I returned to university as a mature student to complete a four-year honours degree in education, only to discover how few teaching jobs were available once I qualified.
My probationary year was cut short by the Covid outbreak in 2020, so East Dunbartonshire Council offered me a further one-year contract. When that ended, I registered for supply work with the council but was offered just six days over two months. As a single mum, with so little work coming in and my savings dwindling, I began looking at teaching posts abroad and was offered a position in Oman. Moving overseas in my fifties was not something I wanted to do, yet at the time it felt like my only option.
In the end, for financial reasons, I took a temporary administrative post at the University of Glasgow, which led to a permanent role that I held for two years. Although the work was rewarding, I missed teaching. I felt I had wasted the four years I had spent studying while raising two school-age children. Realising I would need to create my own opportunity to return to the classroom, I made the decision, at the age of 54, to teach abroad. I accepted a post at a British international school in the Middle East and taught there for a year, hoping the experience would strengthen my applications back home.
Unfortunately, since returning to Glasgow, I have still been unable to secure a place on a supply list, and every application I have made for a primary teaching post, whether permanent or fixed-term, has been rejected before reaching interview stage. Once again, I am relying on my savings. The only work I have found is tutoring one pupil, one day a week, which began only this Monday. I have applied for supply work with Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire Councils but have yet to hear back. Glasgow City Council and East Dunbartonshire Council have both told me their supply lists are currently closed to new teachers.
I sincerely hope that university intakes for teacher training will be brought into line with the number of posts actually available. The current situation is deeply distressing for qualified teachers who find themselves unable to secure any work, whether supply, fixed-term or permanent. I do hope with the increase in NCCT as of August 2027, the extra teachers required will help in some way with the current 'underemployed' situation but I fear that it'll only make a slight dent!
Shared anonymously with the contributor’s consent and reviewed by the campaign. Light edits may have been made for readability and to remove identifying details.
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