If we had 1,000 more teachers on our books, we would have positions of any type they wanted

David Rose, Select Education

One of the main supply agencies, Select Education, which places teachers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has seen a 20% increase on last September in demand for staff on short and long-term contracts.

It expects to see even greater demand as the months go by.

"Many heads are holding out for full-time positions at the moment, but later they may need someone on a long-term contract," said marketing executive David Rose.

Flu epidemic

"We're anticipating the biggest impact will be in November and next term, if there is a flu epidemic for example."

David Rose says more teachers want a flexible approach to work

The situation meant many supply teachers were able to take their pick of work, he said.

"If we had 1,000 more teachers on our books, we would have positions of any type they wanted, because there are those vacancies out there.

"At the moment we haven't got enough teachers to cover all the long-term vacancies," said Mr Rose.

The company has also noted that fewer newly qualified teachers are available for supply work.

"A lot of them have got jobs now - they can call the shots at the moment," said Mr Rose.

'Frantic'

Alex Kain - responsible for interviewing and vetting supply teachers for schools in the south east of London - said she and her colleagues had been very busy this week.

A lot of heads are fairly resigned to the situation - they know what the score is

Alex Kain

"It's been frantic - we've had quite a few teachers phoning through and lots of bookings from schools," Ms Kain said.

"In some situations the schools thought they were okay, but now that's fallen through for whatever reason," she said.

She also noted a rise in the number of overseas teachers seeking sponsorships from UK schools for work permits.

So do head teachers sound flustered when urgently in need of supply teachers?

"A lot of heads are fairly resigned to the situation - they know what the score is," Ms Kain said.

Database boost

Alongside the increase in demand, Select Education says the number of new supply teachers registering this summer (1,300) was up a third on last year.

Alex Kain says the past few days have been very busy

This could be a result of more extensive and targeted advertising overseas and among retired teachers and returners.

But could also point to the fact that many teachers want to work in a more flexible way, said Mr Rose.

"It would suggest that a lot have left full-time jobs - they may want to teach, but not on a full-time basis," he said.

"They've got a choice of the schools they can go to now - many want less responsibility and admin work so they can just concentrate on teaching.

"And some must be responding to the fact that there is a shortage," he added.