Around half of secondary teachers know of colleagues in their school who are taking subjects outside their specialism, including many who are taking exam-level classes, a survey has found.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA), in a poll of 2,811 members, also found that more than half know of primary teachers being employed in their school.
The survey is part of the SSTA’s “Delivering the 90 Minutes” campaign to ease workload by pressuring the Scottish government to enact its pledge to reduce class-contact time.
‘Deepening crisis’ of teacher shortages
The union said that its findings allow a better understanding of the “deepening crisis” of secondary teacher shortages.
Some 46 per cent of members surveyed reported teachers being required to teach subjects outside their specialism, while a further 35 per cent were unsure if this was happening.
The SSTA added: “Alarmingly, 45 per cent of respondents indicated that these teachers were also responsible for examination classes.”
The survey findings, released this afternoon, also indicated that 54 per cent of schools were employing primary-qualified teachers, with an additional 22 per cent of respondents unsure whether this was the case.
Some 84 per cent said primary-trained colleagues were being deployed in additional support needs (ASN) and guidance roles.
The survey also found 88 per cent reporting that primary-qualified teachers were teaching broad general education (BGE) classes (S1-3), while 27 per cent stated that they were teaching “qualification-level classes” (S4-S6).
Monique Dreon-Goold, SSTA president, said: “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 ASN. It is no surprise that so many are leaving the profession.”
Seamus Searson, SSTA general secretary, said: “Addressing the shortage of qualified secondary teachers must be an urgent priority for the Scottish government and [local authorities’ body] Cosla. Current recruitment measures are not delivering results - new and creative strategies are needed to attract and retain teachers.”
Official data shows that in 2024-25, of the 2,000 places available on the secondary PGDE postgraduate route, just 1,062 (53 per cent) were filled.
Teachers face ‘growing pressures’
Mr Searson added: “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 [primary and secondary] 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.”
The SSTA previously called in April for the inspectorate at Education Scotland to ensure that schools have appropriately qualified teachers delivering lessons, after warning that headteachers and councils are blurring teacher registration categories in order to fill vacancies. The union was concerned that primary teachers were increasingly being relied on to fill gaps in secondary schools, citing maths as one subject where this was common.
In a piece for Tes Scotland in June, General Teaching Council for Scotland chief executive Pauline Stephen indicated that more teachers could make use of the opportunity to gain registration across both primary and secondary schools.
She suggested there might be a need for a “fundamental rethink about how we give teachers the flexibility to develop professionally”.
Today’s SSTA survey also asked secondary teachers how they would 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 [staff] shortages”.
Respondents were more likely to back the idea if primary teachers were only working in BGE classes.
Working in more than one school
The SSTA survey also addressed the logistical difficulties of implementing the government’s class-contact time promise by asking members if they would be willing to teach their specialist subject in more than one school in their local authority, in order to support the policy’s introduction.
Only 19 per cent answered “yes” while 69 per cent answered “no”.
This week, the NASUWT teaching union said it would ballot for industrial action “over the failure of the Scottish government to make significant progress on its manifesto commitment to reduce teachers’ maximum class-contact time from 22.5 to 21 hours per week”.
Earlier this month, the EIS teaching union moved closer to a statutory ballot over contact time, which it views as crucial in tackling teacher workload.
A Scottish government spokesperson, responding to today’s SSTA survey, said: “Although teacher recruitment is a matter for local authorities, education is a key priority for the Scottish government, which is why we are taking decisive action and investing heavily to help recruit and retain teachers.
“Over the past 10 years the number of teachers in permanent posts has remained stable at over 80 per cent, and since 2014 the number of school teachers in post has increased by 8 per cent, from 49,521 to 53,331, as of December 2023.”
The spokesperson added: “We are providing local authorities with increased funding of £186.5 million to protect teacher numbers, alongside an additional £28 million to support better outcomes for children with ASN, including the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce.
“We will continue to work with teaching unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class-contact time at pace.”
A Cosla spokesperson said it was “working with the Scottish government on a proposal to reduce class contact time for Scottish teachers”, but that “difficulties in recruiting teachers in certain areas are being considered”, while “teacher supply and the points raised by SSTA are among the challenges we are discussing”.
The spokesperson added: “We are disappointed that disputes are being raised over the government manifesto commitment to reduce class-contact time by 90 minutes per week. We value good industrial relations with our unions.”
“Disputes which could disrupt the delivery of education is in no-one’s best interests and will do nothing to improve the learning outcomes for Scotland’s young people.”
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