Only third of new teachers in full-time job after qualifying

Published on Wednesday 3 June 2009 20:55

ONLY about a third of new teachers have secured full-time permanent work almost a year after qualifying, a survey has shown.

But the number of teachers with no job at all has halved over the past six months, according to the figures released by the General Teaching Council Scotland yesterday.

And about nine out of ten new teachers are in some form of employment, the May survey found. This is up 10 per cent on the previous six months and includes part-time, supply and temporary work.

Schools minister Keith Brown said: "This is continued evidence of the fact that teaching posts occur throughout the year. If every new teacher obtained a post in August, we would now be facing a teacher shortage."

The survey took in 1,334 of the 3,389 teachers who qualified last June after their induction year.

Of these, 35.7 per cent found full-time permanent jobs. This is up from 30.6 per cent when a similar survey was held six months ago, but down from 48 per cent on the same period last year.

The number of unemployed teachers has fallen from 21 per cent last autumn to 10.6 per cent – but this is up from 7.3 per cent at the same time last year.

And the proportion of teachers in part-time work – both permanent and temporary – has risen to 11.5 per cent – up from 8.3 per cent six months ago, while the figure was 9.3 per cent a year ago.

About a fifth (19.6 per cent) of teachers are in supply work, according to the survey – up from 12.7 per cent the same time last year.

Mr Brown added: " We should remember that no profession guarantees graduates a permanent job immediately."