It is so difficult to find any sort of contracted job right now in Scotland. No one I know who completed their probation year 25/26 has secured permanent work. At most, one person I know has secured a year long temporary contract, everyone else is either doing maternity cover, part time temporary work or is on the supply list which is highly competitive.
I feel as though I cannot easily move to a different council being a teacher as being on supply means I am working towards permanency for a certain number of years, but if I decide I want to move to a different council, that work would reset to 0 years of continuous service. I feel as though I am not in a position to properly start my life as I don’t have any job or income security.
It is nearly impossible to build meaningful relationships with a school community when you are sometimes only there for 1 day. I feel I am missing out on essential training and information – with the new curriculum reform approaching I already feel disadvantaged using it with not being in the same school consistently.
This is answer 43 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.