The Scottish profession is at breaking point. Consequently, countless qualified educators are fleeing the country in search of safer employment. The Scottish government first pledged an increase of 3,500 teachers in their 2021 manifesto. Yet for many teachers, the harsh reality has been that class contact obligations remain at dangerously high levels. It’s a dire state of affairs. Almost 90% of primary school teachers are now employed as temporary, supply or not permanently placed.
Louise Fraser, a 24-year-old new teacher from Ayrshire, exemplifies this disturbing trend. After completing her degree in 2022, she has found it difficult to find a permanent job in any Scottish primary school. In her quest for job security, she moved to Dubai, stating, “I didn’t just move to Dubai for the lifestyle, I moved because I needed the job security.”
While Fraser’s experience is a deeply personal story, what happened to him is not unique. The picture gets bleaker in the second year after finishing their probation, with just 11-12% of primary teachers able to secure permanent roles. For the other 75%, an incredible 265,000 still are on temporary or fixed-term contracts. During 2024/25 school year, a total of 2,294 newly qualified teachers finished their probation year through Teacher Induction Scheme. Only 568 of them—roughly 25%—ever landed permanent positions.
The growing precariousness of teaching jobs across Scotland have contributed to serious financial hardship for many teachers. This anonymous teacher has remained on that same supply list for nearly nine-and-a-half years. They told us they were in over their heads with £50,000 in debt and nearly went bankrupt. The teacher lamented, “It has been so stressful, and has left me with bills I have been unable to pay.”
Another educator echoed similar sentiments, stating, “I have been working contract to contract.” This cycle of precarious labor has much wider implications beyond economic insecurity. It harms mental well-being as well. The anonymous teacher shared a harrowing experience: “I got myself in such a bad place last year. I tried to take my own life.”
Fraser faced severe emotional distress due to job insecurity, revealing, “I got myself in such a bad place last year and tried to take my own life due to job insecurity.” She expressed her fear about returning to Scotland, saying, “I am now engaged and want to move back to Scotland to be with my family, but I am so scared about coming home and having to re-enter this dire job crisis.”
In response to the ongoing issues within the education sector, the Scottish government announced it would provide £186.5 million to local authorities for the 2025-26 period. Without this funding, teachers won’t be rehired to the levels that they were in 2023. Educators and unions continue to doubt that these aren’t just window-dressing measures that will achieve any real effect.
General Secretary Andrea Bradley expressed concern over the current state of employment for teachers, stating that many qualified individuals are “limping from one temporary contract to another.” This lack of stability creates the perfect storm for cooking experienced teachers to at least think about leaving the profession completely.
The Scottish government has recognised the financial reality facing Scottish education. As SPTC’s Jenny Gilruth pointed out, the cost of hiring teachers has skyrocketed compared to 2021. She acknowledged the government’s intention to take on these challenges, but cautioned that the path forward is still murky.
Furthermore, teachers argue that local councils would rather hire temporary support as the government pays for probationers. This practice severely worsens the job crisis by cutting many highly qualified educators out of the opportunity to get hired. One anonymous teacher remarked, “The council do this to save money as the government pays for probationers,” emphasizing how this cycle leaves many unable to secure stable work.
The current landscape for teachers in Scotland raises critical questions about how effectively national and local governments are collaborating to resolve these challenges. The instability abroad is prompting many educators, such as Louise Fraser, to look for opportunities overseas. At the same time, the fate of the profession in Scotland hangs in the balance.
