Subbing can feel a little like being thrown in at the deep end.
One day, you’re in a cosy Junior Infants classroom surrounded by Play-Doh. The next, you’re explaining long division to a 5th Class who definitely know more about TikTok than you do.
But the classroom itself is only half the story.
Before you ever reach the children, there is Teaching Council registration, Garda vetting, Statutory Declarations, Forms of Undertaking, payroll, OLCS, casual rates, holiday pay and approximately 400 documents that everyone else appears to know about, but nobody has actually explained to you.
Whether you are newly qualified, returning to teaching, home from abroad or simply considering some substitute work, this guide will take you through:
- What you need before you can begin subbing
- Teaching Council registration and Garda vetting
- Statutory Declarations and Forms of Undertaking
- Additional steps when returning from abroad
- How to find substitute work
- What to ask before accepting a day
- What you need to know when arriving at a new school
- Casual and non-casual substitute pay
- Holiday pay, incremental credit and payroll
- Your rights as a substitute teacher
- What to keep in your substitute folder and bag
- How to track your work and protect your pay
Make a cup of tea. We are going to work through it properly.
A quick disclaimer: This guide provides general information based on publicly available guidance at the time of writing. Department circulars, salary rates and administrative procedures can change. Individual circumstances may also differ, particularly regarding registration, tax, contracts, leave, pensions and previous service. Always confirm your individual position with the Teaching Council, Department of Education, Revenue, your school or ETB, and your union or professional adviser where appropriate.
First things first: who can sub in Ireland?
Schools must prioritise appropriately qualified and Teaching Council-registered teachers when filling teaching vacancies.
Other categories of registered teachers and eligible student teachers may be employed in particular circumstances when a fully qualified teacher registered for that sector is unavailable. However, eligibility, the type of work permitted and the rate of pay can differ depending on your registration route.
The important thing is not to rely on what somebody’s friend was apparently allowed to do three years ago.
Before advertising your availability, log in to your Teaching Council account and check:
- Is your registration active?
- Are you registered for the correct sector?
- Is your Garda vetting current?
- Are there conditions attached to your registration?
- When is your renewal date?
- Are your name, address and contact details correct?
If you qualified outside Ireland, your qualification may need to be assessed before you can register. Primary teachers who qualified abroad may also receive registration conditions relating to the Irish language or other curriculum requirements.
Do not wait until the Sunday night before you hope to begin. Registration, vetting and overseas documentation can take time.
The Paperwork
Four documents are regularly mentioned when discussing substitute teaching:
- Teaching Council registration
- Garda vetting
- A Statutory Declaration
- A Form of Undertaking
They are connected, but they are not interchangeable.
Teaching Council registration
Your Teaching Council registration confirms the route or sector under which you are registered to teach.
Keep a digital copy of your registration confirmation and know your Teaching Council number. Schools may ask for evidence before employing you.
Garda vetting
Teachers are legally required to be vetted by the National Vetting Bureau. The Teaching Council administers vetting for teachers.
You should check your position through the Teaching Council rather than assuming that vetting completed for a previous job, placement or organisation automatically covers your current teaching employment.
Statutory Declaration
The Statutory Declaration is a formal declaration relating to your suitability to work with children and vulnerable persons.
It must be signed in the presence of an authorised witness, such as a:
- Practising solicitor
- Commissioner for Oaths
- Peace Commissioner
- Notary Public
Schools generally require a Statutory Declaration completed within the previous 12 months. Keep the original safely and have copies available, while being prepared to show the original if requested.
Form of Undertaking
The Form of Undertaking confirms that there has been no material change in the information you provided in your Statutory Declaration.
This is completed for the relevant school or employer.
In very simple terms:
- Statutory Declaration: formally witnessed and normally renewed annually
- Form of Undertaking: completed for the employing school or appointment
Don’t forget Children First
Complete the Tusla Introduction to Children First e-learning programme and save your certificate.
