As someone who recently completed probation, job prospects are slim. I applied for over 60 posts before the summer and received 1 interview. This is soul crushing. There are so many teachers with more experience that are seeking secure employment that I don’t stand a chance yet am still expected to look after my children and pay my mortgage.
In Falkirk Council you need 4 years qualifying service (excluding probation) to even qualify for permanency through supply, but many jobs advertised are until the last day of term before summer to ensure a break and block people from achieving this.
My employment from August is not illustrative of the norm, Falkirk Council were running a project to support primary 1s between August–October 26 and offered this role to last year’s probationers. This has been great for the short term but now we are approaching the holidays with no future prospects and the role we were employed for since August being filled by EYOs after the October holiday.
This is answer 113 of the 269 written answers that teachers let us quote anonymously in the Scottish Teacher Employment Survey 2026. It answers the survey’s last question: what do the people who make decisions about teacher employment need to know?
We have corrected spelling, added paragraph breaks and removed details that could identify anyone. Words in square brackets are ours.