It has been so tough to keep going with the hope that a permanent post comes up in the subject I teach that I’m not up against 70 odd applicants for. I absolutely love the job however it has been a struggle being on temp contracts not knowing if they will continue, with at times not even knowing if I have a job or not the following week.
It is extremely stressful when I have a mortgage to pay and I am a mum to two young children. I don’t understand why universities are still putting 40+ students through the course when there are so many qualified teachers already in the subject without a post.
This is answer 240 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.