Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 146

Getting your foot in the door at schools is particularly tricky as they advertise for jobs but already know who they are going to appoint, usually someone already working in the school.

Jobs advertised when schools already know who they’ll appoint

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: On a supply list, no work
Sector: Primary

Getting your foot in the door at schools is particularly tricky as they advertise for jobs but already know who they are going to appoint, usually someone already working in the school. It is also hard to showcase what you can do and are capable of when you are not class committed and only cover classes due to supply.

This is answer 146 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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