Every substitute teacher needs to understand:
- Their safeguarding responsibilities
- The role of the Designated Liaison Person
- What to do if a pupil makes a disclosure
- How concerns are reported
- Why the teacher should listen and record, but not investigate
When you enter a new school, find out who the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) and Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP) are. You should also be able to access the school’s Child Safeguarding Statement.
Being in the school for one day does not make your safeguarding responsibilities any less important.
I’ve just moved home from abroad, what do I need to do?
Welcome home! Alongside unpacking your life and trying to remember why Irish weather changes every six minutes, there are a few extra teaching jobs to complete.
Check your Teaching Council account
Confirm that:
- Your registration has not expired
- Your Garda-vetting position is current
- There are no outstanding registration conditions
- Your Irish address and contact details are correct
- You know whether additional documentation is required
Check whether overseas police clearance applies
If you have lived outside the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland for a cumulative period of 12 months or more after turning 18, overseas police-clearance requirements may apply.
There is an important nuance here: the Teaching Council states that teachers who are already registered and completing re-vetting do not ordinarily need to provide overseas police-clearance documents again, although they must still declare their full address history.
Requirements can differ depending on whether you are applying for initial registration, renewing or being re-vetted. Check your own route before paying for documents unnecessarily.
If clearance is required, begin early. It can be more difficult to obtain once you have left the country.
Gather evidence of your previous teaching service
This is a big one.
Ask every previous school or employer for a formal statement of service on headed paper. Ideally, it should state:
- Your exact employment dates
- Whether you worked full-time or part-time
- Your contracted days or hours
- Your position
- The classes or age range taught
- Any unpaid leave or breaks
- Confirmation that the school was recognised by the relevant authority
- The contact details of the person verifying the information
Previous overseas service is not necessarily added to your Irish salary automatically. You may need to apply for incremental credit.
Recognition for salary purposes and pension recognition are also separate matters, so seek individual advice about both.
What should be in your substitute-teaching folder?
Before contacting schools, create one secure digital folder and, if you like, one physical folder containing:
- Current CV
- Teaching Council registration
- Garda-vetting documentation
- Statutory Declaration
- Blank Forms of Undertaking
- Photo ID
- Copies of qualifications
- Children First certificate
- Two professional referees
- Department payroll number, if you have one
- Relevant payroll forms
- Overseas police clearance, if required
- Statements of previous service
- Evidence relating to registration conditions
- A substitute-work tracker
- Payslips and payroll correspondence
Your PPS number, bank information and identity documents are sensitive. Only provide them when genuinely required and through an appropriate process.
Do not attach every personal document you have to an introductory email sent to 30 schools. Your initial email can include your CV and confirmation that the necessary documentation is available.
How do I find subbing work?
There is no single route that every school uses.
Try a combination of:
- Registering with Class Cover or Sub Seeker
- Setting up alerts on EducationPosts
- Emailing local principals
- Joining legitimate local substitute WhatsApp groups
- Contacting schools where you completed placement
- Letting teaching friends know that you are available
- Building relationships with a manageable number of nearby schools
- Contacting schools where you would genuinely like to work
In your introductory email, include:
- Your name
- Your qualification and Teaching Council status
- The area in which you are based
- The days you are available
- Your phone number
- A short CV
If relevant, mention whether you are available for:
- Mainstream classes
- SET
- Special classes
- Special schools
- Irish-medium schools
- Particular subject areas
- Longer blocks of cover
Word of mouth is huge in subbing. If you are reliable, warm with the children and professional with staff, schools will remember you.
Substitute Supply Panels
A Substitute Supply Panel is different from working as a day-to-day casual substitute.
A supply-panel teacher holds a fixed-term contract with a base school and is deployed to participating schools to cover short-term teacher absences. The teacher has the security of a contract but must be prepared to travel between schools within the cluster.
Panel structures and allocations can change, so check current vacancies and Department information rather than relying on old figures.
If you are considering a supply-panel position, ask:
- Which school is the base school?
- Which schools are included in the cluster?
- What geographical area could you cover?
- How is travel managed?
- How much notice is normally provided?
- What happens when no school requires cover?
- What records are you expected to maintain?
