The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) has warned that growing shortages of specialist secondary teachers are the result of years of inadequate workforce planning, weak retention strategies, and increasingly challenging working conditions.
Responding to reports that secondary schools are reducing subject choice due to difficulties recruiting specialist teachers. Scotland is now experiencing the consequences of a long-term failure to plan effectively for the staffing needs of secondary education.
SSTA President, Monique Dreon-Goold, said:
“The shortages we are seeing today did not happen overnight. The profession has warned for years that workforce planning in secondary education was failing to keep pace with future demand. The result is that schools are struggling to recruit specialist teachers in key subjects, with direct consequences for young people’s educational opportunities.”
The SSTA highlighted persistent shortages in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computing Science, Business Education, Technical Education, and other specialist subject areas. The Association believes one of the principal barriers to recruitment is that teaching is becoming a less attractive career option for graduates in these disciplines.
“Graduates with degrees in Mathematics, Science, Computing, and Business-related subjects have a wide range of career opportunities available to them. Starting salaries in teaching are often not sufficiently competitive when compared with opportunities in industry, technology, finance, and the private sector. If Scotland wants to attract highly qualified graduates into teaching, the profession must remain competitive.”
The SSTA also highlighted the continued use of temporary and short-term contracts, particularly affecting newly qualified teachers.
“Many young teachers complete their training only to face uncertainty about where they will work and whether they will secure permanent employment. This lack of job security discourages talented graduates from entering and remaining in the profession.”
While recruitment challenges remain particularly acute in rural and remote areas, shortages are increasingly being felt across Scotland, including in urban schools where vacancies are often difficult to fill.
The Association also expressed concern that secondary education is losing some of the advantages traditionally associated with subject specialism. The growth of large faculty structures has reduced opportunities for teachers to develop leadership roles within their specialist subject areas, making career progression less attractive for many experienced practitioners.
However, the SSTA stressed that recruitment cannot be considered separately from retention.
“The biggest challenge facing the profession is not simply recruiting teachers; it is retaining them. Too many skilled and experienced teachers are questioning whether they can remain in the profession until retirement.”
Members continue to report excessive workloads, increasing administrative demands, and growing expectations around assessment, tracking, and reporting. Many teachers regularly undertake significant amounts of work beyond their contracted hours.
Alongside workload pressures, the SSTA identified worsening pupil behaviour as a major factor affecting teacher retention.
“Teachers are increasingly reporting verbal abuse, threats, aggression, and, in some cases, physical violence. Behaviour that would once have been considered unacceptable is becoming normalised in too many schools. No profession can expect to recruit and retain staff if employees do not feel safe and supported in their workplace.”
The SSTA is calling for a comprehensive national strategy to address secondary teacher shortages, including:
- Improved long-term workforce planning.
- More permanent contracts for newly qualified teachers.
- Action to make teaching a more attractive career option for graduates in shortage subjects.
- Targeted support for hard-to-recruit schools and locations.
- Measures to reduce excessive workload.
- Stronger national action to tackle violence and aggressive behaviour towards school staff.
- Greater recognition, support, and promotion of subject specialism and subject leadership.
Concluding, SSTA President Monique Dreon-Goold said:
“Every pupil deserves access to qualified specialist teachers. Scotland’s teacher shortage is not inevitable; it is the result of policy choices and priorities. Unless action is taken to improve recruitment, retention, workload, and workplace safety, schools will continue to struggle to provide the breadth and quality of education that young people deserve.”