These seminars provide a number of continuing professional development (CPD) workshops tailored to your career needs, as well as opportunities to network with other supply teachers.

These events are FREE to eligible members and provide you with the opportunity to be updated on current developments in education.

Tap/click on the image(s) below to find more details of upcoming events, including what you can expect from the event and how to book. (Events appear here as they become available.)

Supply Teachers’ Seminar - March 2025

On 8 March, NASUWT Senior Vice-President Wayne Broom welcomed members to the online Supply Teachers’ Seminar.

The day opened with the Supply Teachers’ Forum and an update of work undertaken by the Union on behalf of supply teachers in the six months since the September 2024 Supply Teachers’ Seminar.

The presentation reflected on several strands of work, including the Supply Teacher Annual Survey, which NASUWT undertakes every year across each of the nations to track issues facing supply teachers, including trends in patterns of work and pay.

The 2024 reports of the Northern Ireland and Scotland survey responses are available on our Supply Teacher Annual Survey pages. The England and Wales reports will be available shortly.

The update also covered:

  • Evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) in England, including oral evidence on issues associated with supply teachers, and the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) in Wales. The Union’s submissions can be found on:

  • Correspondence and engagement with Secretary of State in England, Bridget Phillipson:

  • Following the General Election, the Union has been working at pace with the TUC on a number policy areas as part of the Labour Party’s manifesto commitments, e.g. TUC ULON (union legal officers network) group and TUC procurement and outsourcing group.

  • Significant contributions to the TUC group submission to the Covid Inquiry, including module 9 and financial support available to workers.

  • Employment Rights Bill: the Union continues to monitor the Bill as it makes its way through the various committee and report stages, including the potential impact on agency workers, such as supply teachers. Consultation responses available:

  • Statutory sick pay: the Union has been working with the Centre for Progressive Change in its Safe Sick Pay Campaign.

  • Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2025/26: consultation response available at 2025/26 Labour Market Enforcement Strategy (pdf).

  • In Scotland, key points raised by supply teacher members at the most recent session held in Scotland, especially around job availability, have been raised with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Jenny Gilruth MSP.

  • In Wales, NASUWT is working through social partnership structures to get the National Supply Pool established and the Welsh Government is looking to pick up IWPRB recommendations on supply, following the strategic review Supply and Demand: Covering Teachers’ Absence. This can be downloaded from the Senedd website (pdf).

Following this, individual questions from members were answered, before a presentation on the main findings of the Supply Teacher Annual Survey. The full findings for each of the four national reports can be found on the relevant web page when you follow the link.

Next was the Negotiating a Better Deal discussion which opened up the opportunity for supply teachers to share their own experiences of how they have personally negotiated and secured better deals with their agencies. Teachers contributed experiences such as:

  • using competing agency offers to gain an increase in their pay;

  • negotiating a better rate to cover higher travel expenses;

  • signing up with an alternative agency where there are better rates;

  • challenging some of the worst criteria that agencies and schools attempt to impose around length and type of service;

  • the advantages and disadvantages of working through an umbrella company; and

  • the lack of transparency that can exist within schools around the comparable rights and entitlements for supply teachers.

Watch again

We recorded the two afternoon workshops, which covered the following topics:

  1. Curriculum and Assessment Review Update for Supply Teachers - Darren Northcott, National Official (Education), NASUWT

  1. Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) - Assisting a Claim for Equal Pay: An Introduction for Those New to Supply Teaching - Paul Watkins, National Negotiating Official, NASUWT

Supply Teachers’ Seminar - September 2024

NASUWT Senior Vice-President Wayne Broom welcomed members to the second Supply Teachers’ Seminar of 2024, which took place online on 28 September.

Paul Watkins, NASUWT National Negotiating Official (NNO), opened the Supply Teachers’ Forum with a round-up of the work the Union has been undertaking on behalf of supply teachers since the earlier Supply Teachers’ Seminar in March.

The presentation reflected on several strands of work, including the Supply Teacher Annual Survey that NASUWT undertakes to track issues facing supply teachers, including trends in patterns of work and pay.

The full results of the surveys across the four UK nations will be available on our Supply Teacher Annual Survey report pages.

NASUWT continues to make the case for including supply teachers in the STRB and IWPRB pay review processes as we begin collating and submitting evidence to the review bodies.

