24-25/43

I refer to your request for information dated 19 September 2024 (FOI 24-25/43) in which you asked various queries regarding “Technical Teachers” which we have handled under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA).

On 20 September, we requested clarification of which Registration Category applied to your request, and you responded on 22 September that this request concerned “teachers who deliver Technological Education.”

Firstly, you asked for the “number of Technical Teachers” currently employed in Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee, Angus, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and the Highlands broken down into the “age range” categories you provided. I have provided the number of registrants who hold the registration category Technological Education or Technical Education and have recorded one of the specified local authorities as their employer in Table 1 below as data extracted on 23 September 2024. Please note that this could include teachers who are currently supply teachers but who have noted these local authorities as their employer. You will see that I have not provided the exact low number as disclosing this could enable individuals to be identified. This would breach the data protection principles set out in data protection legislation. FOISA does not require us to provide this sort of information as it is exempt under section 38(1)(b).

Please note that, GTC Scotland operates a professional Register and not an employment based one. This means that all individuals who meet our registration requirements can be registered with us. Applicants do not have to be actively employed as a teacher or live in Scotland to be registered with GTC Scotland. This information is therefore self-declared and may not be up to date as individuals may not be currently employed by the local authorities. We have no role in the recruitment of teachers.

Secondly, you asked for data on the "number of secondary schools in each Local Authority” as part of your request. Please note that we do not hold records related to this query and have therefore applied section 17(1)(b) of FOISA as this information is not held by us. Similarly, we do not hold records on the “number of secondary schools in each Local Authority that have Technical Departments” nor do we hold records on “how many job advertisements” have had “no applicants” between 2019 and 2024. Please note that GTC Scotland is a professional regulator. Our core function is to keep a register of teachers and regulate the standards of conduct and competence expected of registrants. Again, we have no role in the recruitment of teachers and so do not hold records on the employment contracts entered by registrants with local authorities. By way of advice and assistance, I would suggest that you contact these local authorities directly under FOISA to obtain this information should you still wish to do so. In addition, you may want to contact the Scottish Government directly for this information as part of its annual teacher census.

Thirdly, you asked “how many Technical Teachers were employed” in each of the local authorities in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Please note that GTC Scotland operates a current Register and cannot report on previous versions of the Register unless it had been reported at the time. With regards to your request, please note that we do not hold records answering your query and have also applied section 17(1)(b) of FOISA to this query.

Fourthly, you asked “how many people qualified as Technical Teachers in the years 2019 – 2024" with this to be “broken down for each year.”

We have provided the number of full or provisional registrations awarded by GTC Scotland in this period. This does not represent individuals who graduated from initial teacher education but did not go on to register with GTC Scotland. The numbers provided may also include those who have registered with us using the Qualified outside Scotland route to registration and those enhancing an existing full registration using the additional professional registration route. This information is in Table 2 below as data extracted on 23 September 2024.

You may contact informationgovernance@gtcs.org.uk if you are dissatisfied with this response, to request GTC Scotland conduct a review of it. You should describe the original request and explain your grounds of review. You have 40 working days from receipt of this response to submit a review request. When the review process has been completed, if you are still dissatisfied, you may use the Scottish Information Commissioners guidance on making an appeal to make an appeal to the Commissioner.