Working as a supply teacher provides uncertainty, financial hardship, stress and loss of confidence.
Supply work makes you reflect on whether the career is worth the hardships. It’s a job that requires 100% yet truly lets supply teachers down in terms of opportunities for them to look after their health and wellbeing.
When you have a family to support, the stress is magnified, and does make you question if supply is an option.
I personally have put a date on when I need to walk away and secure permanent employment outwith teaching.
This is answer 93 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.