Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 219

In every instance I know of, including myself, after the 3 week break we return to the same school in the same role, the break is purely to break the continuous service.

Three-week break, then back in the same role

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: Temporary post
Sector: Primary

I have been exceptionally lucky in regards to supply work that I have mainly been on back to back fixed term contracts. However whenever I almost reach my two years continuous service (which would make me eligible to be made permanent) they give me a 3 week break in the contract so my continuous service restarts.

They do this across the council to all the temporary supply staff. In every instance I know of, including myself, after the 3 week break we return to the same school in the same role, the break is purely to break the continuous service.

This is answer 219 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.

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