Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 135

I have a 2 day perm contract but the rest is made of temporary contracts which leaves uncertainty and also not being paid over the summer.

Permanent for two days, temporary for the rest

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: Permanent part-time, wants more hours
Sector: Primary

I have been teaching for 16 years. Although I have had periods of time with full time employment since returning to [a council; identifying details removed] I have been on temporary contracts. I have a 2 day perm contract but the rest is made of temporary contracts which leaves uncertainty and also not being paid over the summer. I return to the same school and post.

I also know many experienced teachers who have struggled to secure work at all. It is demoralising and given [the council’s high staff absence rate] you would think they would be looking to keep good teachers.

This is answer 135 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.

Every answer in the report (PDF) Survey results

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