What is a supply teacher?

In short

A supply teacher covers teaching in a school on a temporary basis – for a day, a term, or anything in between. Some are engaged through an agency, some are employed directly by the school or local authority. The label describes the arrangement, not a different kind of teacher.

Short-term and long-term cover

Supply covers a wide range of arrangements. At one end is day-to-day cover, often booked at short notice for unplanned absence. At the other is a long-term placement covering maternity leave, long-term sickness or a vacancy the school has not yet filled, which may run for a term or longer and can involve full planning, marking and reporting.

These are different jobs in practice, even though both are described as supply.

Agency or directly employed

The distinction matters, because school finance data records the two separately and because the arrangements differ.

Agency supply. The school books a worker through a supply agency, which handles the placement and charges the school a fee on top of the worker’s pay. See how supply agencies work.
Directly employed supply. The school or local authority engages the person itself, often from its own pool of known and trusted cover staff.

Does a supply teacher need QTS?

To teach in a maintained school, the same expectations around Qualified Teacher Status apply as for any teacher. Academies and independent schools have more flexibility. Arrangements vary by role and setting, so the safe answer is that it depends on the post and the school – a school booking cover should be clear about what the role requires.

Not the same as a cover supervisor. A cover supervisor supervises pupils working on set tasks; they are not employed to teach. See supply teacher vs cover supervisor.

📊 See how schools use and pay for cover