It is just so disheartening every year not knowing what is going to happen and have months of worry from fixed term applications opening up in February and then still not knowing by the summer holidays what is happening or if you will get offered a job to then not even be able to enjoy the summer holidays and have to think yet again about leaving teaching and working in another sector and how many more years you could be in this same position for all over again.
I was lucky this year that I got kept on at the school I had a fixed term in from March until summer but this is the first time I have ever had the opportunity to stay in school where I have built relationships.
This is answer 38 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.