Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 024

I also heard teachers within the school talking about how ‘getting the census supply in is such a waste of time and money’, making me feel small and silly for trying to earn some money.

My only supply days were for the census

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: Supply teaching
Sector: Primary

Money worries

My only supply days I have been offered is for the census. I was just asked to cover for this and was put into classes for 1 period at a time, barely getting to know the children. I also heard teachers within the school talking about how ‘getting the census supply in is such a waste of time and money’, making me feel small and silly for trying to earn some money.

This is answer 24 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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