Having 8 year previous experience in schools and then leaving a permanent job to retrain as a teacher thinking I would get treated with respect has been a shock to the system. I have friends in social work who have done the 4 year degree finished in the May and been on 3 interviews and then been offered a permanent job by the Oct. So a short period of unemployment.
However, someone like myself with the experience then completing probation and working for a year (in my 11th year working with children in different school settings) has more experience than a social worker coming straight from a degree. Though that profession is treating people with the dignity and professionalism expected. I don’t understand why this can’t be the same in teaching.
Also the financial uncertainty. I’m currently working supply and am on till 2nd Oct but then have no idea what comes next. I may get kept on, I may not. Explaining this to family for borrowing money is mentally draining.
This is answer 69 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.