Excessive hours. Not wanting to become part of a “failing system”. Physical and verbal abuse from pupils. Racism. These are cited as reasons why some Scottish teachers are plotting their exit from the classroom.

A new survey conducted by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee has also found that the “horrendous” workload in teaching and the “stress-filled environment” in schools are putting student teachers and probationers off the job before their careers have even got going.

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One probationer said: “I feel like there is far too much work, reports and planning that is expected to be completed in your own time. With no compensation…I received [a] one-hour lecture on additional support needs. That doesn’t translate to the amount of daily needs that I have to deal with.”

Another said: “It all comes down to workload. I know the first two to three years will be the worst, but long term I want a job with a good work-life balance. Teacher workload is enormous, especially when you take marking time into account.”

One fully fledged teacher said that they were thinking of leaving at the end of this year because, for three years, they had been teaching a multi-course class with pupils studying four qualifications: National 3, 4 and 5, as well as Higher.

That teacher described the behaviour in their school as “outrageous” and added that “pupils bring knives to school” and a probationary teacher had been threatened.

Another teacher said they were expected to be “bouncer”, “social worker”, and “surrogate mum” as well as to “fund school resources from [my] own pocket and be [a] reflective practitioner who caters for individual learning needs of 30+ pupils and creates resources for each lesson with no support assistants”.

They added: “Actual teaching [is] very low on [the] list of priorities. Not the job it’s supposed to be.”

The survey - part of the committee’s inquiry into teacher education - elicited 653 responses from student teachers, probationers, fully fledged teachers and former teachers.

The survey included a question about how long respondents planned to remain in teaching.

It found that while 62 per cent of the respondents intended to stay in the job for more than 10 years, 15 per cent did not want to stay in the profession long-term and a further 3 per cent had either already left or would not be joining the profession. The remainder said they did not know how long they would stay in teaching.

Of those who said they would not remain in the profession in the long term, 160 went on to explain why, with the majority of responses falling into one of four categories: workload; lack of resources; inability to meet additional support needs; and culture.

Being unable to strike a good work-life balance was a common complaint among the respondents.

They expressed concerns about being able to dedicate enough time to family and friends if they continued in the profession.

One respondent who was already working as a teacher described the workload as at times “overwhelming”, adding: “I constantly bring work home and find that even when I don’t have physical work to do at home I still bring home the emotional baggage of the job.”

Another said they definitely did not think their current workload as a primary teacher would be “sustainable alongside raising my own children”.

The teacher added: “I would not have enough quality time with them while they are young if I stay in teaching full time. My mental wellbeing and that of my family will suffer.”

Pupil behaviour was also raised as an issue. The teachers, students and probationers talked about being verbally abused and attacked - as well as feeling they were letting children with additional support needs down. They talked about a lack of support assistants but one respondent also said those that did exist were too poorly paid and trained.  

One teacher said they were struggling to cope with “violence, verbal abuse and emotional meltdowns from children” with additional support needs.

The teacher added: “While I wholeheartedly agree with inclusion in all its forms, I strongly believe we are failing teachers, support staff and children (both with additional needs and without) by the lack of funding to support these pupils.”

A newly qualified teacher, meanwhile, said: “The restorative practice is NOT working in schools and it needs to be addressed as it is getting to the point that teachers’ and pupils’ safety is being put at risk. No child or teacher should be coming into a classroom worrying if they are going to have to be evacuated from the classroom because a single child in the class has lost their temper.”

And although racism was not commonly raised as an issue, it was highlighted by a newly qualified teacher and a probationer teacher. The newly qualified teacher said that they had “ended up with a racist teacher on my first placement…who would shout at me in front of the class”.

The probationer cited “racist comments and hate crimes from some staff and some students” as a reason for not wanting to remain in the profession.