I have been qualified as a primary teacher for almost 20 years. I had trouble securing work where I lived when I qualified so I followed the narrative of ‘the jobs are there, you have to be prepared to relocate for your career’. I got a temporary post in [another council] and relocated alone, hundreds of miles from family. I then secured a permanent role and taught there for over 15 years.
When I made the decision to move back home to be near family again, I had to give up my permanent teaching post. I have been unable to get a foot in the door, even with supply work, despite my experience and excellent HT reference. I now work outside of teaching and don’t know that I can return to the uncertainty of the teaching job market.
It is so competitive and all for just 10 month contracts just to do it all over again the following summer. It’s not good for the workforce, the schools and ultimately the children to have so much uncertainty and constant change and inconsistency in staffing.
I have done all the chasing for jobs at the start of my career, followed advice on relocating, and now feel like I am back at the beginning again, despite my decades of experience that I have to offer. I feel undervalued, pushed out and hugely let down by a profession that I have given so much of my life to (because we all know that teaching does become your life). I don’t know that I want to continue seeking teaching employment.
This is answer 137 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.