Newly qualified teachers unlikely to find permanent work

Some individual subjects at secondary level have been particularly badly affected, and most councils now employ a majority of their NQTs on temporary contracts.

Teaching trade unions say that “job insecurity for early career teachers has been normalised in Scotland”, and that “abuse” of both the probation system and temporary contracts have created the current situation.

The Scottish Government published annual data on the employment of post-probationer teachers’.

In Scotland, most new teachers spend their year-long probation period working in a school, but employment is not guaranteed beyond the initial contract.

Amongst the 2016/17 cohort of post-probation NQTs, official figures show that 58% secured a permanent post in their first year fully qualified, with the figure exceeding 70% from their third year in the profession.

However, the chances of securing permanent work, both immediately and within the first few years, have declined ever since, with just 24% of those in the 2024/25 cohort finding a post in their first year fully qualified.

For the 2022/23 recent cohort, which is the most recent group of NQTs with three years of data available, fewer than 50% had been hired on a permanent basis within that period.

A dramatic shift can also be seen when the data is broken down by local authority. For the 2016/17 cohort of new teachers, all but five of Scotland’s 32 councils employed a majority on permanent contracts, but by the time the 2024/25 cohort was looking for work, only three councils hired more NQTs on a permanent basis than those on temporary contracts.

The situation is also worse at secondary level, with some the data for some subjects highlighting major issues for teachers trying to find permanent work.

Since 2016/17, the percentage of NQTs in permanent posts has fallen in all but five of the subjects for which data is provided.

According to the most recent figures, fewer than 40 percent of biology or chemistry NQTs found secure work, with the figure for physics only slightly above 50%.

The lowest proportions were seen in geography (22%), history (28%), modern studies (26%), and music (27%).

The Herald recently reported that Scotland has failed to attract enough prospective secondary school teachers in recent years, with a lack of job security regarded as a key factor. The Scottish Government has also failed to meet various targets to increase teacher numbers, which remain below the levels that the SNP inherited when they first took power in 2007.

Commenting on behalf of the country’s largest teaching union, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “Job insecurity for early career teachers has been normalised in Scotland, with fewer than a quarter of teachers securing permanent posts, following completion of their probation year.

"The remainder – at least, those who decide to remain in teaching - spend longer on precarious temporary contracts in the hope of gaining a permanent job. Yet, the need for more teachers is greater than ever before: with 43% of learners having additional support needs and being taught in classes of up to 33; with teachers having to work on average 11.5 hours unpaid overtime each week; and with persistent shortages of secondary subject teachers in some areas.

“The EIS is clear that Scotland’s over-reliance on temporary posts risks compounding the recruitment and retention crisis, with new teachers on temporary contracts facing financial insecurity, and unable to plan for the future – such as getting a mortgage or planning for a family. It is reasonable to assume that some will leave Scotland to teach elsewhere or will leave the profession altogether.  This represents a tremendous waste of talent and public money.

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“It is also a poorer experience for school communities. New teachers, unable to secure permanent posts and working in several schools, feel that their professional development and career progression is limited as they lack the same opportunities as permanent teachers to build relationships and to be mentored consistently.  Headteachers' ability to plan ahead with confidence is marred by the annual uncertainty over staffing, which can also impact on the continuity of learning for pupils - especially where schools are short of subject specialists. 

“The EIS is clear that the commitment from national and local government to work in partnership with teacher unions to improve strategic workforce planning must be underpinned by proper, sustainable resourcing if we are to replace the short-term funding and annual wrangling over teacher numbers between the Scottish Government and COSLA which creates instability in the system.”

Seamus Searson, General Secretary of the SSTA – which represents secondary school teachers – also condemned a lack of job security for new teachers.

Speaking to The Herald, he said that the probation system is being “manipulated by some local authorities to ensure they get a regular supply of probationers each year to fill vacancies.” He argued that this happens to save money, but that it breaches the original intention of the programme, which was to have new teachers placed in schools as additional to existing staff.

Mr Searson also pointed to the “abuse of temporary or fixed term contracts in secondary as they often end around Easter, so teachers are not needed during the summer term”, thus generating a further financial saving. He insisted that such contracts should only be used to cover absences created by “maternity, long term absence or a secondment.”

In addition, Mr Searson explained that timetabling arrangements “often dictate the need for a teacher who offers more than one subject” because “staffing levels are now cut to the minimum” and there is “no slack in the system.”

He concluded that a “lack of forward planning” and insufficient resources has “created the situation we face today”, adding:

“New teachers are a necessary resource. They should be valued and given permanent contracts from day one, and allocated to schools where they will work alongside established teachers.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Matters regarding teachers' employment contracts and employment practices are for councils as employers of teachers.

“In Government we are doing all we can to ensure we have the right numbers of teachers, in the right places and subjects, as part of workforce planning which seeks to respond to need. We are offering bursary support and running recruitment campaigns to encourage greater uptake of secondary posts in STEM subjects where they are needed.

“We recognise the need to improve employment practices for newly qualified teachers and have committed to a new Teacher Jobs Guarantee. This will seek to address concerns raised by the profession and ensure qualified teachers can develop sustainable and rewarding careers, providing them with enhanced certainty and stability in the period after they qualify. Further details will be set out in due course. We are also committed to supporting qualified primary school teachers who do not have a job to retrain into new roles in the profession.”