Doing a degree doesn’t entitle you to a job at the end of it and teaching is no different. However the PGDE is a funded course to supply Scotland with much needed teachers.
We should have the ability to at least apply for jobs and have fair ways of getting them, not being locked out of them because we can’t apply externally or because they have been chosen for someone before the process has started.
It doesn’t make sense to pay teachers through training and then leave them scrambling for work or having to uproot their whole lives to do something they have been funded by government to do. It’s misuse of public funds and devastating to teachers, children and our communities who have such turnover of hard working and dedicated staff.
This is answer 151 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.