In 2010, I decided to become an English teacher. I lived in Stewarton at the time, studied at UWS Ayr, and completed placements in Auchinleck and Galston.

But I learned to teach on the Isle of Arran.

In Scotland, new teachers benefit from a year of guaranteed work as they complete the process of becoming fully qualified and registered. Probationers, as they are known, are allocated to local authorities using one of two methods: either they rank their preferences and are sent to one of them, or they ‘tick the box’ that means they can be sent anywhere, and received an extra six-to-eight thousand pounds in exchange.

I ticked the box, and ended up at Lamlash High School.

Being allocated to Arran was exciting – I’d been dreading the possibility of being sent back to the Glasgow area – but the practicalities soon become complicated.

My now-wife and I already lived together, and given that I only had a year of guaranteed work it didn’t make sense for her to move to the island with me – but that meant paying rent on two properties, one of which was on an island that, even then, was notorious for second home ownership and the consequent high housing costs for people who had the temerity to want to actually live there.


Fortunately, another probationer was sent to Arran at the same time. We had been at the same university, but barely knew each other. Regardless, we quickly decided that sharing a house or a flat was pretty much the only viable option.

Looking back, I really don’t think I could possibly have afforded to move there myself – instead I’d have likely had to withdraw from the placement, leaving the school a teacher short and forcing me to find a different route into the profession. As has so often been the case, I got incredibly lucky.

But even finding a shared home was difficult. At first, it seemed like there was literally nothing available, but some of the staff at the school helped us to find a few options nearby.

We settled on a lovely flat that looked out over Lamlash Bay (and, helpfully, was right above a pub) and moved in just before the school year started. At first things were great, but once the weather turned the building became damp, with multi-coloured mould colonising the walls of the stairwell. For months my wife, who has cystic fibrosis, was unable to visit. But at least we could still just about afford it, and we both saw out that first year.

Following the probationer period I got a permanent job. My wife moved over to the island, and together we moved into a house behind the school which was owned by a friend. My flatmate was also staying, and she went to the other end of the village and moved into a flat owned by another of our friends.

In both cases, we only found somewhere to live because we were already established on the island, and both ended up renting from people that we had gotten to know during our first year.

And we were the lucky ones.

Since my first days in the teaching profession I’ve heard stories of probationers being allocated to places where they simply couldn’t find a home and who, in the end, had to withdraw. The same is true of schools in rural and island areas struggling to attract new staff because the developing housing crisis was proving too big a barrier.

And the problems we faced back then have not just been magnified in the years since – they’ve spread to urban areas. These days, I hear stories of teachers struggling to find a home in the central belt, with young teachers – who are more likely to be subject to insecure employment – particularly badly affected.

Scotland is in the midst of a housing emergency but make no mistake: that crisis presents a real threat to education as well, and the effects are becoming ever more visible. The impact on young people is enormous, but we also need to think about teachers.