How to Get Started as a Supply Teacher

Supply teaching appeals to education professionals for many reasons — flexibility, variety, a route back into the classroom, or a stepping stone toward a permanent post. But knowing where to start can be less obvious than it first appears.

This guide sets out the practical steps: what you need in place before you can work, how the registration process works, and what to think about before your first placement.

To work as a supply teacher in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools, and maintained nursery schools in England, you need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This applies whether you are doing day-to-day cover or a long-term placement.

QTS is awarded after completing an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme — this includes undergraduate routes such as a BEd, as well as postgraduate routes including a PGCE, School Direct, and SCITT. If you are unsure whether you hold QTS, you can check your record through the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Independent schools, academies, and free schools are not legally required to hire teachers with QTS, though most use it as a quality indicator. If you are considering supply work in these settings, check their requirements directly.

Not all supply roles require QTS. Teaching assistants, cover supervisors, higher-level teaching assistants (HLTAs), and SEND support roles each have their own qualification expectations. If you are looking at support staff roles rather than classroom teaching, your qualifications and experience will be assessed differently. Our guide to how supply teaching works in the UK covers the range of roles available across different provision types.

Before you can be placed in any educational setting, you will need a set of compliance documents. These are non-negotiable regardless of how you access work.

Your CV should include a complete and accurate employment history with no unexplained gaps. Any gaps in employment should be accounted for briefly. Settings and agencies will look for continuity and relevant experience, particularly recent classroom or education-related work.

Once your compliance documents are in order, you need to decide how you will find and accept placements. The two main routes are through a recruitment agency or by registering directly with educational settings.

The majority of supply teachers in England currently find work through commercial recruitment agencies. Agencies handle your compliance checks, maintain your record, and contact you when placements become available.

The trade-off is that agencies take a margin from what the setting pays for your services. That margin is not always disclosed, and agency rates are not bound by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). Before signing up with any agency, ask for a Key Information Document setting out your rate, how you will be paid, and all deductions. If they will not provide one, that is a signal worth noting.

Understanding how pay works before you commit is important. Our article on supply teaching pay sets out daily rate benchmarks, what to watch for with umbrella companies, and how the Agency Workers Regulations protect your pay after 12 weeks in the same role.

Some education professionals register directly with educational settings, particularly those with existing relationships with local settings or those who prefer to negotiate their own arrangements. This removes the agency margin entirely.

Platforms like Flexzo Teach are built around this model — you upload your compliance profile once, set your availability and rate expectations, and educational settings contact you directly. There is no intermediary taking a cut between what the setting pays and what you receive.

Whether you are registering with an agency or a platform, your compliance profile is the document that gets you bookable. Getting it right from the start saves considerable time later.

Your profile will typically include your QTS certificate, enhanced DBS certificate (with Update Service reference), two references with contact details, your CV, proof of right to work, and any relevant qualifications or specialist training such as safeguarding certificates or SEND qualifications.

Safeguarding training in particular is worth completing before you register. Most settings expect supply teachers to have completed recent safeguarding training — many will accept an online certificate, but check what level is expected. If yours is out of date, refresh it before you approach settings or agencies.

Before you accept your first booking, be clear on two things: when you are available to work, and what rate you are prepared to accept.

On the availability question, consider how much notice you are realistically able to give to morning calls. Day-to-day supply often involves bookings before 7am. If that suits your circumstances, it opens up the broadest range of short-notice work. If it does not, prioritising short-term or long-term planned placements may suit you better.

On pay, know the STPCD daily rate for your experience point and region before you enter any conversation with an agency. That figure is your benchmark. Accepting significantly less without understanding why is a choice you should make deliberately, not by default.

Your first few placements set the tone for the work that follows. Settings remember education professionals who are easy to work with — and they rebook them.

These are small things. Over time they make a meaningful difference to the regularity and quality of work available to you.