Almost 17,000 teachers were employed on contracts of a month or less in England at the start of last year. A further 750 supply teachers had a contract of between one month and one term.
In answer to a question from Conservative MP Graham Brady, schools minister Estelle Morris said that on January 20 last year, 4,800 agncy supply teachers and 16,600 non-agency supply teachers worked in maintained schools on contracts of one month or less.
Ms Morris said that the flu epidemic and the requirement for schools to reduce induction-year teachers’ timetables by 10 per cent may have increased the demand for short-term supply staff.
