Teachers' exit decisions: An investigation into the reasons why newly qualified teachers fail to enter the teaching profession or why those who do enter do not continue teaching

•Attrition differs according to gender, teaching degree and teachers' experience.•Lack of future prospects is the main reason for leaving the profession early.•Teachers' experience explains variances for all but one motive: job satisfaction.•Reasons for attrition weighed less heavily on teachers without teaching experience.

This study investigates the motives for teacher attrition of newly qualified teachers who never started a teaching career and those dropping out after a short period. A survey was conducted among teachers with (N = 154) and without (N = 81) teaching experience. Five reasons for attrition were discerned: job satisfaction, school policies, workload, future prospects and relations with parents. The results demonstrated that a lack of future prospects was the predominant reason for attrition. The effect of teaching experience was significant for most motives, in addition to the impact of gender or teaching qualification. Teachers with experience do not take exit decisions lightly.