Anonymous survey answerSurvey Nº 003

I went on maternity leave during my second year during this job and found out 5 months postpartum that I would not have a job to return to and would be returning to supply (despite having 5 months left on my contract).

No job to return to after maternity leave

Published 5 October 2026 · 1 min read

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

I interviewed twice for a role that had been permanent (that the council refused to advertise as permanent after an employee unfortunately passed away). I was successful at interview twice.

I went on maternity leave during my second year during this job and found out 5 months postpartum that I would not have a job to return to and would be returning to supply (despite having 5 months left on my contract). I totally missed out on having the opportunity to complete KIT days and have job security to return to after having my baby. An absolute shambles of a system.

This is answer 3 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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