Supply panels can be a brilliant way to build experience across several settings while still having the security of a fixed-term appointment.
What should I ask before accepting a day?
It is completely reasonable to ask what you are saying yes to.
Before accepting, establish:
- Which class, subject or role is it?
- Is it mainstream, SET or a special class?
- Is it a full day?
- What are the arrival and finishing times?
- Who should you report to?
- Is the absence likely to continue?
- Are there essential medical, care or safety needs you need to know about?
- Is there anything specific you should bring?
If it is expected to be a longer appointment, ask:
- What is the anticipated duration?
- Whose absence are you covering?
- What type of appointment is being offered?
- Will you receive written terms or a contract?
- Will you be casual, non-casual or fixed-term?
- What rate of pay should apply?
You are not being awkward by asking. You are agreeing to take professional responsibility for a class of children, you are entitled to basic information.
What do I need to know when I arrive?
If it is your first visit, aim to arrive around 20–30 minutes before the pupils.
Ask about:
- The class timetable and plans
- Attendance procedures
- Medical needs and allergies
- Additional needs relevant to the day
- Behaviour procedures
- Fire and emergency procedures
- Yard supervision
- The Designated Liaison Person
- How to call for assistance
- Toileting or intimate-care arrangements, where applicable
- Staffroom and practical arrangements
- How the school records substitute work for payroll
You do not need every piece of information held about every pupil. You do need the relevant information required to teach, care and supervise safely.
The children can absolutely help you with everyday routines, where books are kept, how lunch works or which book they normally use. They should not be responsible for explaining medical, behavioural or safeguarding arrangements that an adult should have shared with you.
Help... I’m subbing in a multigrade classroom!
First things first: don’t panic.
A multigrade classroom still has established routines, books, plans and expectations. You are not expected to invent four completely separate school days before 9:00 a.m.
A few things can help:
- Look for work that pupils can complete independently
- Pair or group pupils strategically
- Give one group a clear task while teaching another
- Use open-ended activities that can be differentiated
- Ask pupils about familiar routines
- Focus on continuity rather than trying to cover everything
- Seek help from a neighbouring teacher if you need it
Treat it as a classroom requiring thoughtful differentiation, not as an impossible puzzle.
What if no plans have been left?
Some days, you will arrive to beautifully organised plans with every worksheet sitting in a labelled pile.
Other days… not so much.
Use your professional judgement and focus on age-appropriate, meaningful learning. A small bank of adaptable activities can be helpful:
- A read-aloud with discussion prompts
- Creative writing
- Number games
- Problem-solving tasks
- Vocabulary games
- Retrieval activities
- Art using materials already available
- Movement breaks
- Reflection on recent learning
Your substitute bag should be a backup, not a portable classroom. The school remains responsible for providing the essential materials and information required for the role.
What should I bring in my subbing bag?
A practical subbing bag might contain:
- Your employment documents
- Substitute-work tracker
- Pens and pencils
- Working whiteboard markers
- An age-appropriate picture book
- Number-games or writing ideas
- A few no-equipment movement breaks
- Stickers or a simple positive-recognition system
- A reusable water bottle
- Lunch and a snack
- A phone charger or power bank
- Hand sanitiser and tissues
A notebook can be useful for your own reminders and teaching ideas, but do not take identifiable pupil information away from the school.
Similarly, ask permission before photographing a display or classroom idea. Never photograph children, their names, their work, assessment information or identifiable records on your personal device.
Now for the part everybody wants explained: how does substitute pay work?
Substitute pay depends on:
- Whether you are working at primary or post-primary level
- Your qualification and registration status
- Whether you are casual, non-casual or fixed-term
- Your recognised point on the salary scale
- How many days or hours you have already completed
- Whether the appointment was known from the outset to exceed the casual threshold
Salary figures change, so always check the latest Department circular instead of relying on an old screenshot shared in a group chat.
The primary 40-day rule
At primary level, a casual substitute teacher is paid the fixed casual rate for up to 40 days in the school year.
Once a casual substitute exceeds 40 days, the appropriate personal non-casual rate applies to subsequent days worked during that school year.
