The best discounts for teachers and school support staff

Discounts for teachers and school support staff

Last month, I wrote a blog post about the best discounts for NHS staff and it went down a storm with my readers.

Then my teacher friends started asking: “What about us?”

If you are a teacher – or even work in a school office – you could qualify for some decent discounts. Here is a list of six seriously good discounts to get you started.

 

1 GET STUDENT DISCOUNTS FOR WORKING IN THE SCHOOL

Few people realise that if you’re employed as staff at a school – even if you work in the office not the classroom – you can take advantage of some stellar student discounts that are on offer at restaurants and retailers via Unidays, the bargain platform.

For instance, if you are after a new MacBook, you can get a 10% discount if you buy through the Apple for Education website. Once you have selected your product, you’ll then be asked to verify your eligibility via Unidays. The education discounts should then be automatically applied.

Other discounts include as much as 30% off restaurants such as Byron Burger, and Zizzi, as well as big-name retailers such as Mac, Benefit, ASOS and TopShop.

 

2 SAVE ON HOTELS

As a teacher, you are considered a public sector employee, which means that at Hilton Hotels, you’re entitled to an exclusive 30% off the best available bed & breakfast rate at weekends and 20% off Hampton by Hilton hotels.

Similarly, you will qualify for a discount of 25% at 50-plus different Marriott hotels across the UK. Simply call 0845 600 0072 and quote ‘GYX’, or simply choose your hotel  when booking online to redeem your savings. Just remember to bring your company ID when you check in.

 

3 CUTS COSTS ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE CONTRACT

Many teachers are employed by their local council, which can mean hefty discounts on monthly phone contracts. Contact your local council to see if you qualify for any of the following offers.

At O2, public sector employees can get up to a 25% discount on the Airtime Plan of one O2 Refresh phone tariff, and one tablet or mobile broadband tariff.

The O2 Refresh Airtime Plan covers the monthly cost of your calls, texts and data. The offer doesn’t apply to your Device Plan, which is the monthly cost of your device.

A heads up: you’ll need to claim your O2 Open discount within 28 days of signing up or upgrading to O2 Refresh and the contract must have been bought directly from O2 (not Carphone Warehouse, for instance). The deal also excludes Pay-As –You-Go contracts, a standard non-Refresh tariff, a business account or a sim-only deal.

While at Vodafone, you qualify for savings of 15% on Pay-Monthly bundles bought with a phone or tablet, including Vodafone Outlet offers or get 30% off Pay-Monthly SIM only bundles

The Vodafone Advantage discount is available on phone, tablet and SIM only plans – and up to five family members or friends can save too.

Bear in mind that there is a £10 membership fee for the Vodafone Advantage scheme which will be added to your bill after the discount has been applied – so do your maths in advance to ensure you are really bagging a bargain.

Customers at EE can get your hands on a 20% discount – and share it with four of your family and friends, so long as they are pay-monthly customers.

This perk is available online, so can’t be applied in-store or by calling 150, and purchases through indirect channels such as Carphone Warehouse are not eligible for the perk discount.

It’s worth pointing out that you’re unable to apply discounts once your order/upgrade has been processed. The discount code must be entered at the checkout at point of purchase.

 

4 PAY LESS FOR LEGAL SERVICES

Do you have a will? If not, why haven’t you done it yet? Many of us don’t want to think about making a will because we don’t like to admit that we will all eventually die. While others don’t get a will written because they are simply worried about how much it will cost.

And yes, you need a will – if you think you don’t, check out this other post. I guarantee that you need one.

The good news is that teachers can get their hands on free or discounted wills – a saving of hundreds of pounds.

NASWUT and The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA), for instance, both offer a free will writing service.

It’s also worth checking about discounted legal services such as Probate Administration, Lasting Power of Attorney services, Family Law and Conveyancing Services.

What’s more, a reduced rate will-writing service is also provided by the NASUWT for members’ families.

 

5 USE YOUR COUNCIL DISCOUNT

As a way of thanking you for all your hard work and commitment, some councils offer free memberships to online discount platforms to their staff – and this includes all schools’ staff.

There is something here for everyone whether you’re into shopping, travelling, health and leisure, entertainment, or saving money on family days out.

For instance, teachers employed by West Sussex County Council or Surrey County Council can make use of the benefits platform and can purchase discounted admission vouchers for over 400 UK cinemas, including Odeon, VUE and Cineworld.

While you can also buy vouchers for a reduced rate that can then be spent in store or online. With West Sussex and Surrey County Councils, for instance, you can get 10.5% off Marks & Spencer’s vouchers, 7% off Ikea gift cards or 5% at supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

 

6 USE A TEACHER DISCOUNT CARD ON YOUR TRAVELS

If you’re working as a full-time teacher or professor, you can enjoy teacher discounts with the International Teacher Identity Card (ITIC). Costing £12, this is an internationally recognised ID card that offers the same benefits and discounts as the ISIC card.

Deals on offer include, 10% off vaccinations at STA Travel Clinics, 20% off your meal at the Hard Rock Café and up to 15% on car hire at Europcar.

Each ITIC card is valid for up to 16 months, starting on 1 September or 1 December, depending on the academic cycle of the country of purchase.

To prove your full-time teaching status, you will need a letter on official school or university stationery. This must state that you are employed at a recognised school, college or university for at least 18 hours per week, for a minimum of one academic year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Nina
    19th September 2020 / 9:13 AM

    Learning support assistant

  2. 8th December 2019 / 7:00 PM

    Went to Vodafone to renew mine and my daughters contracts. I was hoping to get the 15% discount after reading the above. Very disappointed to find that every council was listed apart from Liverpool City Council ☹️

  3. Hana
    17th August 2019 / 12:30 PM

    Hello
    Are support staff in colleges also eligible for these discounts. When I looked at options available for joining it mentions teaching assistant and other staff but nothing about LSAs or SLC.

  4. Allison
    4th August 2019 / 3:58 AM

    Hi I am a supply teacher in Primary schools. I was wondering if discounts for teachers applies to me as I am not paid through the local education authority I am paid by an education recruitment agency.

  5. Richard
    10th January 2019 / 7:15 PM

    Hi,
    Thanks for the info about perks for teachers. I’m struggling to find anything available from Durham County Council.

  6. Victoria Richardson
    15th December 2018 / 1:30 PM

    Hi I’m a teacher in Parkend Primary School, Middlesbrough. I’ve just tried to sign up but it has failed. Do you know why?

  7. Eleanor Singh
    2nd December 2018 / 4:28 PM

    I am a TA in a school doing long team agency work can I still sign up?

  8. Gemma
    31st October 2018 / 8:32 AM

    Hi,

    when I try unidays it tells me that my Uni says that I’m not a student there so won’t let me register. Is there a way around this? Also, how can I get the EE discount?

    Thanks

  9. Yvette Stuttaford
    18th August 2018 / 9:50 PM

    Hi I am a TA at a special needs school and am interested in signing up to this if it will allow me some discounts 🙂 I was just wondering how I sign up with Unidays if I am not a student? I have tried but have not been successful.
    Thank you for your help 🙂

    • Tom
      14th October 2018 / 1:32 PM

      Hi Yvette,

      Use this link https://www.myunidays.com/GB/en-GB/account/wayf and it will take you to the unidays register page. All you have to do is search for your institution and follow the instructions.

      Hope this helps!

      • Neil Risley
        13th August 2020 / 12:24 AM

        What do staff put for year of study & course length tho?
        It won’t let U register without choosin those options