Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 026

In West Lothian, supply jobs come out through emails and it’s a process of “fastest finger first”.

Supply jobs by email, gone within minutes

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

Employment situation: On a supply list, no work
Sector: Primary

In West Lothian, supply jobs come out through emails and it’s a process of “fastest finger first”. Often jobs are gone within a few minutes but rarely is another email sent out to let people know the job has gone. This must result in many people phoning a school unnecessarily.

This is answer 26 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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