Just one in five newly qualified primary teachers who trained in Scotland had found permanent jobs in Scottish state schools at the beginning of the current academic year in September, Tes Scotland can reveal.
Last year 19.9 per cent of the 2021-22 cohort of probationers had secured a permanent post by the September after they became fully qualified.
This compares with 22.8 per cent of new primary teachers securing a permanent post, either full-time or part-time, in September 2021, and almost one in three in September 2020 (29.8 per cent).
And it is in contrast to well over half of new primary teachers (57.6 per cent) managing to secure permanent jobs the school year after probation in September 2017.
Meanwhile, over a third (35.5 per cent) of primary teachers who completed the teacher induction scheme in 2021-22 were not working in Scottish state schools by the start of the following academic year in September 2022.
That could be because they had found work in the independent sector or as supply teachers - but it could also be because they could not find work and were unemployed, or had left teaching.
The previous year only 22.9 per cent of new primary teachers were not working in Scottish state schools in the September following their probation, and the year before that just 16.5 per cent had failed to secure jobs in the state sector.
The figures give a more in-depth picture of the challenges facing new recruits to the profession after they complete the teacher induction scheme.
New primary teachers struggling to find jobs
The scheme guarantees graduates from Scottish teacher education institutions a job in a school for a year so they can become fully qualified, but following the one-year induction new teachers must compete for jobs.
Last month Tes Scotland reported on Scottish government figures showing that overall 70 per cent of probationers from the 2021-22 cohort found work in Scottish state schools by September last year, at the start of the current academic year.
That was down from 80 per cent for the previous cohort (2020-21) and 85 per cent for the 2019-20 cohort.
Now these more detailed figures show that new primary teachers are less likely to find work following probation than new secondary teachers - a trend that Tes Scotland has highlighted in the past .
However, the figures show that employment prospects for new teachers in both sectors have worsened in recent years.
In total nearly two-thirds (64.4 per cent) of new primary teachers who carried out their probation in 2021-22 were working in state schools by September 2022.
But just 19.9 per cent secured permanent contracts. A further 44.5 per cent were employed on temporary contracts.
The remaining 35.5 per cent were classified as “other”, which is defined as “those teaching elsewhere, including in the independent sector, those who have found supply work, and those who are unemployed or who have left teaching”.
Meanwhile, over three-quarters (76.9 per cent) of secondary teachers who completed their probation in 2021-22 secured either permanent or temporary work in Scottish state schools by September 2022.
Almost half (49.9 per cent) got permanent jobs - as compared with one-fifth of new primary teachers - and a further 27 per cent secured temporary work.
Around a quarter (23.1 per cent) of new secondary teachers were classified as “other” - which could mean they were unemployed, had left teaching or were working in the private sector, or on supply.
While half of last year’s secondary probationers had a permanent job by September, that figure was almost 60 per cent for the 2016-17 cohort of probationers.
And while 76.9 per cent of new secondary teachers had found some kind of work in Scottish state schools by September 2022, that figure was 84.3 per cent in the previous year and 86.5 per cent the year before that.
For secondary teachers, subject specialism has a significant bearing on their success in finding a post. The figures for last year’s probationers show that geography, art and design and biology teachers were the least likely to get a permanent post immediately after becoming fully qualified. Meanwhile, home economics teachers were most likely to secure a permanent post - just over 75 per cent had a permanent job by September - followed by drama and technical education teachers.
The fact that new teachers are finding it harder to get work is counterintuitive given the Scottish government’s pledge to increase teacher numbers by 3,500 over the course of the current Parliament and the £145.5 million annual funding it says it has given to councils to employ additional teachers and classroom assistants.
However, government figures also show that teacher numbers are moving in the wrong direction, with 92 fewer full-time equivalents (FTE) working in Scottish schools in September last year, compared with September 2021.
The EIS teaching union has described the dip in numbers as “unacceptable”. EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said it was “quite remarkable that we now have fewer teachers despite the funding that was specifically provided to support the employment of more teachers”.
