Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 197

I panicked and didn’t believe in myself and bombed my next interview while less experienced probationers then took permanent roles.

Passed the interview, then re-interviewed for 3 years

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: Permanent post
Sector: Primary

Having to re-interview every year or for every new post. My first year I was told I passed the interview but there wasn’t enough jobs so I had a fixed term contract. Why did I then need to get pitted against a new cohort every year for 3 years?

Re-interviewing is soul-destroying. I panicked and didn’t believe in myself and bombed my next interview while less experienced probationers then took permanent roles. Worst time of my life feeling inadequate and not good enough to be a real teacher.

This is answer 197 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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