However, and this is the part that is often missed, if you accept a contract that obliges you to work for more than 40 days during the school year, the non-casual rate should apply to that appointment from the beginning.
For example, a known maternity-leave block lasting more than 40 school days is not the same as gradually collecting individual casual days.
The important distinction is:
- Day-to-day work up to 40 days: casual rate
- Day-to-day work after exceeding 40 days: personal non-casual rate
- A contract known from the beginning to exceed 40 days: personal non-casual rate from the start of that appointment
Your casual days can be accumulated across different recognised schools. They do not all have to be completed in the same school.
The post-primary threshold
At post-primary level, the equivalent casual threshold is generally 150 hours during the school year.
As with primary teaching, an appointment known from the beginning to exceed the threshold may be treated differently from individual casual hours accumulated over time.
What about holiday pay?
Holiday pay has not disappeared, but it may not appear in the way you expect.
Substitute teachers accumulate statutory annual-leave pay based on the work they complete. Under the published arrangements, the annual-leave value is calculated at:
- 11% for primary substitute work
- 12% for post-primary substitute work
It is generally paid in connection with designated school-closure periods.
This does not mean that a casual substitute receives a permanent teacher’s full salary throughout Christmas, Easter or summer. It means holiday pay accrues in proportion to the work completed.
When reading a payslip, check for:
- Ordinary substitute pay
- The number of days or hours recorded
- The rate used
- Separate holiday-pay entries
- Pension, PRSI, USC and tax deductions
Public-holiday entitlement is related but separate and is governed by employment law. Part-time employees generally need to have worked at least 40 hours during the five weeks before a public holiday to qualify.
How quickly will I be paid?
Department payroll is generally paid fortnightly and in arrears.
Your first payment may take longer if:
- You are new to Department payroll
- An appointment form is outstanding
- Your bank details need to be processed
- The school missed a payroll cut-off
- Your OLCS claim was entered late
- Your Revenue information is not ready
- Incorrect personal information needs to be corrected
The Board of Management or ETB is generally your employer. The Department may process your salary as paymaster, but this does not make the Department your employing school.
If payment is missing, first ask the school to confirm:
- That the correct date was submitted
- The number of days or hours entered
- When the claim was entered on OLCS
- Which absence or appointment it was entered against
Then check your payslip and contact payroll if necessary.
What is OLCS, and why should I care?
OLCS is the Online Claims System used by schools to record absences and submit substitute claims for payment.
You will not usually enter your own day. The school does that.
However, you should keep your own record because administrative mistakes happen. A missing or incorrect OLCS entry can affect:
- Your pay
- Holiday pay
- Your running total of substitute days
- Incremental progression
- Your recorded service
Never assume that silence means everything has been submitted correctly.
Will substitute work count towards my incremental credit?
Recognised qualified substitute teaching can count towards progression on the incremental salary scale.
At primary level, 182 days of recognised service equate to one year for incremental-credit purposes. Post-primary service is assessed using the applicable service and hours rules.
Check:
- Which salary scale applies to you
- Your current point
- Your incremental date
- Whether previous Irish service is recorded
- Whether overseas service has been assessed
- Whether you need to submit an incremental-credit application
Previous experience may not be applied automatically.
Underpayments can be corrected with arrears, but overpayments can also be recovered. Read your payslips and query anything that does not look right.
Avoiding the emergency-tax surprise
Before your first payment, log in to Revenue myAccount and check that:
- Your Department employment appears correctly
- Your tax credits are allocated appropriately
- Your standard-rate band is assigned
- Any previous employment has been dealt with
- Revenue has issued the appropriate payroll notification
If the correct information has not reached payroll, you may be taxed at emergency rates.
It can usually be corrected, but organising it early is much less painful than opening a payslip and wondering where half your money has gone.
Keep your own subbing log
This might be the most useful piece of advice in the entire article.
Track:
- Date worked
- School
- School roll number
- Class, subject or role
- Full day, partial day or number of hours
- Teacher or absence covered
- Casual, non-casual or fixed-term status
- Rate expected
- Date submitted on OLCS
- Date paid
- Holiday pay received
- Payslip checked
- Any discrepancy raised
Keep the original booking message until you have been paid correctly.
