A little preparation can go a long way, especially when welcoming supply teachers into your school…
When teachers are on a trip or away on a training day, someone else will walk into their classroom to keep the lesson going. They’ll be handed a register and a worksheet (if they’re lucky!) and then be left to get on with things…
NASUWT’s annual survey of supply teachers in England, completed by 570 teachers in 2024/25, gives us an insight into the supply teacher’s working life. In addition, some willing supply teachers also gave RISE their own insights (and a big thank you to all who responded to our call! 🙏).
The picture is more mixed than you might expect, and secondary colleagues can actually do something about some parts of it…
Why people choose supply
In a profession where flexible working is so often off the table, supply teaching can attractive, if that’s what you need. In the survey, 27% said they took up supply work to gain more control over the work they do, and 17% were concerned about the growing workload in schools. When asked about the advantages of supply teaching, respondents most often named freedom and flexibility (33%), then work-life balance, such as no planning or report writing (27%), and variety (13%).
Our teachers’ comments confirm this. One said the flexibility “works very well for me”. Another enjoys meeting different students and seeing different school environments, plus, they really value the chance to pick up different teaching approaches along the way.
There are real highs in the job too. One teacher described walking into a class with a reputation for being difficult, only for the students to be asking by the end of the day whether they’d be back. As they put it, “sometimes students just need someone to give them a fresh start…rather than judge them by their reputation”. Another said that having full ownership of a class for several months “taught me more than any of my education courses did”.
Finding the work
However, along with this flexibility comes uncertainty and job insecurity. Just over half of respondents in the survey (52%) said they’d had no problems securing work in 2024/25, but 38% had some problems, 9% had significant problems and 1% couldn’t find any. Thirty-nine per cent said there was less work than the year before, while 12% said there was more.
So, lots of supply teachers are juggling multiple roles. Some 42% worked in more than five schools, and 56% said most of their work was ad hoc or daily cover. A quarter (25%) got five days’ work a week, but in reality, 81% wanted to work three to five days.
Pay and security
Fair pay in supply teaching work is a big area of concern. Just under half (48%) reported earning less than the minimum of the Main Pay Range, whatever their level of teaching experience.
More than half (54%) said their agency operated a ceiling on pay, and 17% said they earned more through a local authority or directly with a school.
These are qualified, often highly experienced teachers, but 46% of them reported financial hardship of some kind. Twelve per cent had claimed a state benefit such as Universal Credit and 4% had used a food bank – and 40% were looking for work outside teaching.
Feeling welcome, or maybe not
The vast majority of survey respondents said that teaching colleagues made them feel welcome always (31%) or often (59%). In fact, only 9% said they were rarely made to feel welcome by the school they had been assigned to.
However, 34% said they weren’t treated with respect and dignity. Students were by far the toughest audience, with 17% saying they were rarely made to feel welcome by them. One teacher explained the problem well, saying that they carried all the responsibility for the classroom, “but not always the same level of authority or respect that came with being the permanent teacher”. That disconnect, they said, was “exhausting in a way I don’t think I expected”.
Walking in blind
Imagine starting the day without this kind of basic information:
- no risk assessment (55%)
- not been shown around the site (35%)
- no log-in details (17%)
- no access to relevant teaching materials (28%)
- no class list, including medical, behavioural or SEND details (39%)
- not being told about students known to be potentially violent (or how to manage them) (55%)
One supply teacher described arriving at a school where, “I was given almost no information about the class or lesson. The students were already unsettled, and I spent the first part of the day trying to figure out what was expected of me”.
What your school can do
Making the life of the supply teacher easier doesn’t require lots of effort. Small things can make a big difference to how quickly they can settle in and begin to create a meaningful connection with the students.
- Put a simple pack together. Nothing too elaborate – perhaps a seating plan or class list that flags SEND and medical needs, the timetable, the behaviour policy (and who to call), and log-in details. Once done, much of it can be duplicated for different supply colleagues coming in after that.
- Say hello. Tell them where the staffroom, toilets and kettle are. In the survey, 62% didn’t always have access to staff food and drink facilities(!).
- Back them up on behaviour. Imagine you’re in their role. If you’d appreciate support like this in a strange school, then it’s great to extend that to others.
- Treat them as a colleague. Use their name, ask how it went – and thank them!
Supply teachers keep our classrooms running. A little preparation and a friendly welcome can make a real difference to the person who steps in to save the lesson.
