Which Teaching Subjects Give You the Best Chance of a Permanent Role?

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Your method subjects shape how fast you find permanent work, often more than your marks or your university, and that choice is made years before your first job. Australia has a broad teacher shortage (83% of schools reported staffing shortages in 2024), but it is not evenly spread: the clearest shortages are secondary maths, the sciences, digital technologies, special education, and languages, so a teacher qualified in one of these finds permanent work far sooner than a metropolitan primary generalist. The single most useful move is to add a strong second teaching method. This guide is the decision guide for the student still choosing; for current vacancy rankings, see our teaching subject demand guide.

1. The high-demand methods

These are the methods where shortages are genuine, national, and well documented. If you qualify in one, you will usually find permanent work faster, have more choice of location, and be a stronger candidate for priority graduate placements.

Maths is the standout. A large share of secondary maths classes are taught out-of-field, by teachers without a maths-teaching qualification, which means a qualified maths teacher is genuinely scarce. Special education has among the highest shortage rates in the OECD, and the roles span special schools, support units, and inclusion roles in mainstream schools. Secondary high-need subjects, particularly maths and the sciences, appear on state shortage lists and skilled-migration nomination lists across every state and territory.

2. The competitive methods (and how to still make them work)

The flip side, which subjects are harder to get into, is less precisely documented than the shortages and varies a lot by region. Two things are clear, though.

First, metropolitan primary generalist is consistently the most competitive entry market. Primary is a generalist qualification, so graduates compete in one large pool, and in the cities where most graduates want to work there are more of them than there are vacancies. Second, within secondary, the methods that are not on shortage lists are simply harder to place than those that are. This is not a blanket "humanities is oversupplied" claim: a 2026 workforce source actually lists secondary Humanities and Social Sciences in demand alongside maths and science, so check current demand for your specific method rather than assuming.

If your passion is a competitive area, three moves keep your prospects strong:

A competitive method is a slower path, not a closed one. With a second method, geographic flexibility, and patience through a CRT period, every method leads to permanent work in time.

3. Primary versus secondary: a job-market decision

Pre-service teachers often treat primary versus secondary as a question of personal preference, which age group they want to teach. It is also a job-market decision with very different consequences.

Primary is taught as a generalist qualification, so primary graduates compete in one large pool. In metropolitan areas that pool is crowded, and permanency typically takes longer. The same primary qualification in a regional or remote area is far more employable, because that is where the unfilled positions are.

Secondary is method-specific, so your prospects depend entirely on what you teach. A secondary maths or science graduate is in one of the strongest positions in the country; a secondary graduate in a non-shortage method is more competitive. Choosing secondary does not, by itself, help or hurt you. Your method does.

4. The power of a second teaching method

If there is one lever that widens your options more than any other, it is a strong second teaching method. A teacher who can be timetabled across two subjects is far easier for a school to fit into a staffing plan, and far more likely to be offered a permanent line.

The strongest combinations pair a shortage method with anything else: maths with another subject, science with maths, or English with a language. Even a competitive primary qualification becomes more flexible with a specialist strength a school can use (a language, a music specialism, or a learning-support focus).

5. The trade-offs nobody mentions

Choosing a shortage subject for employability is sound, but go in with eyes open.

• Shortage can route you toward harder-to-staff schools. The roles that are easiest to get are sometimes the ones other teachers avoided, including regional, remote, or high-need settings. That can be a great early-career move, especially with incentives, but it is worth knowing.
• You may be asked to teach out-of-field or carry a demanding timetable. When a school is short, the shortage teacher absorbs the pressure.
• Subject expertise is not pedagogy. Being good at maths is not the same as being good at teaching maths. A shortage method gets you in the door; you still have to learn the craft.

None of these outweigh the employability advantage of a shortage method. They are simply the reason that "study maths, get a job" is true but incomplete. Choose a high-demand method if you can see yourself teaching it well, not just because it is in demand.

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