘good’ pension. Now I’m in the civil service with a pension that’s better than the teaching one. In that case taking a risk worked out well for me. I have often found that fortune favours the brave.

You never know, it might result in lasting culture change if organisations start seeing some benefit of employing a more mature workforce. Who knows!

Your FA probably trying to get you to pay more into yours lol.

Thanks yes these are our fears also. I suppose if he really struggled we’d have to come back, but I (for some reason) am not ridiculously worried about it. He almost has his 35 year pay in to get a UK state pension (not sure how that works, it’s on the list) and we also have some rental properties here as well as our own house (again need to look into this) so we have a bit behind us. As well as being a gas engineer he is a qualified swimming instructor and HGV driver. He has been self employed here for over 20 years and is v physically fit (ex Royal Marine). Maybe I should be more concerned but I’m not. Having a bit of ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ moment. Re: it having to be stunning it’s more about life and future for our daughter as the UK in general is not such a great place to be any more. We are the lucky ones here.

Wow exact same age! That’s good to know. What was worth it? How did you do for work? Did you encounter ageism?

That’s good to know. I kind of am not too worried about his age being a barrier. He is quite a young fit 50 (with having the 10 year old and he is also an ex-Marine so always been physically fit). He is also fairly savvy having been self-employed for over 20 years in one guise or another. I have a feeling he’ll be ok wherever we end up.

No you don’t, but it makes it MUCH easier and less expensive. Also, as we have the 10 year old the citizenship aspect gives her access to state healthcare and education (including free university), all things we’d have to pay for to some extent as temp residents. It’s not as if I haven’t looked into that. This thread is really supposed to be about those who may have moved to Oz in their 40’s, not a debate about Spanish residency.

Unfortunately not a subject that’s in demand - languages! But handy for our plan B as I speak French, Spanish and Italian as well as English and a smidge of Portuguese. Latterly I was teaching mainly RE and PSE (though not qualified) and I was my dept head. I understand it’s competitive and we are old (relatively). Indeed, the plan is to go for both options and what’s for you won’t go by you as my mum would have said. The wonderful side effects of Covid and Brexit mean that the Irish route is not as fast as it was before. There are other routes for Spain though (such as digital Nomad which has just been brought in).

There is a 2 year wait to just get on to the foreign birth register, then you have to go through the citizenship application process. It’s not as straightforward as just getting a passport unfortunately. Brexit has meant that lots of people want the Irish passport/citizenship to get access to the EU.

Interested in how you settled and adjusted at that stage of life - did you feel you were ‘starting again’ or was it an adventure? Don’t get me wrong I’m not sure I want to return to the classroom at all but I realise that’s the pathway for the visa (probably).

Great thanks for this. My qualifications are good, I have a 4 year honours degree plus a one year PGDE and a further post-graduate diploma. However, I have been out of the classroom for 4 years. I will get a call scheduled with an agent for next couple of weeks. If Oz is out our plan B is Lanzarote, but hubby will have to get an Irish passport through ancestry for that to happen.

Seeking a bit of reassurance…..at the grand old age of 42 (hubby being 50), I am considering applying for an Australian Visa. It is something I always wanted to do but we couldn’t as my husband has 2 sons (now grown up) from a previous marriage. We also have a 10 year old daughter. We have a good life in the UK with a nice house, relatively low mortgage and I have a good job. Hubby is a self-employed gas engineer with established business. He also has a HGV licence. Husband had an operation a couple of years ago which led to complications and (long story short) he almost died. It has given us the opinion that you only live once etc etc. He is now fully recovered with no lasting effects thank goodness. I just wondered if others had made the move at this stage of life and had it been successful/‘worth it’? We are both positive ‘get up and go’ people and we have both re-trained relatively lte in careers, so we are up for a change and a challenge. I am a qualified and experienced secondary teacher (left the profession 4 years ago and now work in corporate L and D). Would have to take professional advice on visas and the moving process I think. Thoughts (both positive and negative) welcome.