Supply Staffing Rewritten: Data, Strategy, and the End of Guesswork

In this first episode, we challenge some of the most common assumptions about supply staffing in schools—using real booking data from thousands of jobs across nine local authorities. How many supply staff do schools actually need? Are most absences really last-minute? And why do a small group of teachers do most of the work? This deep dive unpacks surprising patterns and practical insights that can help school leaders and trusts move beyond reactive firefighting and into strategic supply planning.