Tips for supply teachers

  • Do some background research.

  • Understand your market value.

  • Check whether the agency/agencies hold accreditation with one of the two main trade bodies.

  • See if the agency/agencies operate on the Crown Commercial Services procurement scheme for supply teachers in England or the NPS in Wales.

  • Do not hesitate in asking them about rates of pay and comparing this to other agencies.

  • Revisit your pay on a regular basis.

  • Remember that all agencies charge a commission, so there may be flexibility in the charge rate to uplift your daily rate of pay.

  • Gradually consider cutting out the agency/agencies altogether and working directly for the school.

  • Retain copies of your payslips as evidence of the rate that other agencies and schools/colleges are willing to pay.

Following changes in the law in April to the way holiday pay is calculated, NASUWT invited supply members to submit claims which were reviewed and submitted on their behalf.

Subsequent to this year’s General Election, the Union has been working with the TUC on a number of policy areas as part of the Labour Party’s manifesto commitments and continues to engage regularly with the Employment Agencies Standards (EAS) Inspectorate and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) regarding the situation for supply teachers.

Looking at work NASUWT is doing in the devolved nations
  • Northern Ireland

    • NASUWT has been pushing employers for a compliance report on how schools are using NISTR;

    • the Union continues to raise the issue of teaching posts being advertised on the ‘NI Substitute Jobs’ Facebook page.

  • Scotland

    • the Union drafted a motion to improve supply teacher conditions to the SNCT, which, despite being withdrawn on a technicality, garnered widespread support;

    • this was further discussed at a joint union meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, as well as access to work and the absence of a national supply register.

  • Wales

    • a summit of all stakeholders was held in May 2024 to look at the next steps on a national booking platform;

    • NASUWT colleagues in Wales noted the conclusion of Operation Dysgu which was undertaken by the EAS Inspectorate looking into supply agencies operating during 2022/23. The findings showed that there had been an improvement in compliance in the last five years, based on ten visits and 19 infringements.

Members were then encouraged to use the Q&A tool to take part in an open discussion putting forward their individual enquiries, including questions ranging from inclusion in pension schemes, umbrella companies, zero-hours contracts and other contractual queries to the lack of consistency on how much supply teachers can earn and completing induction as an early career teacher (ECT) while on supply.

This was followed by an update in respect of agency workers by Matt Creagh, Employment Rights Policy Officer at the TUC, and the work the unions are engaged in as part of the government’s New Deal for Working People, as well as the impact of employment reforms on supply teachers.

During the presentation on statutory sick pay (SSP), Emma Kosmin, Senior Campaigner at the Centre for Progressive Change, talked to members about the Safe Sick Pay Campaign, which NASUWT is supporting, and how they are advocating to improve the scheme by:

  • strengthening statutory sick pay by increasing the basic rate at which it is paid;

  • removing the lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay to make it available to all workers; and

  • removing the waiting period for statutory sick pay so that it is paid from the first day of sickness.

This was followed by a lively interactive discussion on sick pay and the difficulties that some supply teachers face in accessing it.

You can read more about how NASUWT is supporting the campaign and how you can take part on our Statutory Sick Pay for Supply Teachers advice pages:

Throughout the day, presenters addressed concerns and queries raised by members via the Q&A tool, while a series of workshops covered the following topics:

Workshop sessions:

  1. How to Mitigate Stress and Feel in Control - Katie Crooks, The Artist’s Hypnotherapist

  2. Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) - Paul Watkins, NASUWT National Negotiating Official

  3. Pensions Arrangements for Supply Teachers - Dave Wilkinson, NASUWT National Negotiating Official

  4. An Introduction for Those New to Supply Teaching - Paul Watkins, NASUWT National Negotiating Official

Watch recordings

Don’t miss out

If you’re not yet a member but want to attend our Supply Teachers’ Seminars, and get access to other exclusive member benefits, why not join today?

You can find out more about why you should join us or go straight to our Online Joining site to take full advantage of our wider programme of events, training and discount scheme.

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The NASUWT is a member-led Union, which means you getting actively involved in your Union to support your colleagues and fellow teachers at work.

Getting active in the Union can take a variety of forms and will mean you get access to FREE training, support, and personal and professional development: you can be proud in the knowledge that you are undertaking a role that helps teachers in their workplaces.

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