A “golden hello” urging new teachers to plug staffing gaps in rural schools was taken up by fewer than one in ten probationers.
According to figures from the General Teaching Council for Scotland, 6.8 per cent (210) of the 3,099 probationary teachers in 2022-23 opted for the “preference waiver payment”. The incentive allows student teachers to be placed anywhere in Scotland, instead of choosing five preferred local authorities, with secondary school teachers given £8,000 and primary, £6,000.
Further data published shows a declining trend, with 254 students taking up the payment in 2021-22, down from 322 in 2020-21, 310 in 2019-20, and 332 in 2018-19. In 2011 the figure was as high as 375, The Scotsman reported.
