The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), which represents all teachers employed in secondary schools across Scotland, recently conducted a survey as part of its “Delivering the 90 Minutes” campaign to better understand the staffing situation in secondary education.
For several years, secondary schools have struggled to recruit sufficient subject-specialist teachers to meet curricular needs. With the Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce teachers’ class contact time by 90 minutes per week, the SSTA sought a clearer picture of the current challenges facing schools.
The survey revealed that 46% of members reported teachers being required to teach subjects outside their specialism, while a further 35% were unsure. Alarmingly, 45% of respondents indicated that these teachers were also responsible for examination classes.
Members also reported that 54% of schools are employing primary-qualified teachers, with an additional 22% unsure whether this was the case.
When asked how these primary-trained colleagues were being deployed, 84% of respondents said they were working in Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Guidance roles. However, 88% reported that primary-qualified teachers were teaching Broad General Education (BGE) classes (S1–S3), and 27% stated that they were teaching qualification-level classes (S4–S6).
Monique Dreon-Goold, SSTA President, commented:
“It is widely known that Scotland faces a serious shortage of secondary teachers. The continued failure to attract enough graduates into secondary teacher education is deeply concerning. This situation adds to the work-related stress experienced by teachers, many of whom are struggling under impossible workload demands while supporting an increasing number of pupils with additional support needs. It is no surprise that so many are leaving the profession.”
Seamus Searson, SSTA General Secretary, added:
“Addressing the shortage of qualified secondary teachers must be an urgent priority for the Scottish Government and COSLA. Current recruitment measures are not delivering results — new and creative strategies are needed to attract and retain teachers.”
“While the SSTA represents all teachers working in secondary schools, employers must ensure that every teacher receives appropriate support and training, and that opportunities are provided for dual qualification where possible, to maintain the quality of education for our young people.”
“Reducing teacher workload would be a strong first step. Implementing the 90-minute reduction in class contact time would demonstrate that employers acknowledge the growing pressures teachers face.”
[ENDS]
Further information from:
Seamus Searson
General Secretary
Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association
Statistics from the Delivering the 90 Minutes” Survey
Q. Do you have Primary Qualified Teachers working in your school?
| Yes | 54.11% |
| No | 23.93% |
| Don’t Know | 21.95% |
Q. If Yes, Do you have Primary Qualified Teachers working in your school?
| teach in S1 to S3 (BGE)? | 88.05 |
| teach qualification classes? | 26.98% |
| work in ASN or Guidance? | 84.32% |
Q. Many schools are having difficulties recruiting secondary qualified teachers to fill subject-specific vacancies. How would you feel if it was proposed to increase opportunities for primary qualified teachers to be employed teaching in the early years of secondary schools as a way of addressing these shortages?
| Open to that possibility if it were only in BGE classes | 26.79% |
| Open to that possibility if it were only teaching literacy and numeracy skills within BGE | 27.17% |
| Opposed unless those appointed had embarked on gaining registration for teaching in secondary | 15.23% |
| Opposed unless those appointed had also gained registration for teaching in secondary | 24.66% |
| Don’t Know | 6.15% |
Q. Would you be prepared to teach your specialist subject in more than one school within your authority to support the introduction of the reduction in class contact time?
| Yes | 19.35% |
| No | 68.95% |
| Don’t Know | 11.70% |