Each school knows what you worked for them. The Department holds payroll information. But you are the only person with a complete view of your work across every school.
Do substitutes get sick leave and other leave?
This depends on the nature of the appointment.
Someone booked casually for one day and unable to attend is not in the same contractual position as a non-casual substitute already employed in an ongoing post.
Non-casual, fixed-term and regularly employed teachers may have access to relevant leave schemes, subject to their contract, service and the terms of the scheme.
If you become ill during a longer appointment:
- Notify the school immediately
- Ask how the absence will be recorded
- Provide certification where required
- Check your contractual status
- Confirm whether the Department’s sick-leave scheme applies
- Seek union advice if anything is unclear
Temporary and part-time employees are not automatically excluded from statutory employment protections. However, entitlement to take leave, entitlement to a social-welfare payment and entitlement to continued salary are separate questions.
Always seek individual advice about maternity, parent’s, paternity, adoptive, sick or other statutory leave.
Do substitute teachers have employment rights?
Yes. You are an employee, not a visitor doing the school a favour.
Depending on the nature and duration of the appointment, you may have rights relating to:
- Written terms
- Rest breaks
- Payment of wages
- Public holidays
- Equal treatment
- Health and safety
- Maternity protection
- Protection from discrimination
- Fixed-term employment
- Dignity-at-work and grievance procedures
If you are covering a continuous absence, ask for written confirmation of:
- Your employer
- Your role
- Your start date
- Your working hours
- The anticipated duration or ending event
- The reason the appointment is temporary
- Your pay classification
- The relevant policies and procedures
Read any contract before signing it and keep your own copy.
A note for teachers on career break
Being on an approved career break does not necessarily mean you can take unlimited substitute work.
Under the published teacher career-break scheme, Oireachtas- funded teaching and SNA employment is restricted. In exceptional circumstances, substitute teaching may be permitted up to:
- 90 days in a school year at primary level
- 300 hours in a school year at post-primary level
If you are on career break, check the current scheme and your individual position before accepting work.
A note for retired teachers
Retired teachers should check the pension-abatement rules before beginning regular substitute work.
Current Department guidance allows retired teachers to work for up to 50 days in a calendar year without the usual pension-abatement rules applying. Different requirements can arise after this point.
Do not wait until after exceeding the threshold to investigate how additional work may affect your pension.
What if the school cancels?
Ask schools to provide as much notice as possible when cancelling substitute work.
Whether payment is due will depend on what was agreed, whether employment had begun and whether a binding contract existed. There is no single answer that covers every cancellation.
Keep the booking message. If you travelled to the school, turned down other work or arrived before being told you were no longer required, record what happened and seek union advice if necessary.
Before leaving at the end of the day
Before you head home:
- Leave the room reasonably organised
- Follow any directions regarding correction
- Leave a short handover for the teacher
- Record what was completed
- Report significant incidents appropriately
- Return keys and confidential documents
- Confirm whether you are needed again
- Ask who will submit the OLCS claim
- Add the day to your own tracker
Keep your handover factual and helpful.
Mention what was completed, what remains unfinished and anything the teacher genuinely needs to know. Avoid judgemental notes about pupils or unnecessary personal information.
Your final ready-to-sub checklist
A final word
Substitute teaching involves much more than turning up and keeping a class occupied.
Within minutes of arriving, a substitute may need to understand an unfamiliar building, follow new procedures, establish relationships with a class, respond to additional needs, manage safeguarding responsibilities and provide meaningful continuity of learning.
That deserves professional recognition, appropriate information and correct payment.
Prepare your documents. Ask questions. Understand your pay status. Keep your own records. And please remember:
Asking about your contract, rate or missing OLCS claim does not make you difficult. It makes you informed.
Know someone considering substitute teaching? Send them this guide before their first day, or save it somewhere safe for the next time you need to check a document, payment or employment term.
For current official information, consult:
