This is my second year being on supply and it’s horrible never knowing when or where there will be work. I am constantly refreshing Teacher Booker to look for any opportunity for work and 9/10 unsuccessful when jobs do appear, it’s so disheartening and takes such a toll on you mentally. As someone who is relatively new to the profession I am slowly losing my enthusiasm, not because I no longer want to teach, but because I am being denied the opportunity to.
For my probation year I was placed in a local authority that I do not live in and consequently this has meant that it is now the only council I can get supply work from as other councils including the one I live in advertise their supply lists internally or have closed them completely.
This is answer 170 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.