Understand the work, compare pay arrangements and prepare for life in different schools. These guides are for teachers and support staff, whether you are starting out or returning after a break.
IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Start with the question you need to answer today. You do not need to give us your details or sign up to read a guide.
Find a useful starting point
If supply is new to you, begin with how supply teaching works. It explains the difference between an agency booking and direct employment, and the questions worth asking before you agree to work.
If you are comparing an offer, start with supply teacher pay. A headline day rate means little until you know the duties, payroll arrangement and holiday-pay basis.
What the library covers
The sections below cover getting started, pay and money, employment rights, day-to-day working and career choices. Each section lists its published guides automatically as the library grows.
Rules can depend on your contract, employment status and which UK nation you work in. Guides identify those limits and link to official sources where they matter. General guidance cannot decide an individual legal, tax or pension question.
Browse the guide sections
Career and development
Explore early career induction, returning after a break and routes into cover supervision or teaching-assistant work. Start with the responsibilities and requirements of the role you want.
New to supply
Understand how bookings work, choose an agency carefully and prepare for your first day. Start with the basics before worrying about having every classroom answer.
Pay and money
Compare gross wages, holiday pay, payroll arrangements and pension questions without treating every advertised day rate as the same thing.
Rights and employment
Understand agency-worker equal treatment, recruitment checks, safeguarding responsibilities and what happens when a booking changes.
Working in supply
Plan the practical side of supply: different booking lengths, travel, preparation and finding arrangements that fit your availability.
Last reviewed: 20 September 2026. Official guidance and individual arrangements can change.