Lack of primary teaching jobs in Scotland

There is a real problem in Scotland at the moment with what appears to be the majority of NQTs unable to find jobs, or even short term contracts.At best you will get on the supply list of one or two councils, in fact there are lots of teachers who qualified several years ago still scrabbling around looking for work.

Being on supply is also a nightmare, if you do less than three consecutive days you’re only paid by the hour so less than six hours for a days work.(and obviously there is no work during holidays so there are months where you won’t be getting any work) Each morning you have to wake up and in the case of the two councils I know about wait for emails or texts, which you reply to.(or use an app to apply)

Some councils don’t even tell you haven’t got the job you just know you didn’t get it because you don’t get a reply.

Even councils with the app where you can see that the job has gone, the chances are there are hundreds of people chasing and you may not get any work. Since the beginning of term I’ve had precisely six days work, and one of the councils I’m on the list for I haven’t managed to get a single day.

They also appeared to pay a month in arrears so all work done in September is not paid until the end of October. Consequently having got slightly less than half a month pay at the end of August for my NQT year, I have not had any money to live on since then. The money I do get at the end of this month will not even cover my bills.

And there appears to be no discrimination between the quality of teachers, people who got excellent feedback from their NQTyear have no better chance of getting a job than those who struggled because often the schools just take the first person who replied. Indeed, in one council, a computer allocates the job so no one cares how good or bad you are or what your experience might be.

There has been some supply work and the school I was NQT in. The school has given me excellent references told me I did a great job and said they would be happy to employ me if there was a job but I don’t get the supply there because the computer has randomly allocated someone else.

So this is a warning to all of you applying for teaching in Scotland at Primary level, or who have mortgages and large financial commitments. Primary teaching is not currently a secure job and it may be sometime before you get any kind of full-time work after your NQT year.

NQTs, are a cheap way to employ someone so it is very tempting for school just to get new ones each year and let the last one go into the wilderness of supply teaching. Of course this is not best for continuity of teaching for children, but with council strapped for cash and schools, having to increase class sizes and reduce the number of teachers they employ it is the reality.

I love teaching and I’m devastated that it would appear that it may be a long time, if ever, before I get to do it properly. Ultimately, there is only so long, you can live on universal credit and the crumbs of supply.

Ps Each council has a different way of allocating jobs at the end of year, some do it completely internally, but to be honest with you, there were so few jobs advertised last year and most of them short-term contracts the chances of getting a job are pretty slim. I got a couple of interviews for short term contracts, but in both cases the jobs went to people who had four or five years experience and were already at the school. I was also told that the schools had had hundreds of applications for the jobs- in one case, 250!
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Reply 1

-AlphaOmega-

6

Hi, thanks for sharing this. I am interested in getting a teaching qualification for secondary schools. It seems there's a lack there so I don't think the situation there will be as you describe for primary, but who knows in a handful of years that the pendulum might have swung.

It sounds like as you say, primary teaching isn't a viable job. If I were you I would look for a consistent, other job for 4-5 days a week (to include the 2 weekend days) and keep 2-3 days (during the week) available in case you do get some supply teaching spots. That way you have a stable income and won't have to rely on universal credit, but you allow some time to do the occasional teaching to sort of keep in the game and make connections that will hopefully help you find a fulltime teacher job down the line.

Are there any tutoring jobs at primary level? Could you teach kids in that age range in another way, maybe through scouts/guides, creative classes at a local community centre/church/club? Just to keep your passion fueled. Sorry if you've already thought of these options. Just trying to help!

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

Reply 2

Historyqueen

OP

3

Original post by -AlphaOmega-

Hi, thanks for sharing this. I am interested in getting a teaching qualification for secondary schools. It seems there's a lack there so I don't think the situation there will be as you describe for primary, but who knows in a handful of years that the pendulum might have swung.

It sounds like as you say, primary teaching isn't a viable job. If I were you I would look for a consistent, other job for 4-5 days a week (to include the 2 weekend days) and keep 2-3 days (during the week) available in case you do get some supply teaching spots. That way you have a stable income and won't have to rely on universal credit, but you allow some time to do the occasional teaching to sort of keep in the game and make connections that will hopefully help you find a fulltime teacher job down the line.

Are there any tutoring jobs at primary level? Could you teach kids in that age range in another way, maybe through scouts/guides, creative classes at a local community centre/church/club? Just to keep your passion fueled. Sorry if you've already thought of these options. Just trying to help!

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

Thanks for your response. In regard to secondary it depend on subject. Maths chemistry physics computing there is a shortage of teachers. History and biology too many teachers.

I did think of looking for another job but if you are working somewhere else, it makes apply difficult because sometimes you get individual days, but sometimes they want you for 2or 3 days in a school and you wouldn’t be able to take that job if you are working somewhere else. If I want to get a job at school, I kind of need to be available all week

I am just looking into tutoring now. I have picked up a little bit of supply so I’m hoping as we get into winter it will increase and then review the situation in January

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 3

-AlphaOmega-

6

Original post by Historyqueen

Thanks for your response. In regard to secondary it depend on subject. Maths chemistry physics computing there is a shortage of teachers. History and biology too many teachers.

I did think of looking for another job but if you are working somewhere else, it makes apply difficult because sometimes you get individual days, but sometimes they want you for 2or 3 days in a school and you wouldn’t be able to take that job if you are working somewhere else. If I want to get a job at school, I kind of need to be available all week

I am just looking into tutoring now. I have picked up a little bit of supply so I’m hoping as we get into winter it will increase and then review the situation in January

Here in England they are offering bursaries to become a secondary-school biology teacher so I am assuming there's a demand for qualified biology teachers, or am I wrong?

Reply 4

Historyqueen

OP

3

Original post by -AlphaOmega-

Here in England they are offering bursaries to become a secondary-school biology teacher so I am assuming there's a demand for qualified biology teachers, or am I wrong?

In Scotland, you can get bursaries for Physics, Maths, Technical Education, Computing Science, Chemistry, Home Economics and Gaelic only.

In theory, the government decides each year how many teachers in each subject they want, and then that’s how many the universities can recruit but they clearly are producing too many primary school teachers at the moment. They seem to be producing the same number of primary school teachers each year, even though there are not enough jobs for them My evidence on biology teachers is anecdotal
Basically you can get a job if you were in one of the subjects they don’t have enough teachers for, and if you are in a popular subject, it can be more difficult .

(edited 6 months ago)

Lack of primary teaching jobs in Scotland

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