Supply teachers are cutting the distance that they are willing to travel for work because of rising fuel costs and other financial pressures.
Fuel prices have risen steadily to record levels this year, with the price of petrol passing 190p per litre this week.
And many supply staff are starting to believe that long-distance commutes are no longer financially worthwhile.
Some have suggested to Tes that they are rejecting jobs when the travelling distance is 20 or 30 miles, and setting their limit at around 10 miles.
School leaders have said the trend could be alarming for rural schools, which may not have a large base of supply teachers within a short distance.
National Supply Teachers’ Network spokesperson Tim Holden said the issue of fuel costs has been widely discussed online in recent months by members.
Supply teachers struggling with high fuel costs
Mr Holden, who is a supply teacher based in Yorkshire, said: “Many supply teachers are often asked by agencies to do round trips of up to 100 miles. While supply teachers living in cities can often rely on public transport, those of us working in rural areas have no option but to drive.
“The spiralling cost of fuel means that supply teachers are increasingly having to say they are unable to cover teachers because of the cost of getting there.”
He added: “In some rural areas, schools are starting to struggle to get sufficient supply teachers.”
Other supply staff echoed his comments. Chris Dicken, a supply teacher in Northamptonshire, said he had recently been working in a school that was around 20 miles away but that he would not go there again.
“I’m happy to work in Northampton as that is about five or six miles away, and that is OK. But a lot of schools are quite rural and it’s not economical to go there, especially with the cuts that supply agencies take,” he said.
Samantha Parnell, a supply teacher in Devon, said that it was typical in the county for supply staff to travel 30 miles each way for a job, but that this was not something she was considering any more.
“When you factor in the travel, the fuel and the wear and tear to your car, costs are high. This morning I was asked to go 19 miles for a job but that really is not worth it any more”, she said.
Rebecca Lewis, a teacher in Buckinghamshire, said she had recently had a supply teaching assistant travel 40 minutes to work in her class but had been told that she would not be travelling the distance again.
She said the supply TA had told her that the agency had “begged her” to travel the distance but it was not “worth her while” to do so in future, at least partly due to rising costs.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said rural schools sometimes faced difficulties recruiting permanent staff because of travel costs and public transport issues.
He added: “If they are unable to secure supply staff, this will create additional staffing pressures.”
Mr Barton said the major “difficulty” is that the level of teacher pay has fallen by about a fifth in real terms since 2010 and this has created major problems in terms of recruitment and retention in general.
“For individual schools, it means that considerations such as travel and housing costs are much more likely to figure in the thoughts of prospective staff when making job applications”, he said.
Schools have previously told Tes of the financial pressures they have faced in having to pay for supply teachers during this academic year, as a result of high Covid absence among staff.
One junior school headteacher said in April that his supply cover budget was already up 400 per cent for the academic year.
Another said he had experienced periods where six staff were off simultaneously, compared with a typical year, when staff were off sick for less than one day.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said recently: “We have proposed the highest pay awards in a generation for new teachers - 16.7 per cent over the next two years - alongside further pay awards for more experienced teachers and leaders.”
