School substitutions: upcoming news, requirements and application dates

Although the recruitment procedures in schools have now grown to nine and the channels for obtaining a tenure track have recently been enriched by the regional lists for the successful candidates of the selections announced from 2020 onwards, envisaged by the latest Pnrr decree, the army of supplenti serving in Italian schools remains above 100-150 thousand. This number is enough to explain why any news concerning them makes headlines in itself. Such as the MIM circular that has just come out with the dates to apply and the news coming for those who hope to get a fixed-term assignment next year.

Let us start with the support  that, every year, has the highest number of precarious teachers. One novelty concerns the extension, until 31 December 2026, of the extraordinary recruitment procedure on the vacant and available support posts remaining after the recruitment to the teaching staff (including the regional lists).

Aspirants included in the first Gps band for support must submit an application through Polis from 16 to 29 July 2026. The operations are divided in a provincial phase, managed by the Regional School Offices with a computerised procedure, and in a subsequent inter-provincial phase (applications from 14 to 18 August 2026) for the remaining posts. In both cases, the acceptance of the seat must be made within five days (or by 1 September for late assignments); non-acceptance is considered renunciation. Once the tenure and mobility operations have been completed, the confirmation of time contracts on support will be carried out. Still on support, once the tenure and temporary utilisations and assignments have been completed, the possibility for families to request teaching continuity of temporary professors is confirmed for 2026/27 (with the school's OK).

The ministerial circular recalls that it is possible to propose term contracts for annual substitutions (31 August), until the end of teaching activities (30 June), or temporary ones. The procedure has been the same for a while now: for supply teaching positions from Gps, the appointments follow the order of Gae, Gps and, as a secondary step, school rankings (by school managers). Aspiring teachers must submit the application for the choice of locations (150 preferences) from 2pm on 16 July to 2pm on 29 July.

Compared to previous years, the right to completion in the case of the allocation of non-full positions is not subject to any conditions: whoever receives one slot retains the right to complete up to the compulsory timetable, exclusively in the province of placement, by means of additional slots.