Sienna could have been a doctor. After looking at the salary, she chose this profession instead

When Sienna Clarke graduated from Hornsby Girls with a stratospheric ATAR of 99.4, she contemplated becoming a medical doctor. After all, at school she’d excelled in science and maths, and a career in medicine held the promise of a considerable salary and a prestigious title.

“I was like, ‘Wait, is the only reason I’m considering medicine for the prestige?’. And I was thinking, ‘That’s so stupid’.“

She enrolled in a science degree studying physics, biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Sydney. After completing an honours year and winning the university medal, she realised research was not for her – and then she started to seriously think about becoming a teacher.

“I always thought teaching was really hard work with little reward,” she said.

A closer inspection of the facts (a public school graduate teacher in NSW earns $87,550) and a dire shortage of mathematics teachers in the state persuaded her to enrol in the teaching degree.

“I looked at the length of time it would take for me to become a doctor, the length of time it would take for me to become a teacher and I looked at the salaries … doctors get way, way, way more, but actually the starting salary for a teacher is pretty decent,” she said.

Clarke is now enrolled in a masters teaching degree at the University of Sydney, an experience she said had validated her decision to pursue the career. She’s spent the past four weeks in front of a whiteboard, teaching year 8 and 9 students linear algebra and calculating the volume of compound shapes at Epping Boys High School, as part of a practical placement.

“Every time I teach, I feel joy. I feel satisfaction at seeing someone understand something that I care about,” she said.

“I’ve just been in awe of the teachers around me, like, how masterfully they take control of their classes and how they explain concepts. I think they’re just so skilled.”

New figures released on Friday show there was a 10 per cent increase in teaching degree enrolments nationally last year, while completions increased by 4 per cent. The federal government reports there are 15,900 new teachers ready to enter the Australian teaching workforce this year.

The increase comes after the NSW government awarded the state’s public school teachers a historic $10,000 pay rise in 2023. 

In 2022, state and federal education ministers agreed to a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, under which some students have received cash payments for completing practical teaching placements.

However, enrolments in undergraduate education degrees are still down on 2015 levels.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said pay rises for teachers, paid teaching placements, and new Commonwealth Teacher Scholarships were all helping to build the teacher workforce.

“Teaching is the most important job in the world. We need more of them and it’s great to see more people studying teaching,” he said.

“But projections show we will still be thousands short of the teachers we need in the years ahead.

“That’s why I brought together the state departments of education, teachers, principals, peak bodies and unions last Friday to discuss the work that needs to be done to update the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.”

Across all university degrees, enrolments were up by 4 per cent in 2024 on the year before: 388,890 students started a degree last year, and 24,243 students enrolled in other types of courses, including short courses.

Enrolments from low socio-economic status students increased by 5 per cent in 2024, Indigenous enrolments grew by 7 per cent, and student numbers from the bush increased by 4.5 per cent.

The University of Sydney’s own internal data shows there has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of students undertaking undergraduate teaching degrees this year and a 20 per cent increase in those enrolling in postgraduate courses. The median ATAR across the courses ranges from 85.1 and 89.7.

Vice chancellor Professor Mark Scott, who used to head up the NSW Department of Education, said the surge in enrolments had come after concerns during the pandemic that the pipeline of future teachers had been disrupted.

“We’re thrilled to see a renewed interest in teaching, with domestic enrolments in our initial teacher education degrees rising by more than 30 per cent this year,” he said.

“That’s a powerful signal that the profession is regaining its rightful status as a career of choice for talented, civic-minded graduates.”

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