The Exploitation of Supply Teachers - It Needs To Stop!
There’s something happening in the education system that nobody wants to talk about.
It’s uncomfortable.
It’s unfair.
And it’s happening every single day to the people who keep schools from falling to their knees and sending children home: supply teachers.
I’ve been a teacher for 30 years. I’ve done long-term supply, day-to-day supply, and permanent roles.
And honestly? I’ll never do long-term supply again.
Not because I don’t love teaching. I do.
But because the way supply staff are treated would be front-page news if it happened in any other profession.
I’ve kept quiet for too long — but not anymore.
Women Are Carrying the Cost of a Broken System
Let’s be real.
Most long-term supply teachers are women.
Many choose supply because they’re juggling kids, ageing parents, partners with health issues, or they’re simply trying to stay afloat in a job that’s already emotionally draining.
That was me. My husband has a brain tumour. My kids were young. I needed flexibility. Supply was my only option. I didn’t have the time or financial stability to retrain. And besides — it’s contracting, right?
Contractors get paid more… don’t they?
Yes — in every other industry except the one dominated by women.
My husband worked as a contractor in IT and was paid handsomely. He was horrified when I started contracting.
Supply teachers walk into unfamiliar schools, new systems, new children, sometimes daily, and keep everything running when staffing collapses.
We are the emergency service of education.
Yet while most contracting agencies take 10–20%, supply agencies take 40%+.
The pay doesn’t reflect the expertise or responsibility we carry.
And here’s the bit nobody wants to admit:
Not only do supply teachers not get paid more than permanent staff…
we don’t even get paid the same. We get paid less.
The flexibility we need comes with a high price tag for the supply teacher.
No sick pay
No holiday pay
No job security
And pay so low it makes you wonder if you're a teacher or a babysitter
Imagine a qualified professional being paid LESS than your unqualified local bin man, who works fewer hours and has full benefits.
But of course an unqualified refuse collector working 40 hours would NEVER get paid more than a professional, qualified teacher working an average 60 hours a week, would they?
You’d think that — but you’d be wrong.
Why?
Because he’s a man.
And that’s exactly what’s happening. Today. Right now.
The gender pay gap is real.
Don’t Believe Me? Let’s Talk Numbers
A permanent teacher on M1 earns the equivalent of around £168.80 a day.
On the upper scale, this moves towards £260–£300 a day when you include pension, holidays, and benefits.
Yet some long-term supply teachers — doing the EXACT same workload — are being offered:
£130–£140 a day.
That’s less than M1.
Experienced teachers, with years of service, being paid less than an ECT.
Take that in.
We expect long-term supply teachers to:
Teach full days
Mark
Plan
Conduct parent meetings after school
Manage behaviour
Keep children safe
Communicate with parents
Do playground duty
All while being paid less than an unqualified role in other sectors — and well below a permanent teacher doing the same job.
It’s degrading.
It’s demoralising.
It’s completely illogical.
So how are agencies getting away with it?
Because those same teachers are being paid £100–£120 day-to-day. So when they’re offered a bit more for long-term supply, it feels like a better deal.
It isn’t.
The cost of living has gone up dramatically, yet they’re still being paid what I earned 30 years ago.
The 12-Week Pay Rule – Legalised Underpayment
Now let’s talk about the biggest insult of all.
The 12-week pay rule.
This one is genius — in the worst possible way. Robin Hood would be spitting feathers.
Apparently, you have to do a FULL teacher workload, for the FIRST 12 weeks of a long-term placement, at your normal day-to-day rate…
and then you’re put onto scale.
Twelve weeks.
Three months.
An entire term.
Underpaid — legally.
I’ve never accepted that. I always insist on scale from day one or I don’t work.
But that’s because after 30 years, I have a strong reputation and schools value me.
But so many teachers don’t know they can say no. And agencies rely on that.
And here’s where it gets even worse…
Sometimes after the 12 weeks, guess what?
The role “disappears”.
Gets filled internally — apparently.
Or they bring in another teacher…
to start the 12 weeks all over again.
Ethical? No.
Exploitation? Yes.
Modern day slavery? Absolutely.
If you do long-term supply, INSIST on being paid to scale from day one.
If not — walk away.
And the Worst Bit? Schools Often Don’t Know
Here’s the bit that shocked me the most.
I was once paid £190 a day for a long-term role.
But the school believed I was being paid £220 — because that’s what “to scale” was.
That’s a £30 a day difference.
Over the year?
£5,000 missing.
Who got that?
Not me.
The agency kept the difference AND kept the commission they charged the school.
Teachers do the work.
Agencies take the money.
Schools are none the wiser.
It’s not rare.
It’s not an accident.
It’s the system.
One school was so disgusted when they learned what I was being paid that they offered me a 2-year contract directly — to scale.
They saved money too, even after paying my release fee.
Conditions That Would Make Any HR Department Cry
Here are real things happening to supply teachers:
Teaching for four hours straight with no break
Entire staff doing daily playground duty because auxiliary staff were cut
Teaching assistants covering lunch because the school couldn’t budget for support
Supply teachers being paid HALF what the person next to them is paid for the same job
And when you challenge it?
“We’re following government guidelines.”
That doesn’t make it ethical.
It makes it shameful.
Enough Is Enough — Here’s What Needs to Change
If we want to keep good supply teachers in the workforce, we need:
Full pay from day one of a long-term role
Transparency between agencies, schools, and staff — agencies MUST disclose how much of the school’s money actually goes to the teacher
A ban on paying qualified supply teachers near minimum wage
Holiday pay on top
Guaranteed breaks and manageable workload
National rules that stop agencies quietly pocketing the difference
Supply teachers are the emergency service of education.
It’s time they were treated with the same urgency and respect — because without them, schools would close and children would be sent home.
If You’re a Supply Teacher and You Feel You Have No Choice but to Accept These Conditions… Do This Instead
Only do day-to-day supply.
You finish at 3:30pm and can build a second income after school:
private tuition
online tutoring
after-school tuition programmes
or any other role that pays properly
Online tutoring is booming. It’s more consistent, you teach fewer children, and the workload is lighter.
Your mental health improves.
And you can work fewer hours long-term.
But please — with love — don’t waste your time on long-term supply if they refuse to pay you what you are worth.
Have some self-respect.
You deserve more.
And the system won’t change until teachers stop tolerating unacceptable treatment.
This isn't new news - but it's not acceptable - see for yourself:
