I completed my probation year in [council removed]. They had assured us we would all have the opportunity to apply and be interviewed for the permanent pool. In January they called us to a meeting to tell us this would not be happening and that we should still be grateful that they gave us the opportunity of our probation year and they could not guarantee supply interviews.
In May they falsely advertised for the temporary pool, it was actually for Raising Attainment Teacher roles which we only found out about at the interview. I had a colleague who had qualified 5 years ago who had interviewed for this role and discovered during the interview that they were applying for their current job and had not yet been told their contract was ending. They did not have a successful interview, they contacted HR who told them “tough luck”.
I got on supply there but have had to move back to my parents in [another area] as I could not afford to rent on supply. The work in [that area] is much more frequent and supportive and there have been more temporary and permanent roles coming up with more schools providing interview opportunities.
This is answer 17 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.