How your registration fee is used by GTC Scotland

The annual registration fee pays for the work that we do. We:

1. set standards of competence, conduct and ethics which teachers must meet to be on our register, including those who have qualified outside Scotland.
2. set requirements for initial teacher education programmes in Scotland to ensure that student teachers develop the knowledge, skills and qualities to register with us.  
3. maintain a publicly accessible register of teachers who meet our standards.  
4. investigate serious concerns about teachers and make decisions about whether they should be on our register.
5. advise the government on matters relating to the education and career development of the profession, including teacher supply.

Setting teaching standards

Accreditation

GTC Scotland is responsible for accrediting programmes of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and setting the minimum entry requirements for these programmes.

We ensure that programmes of ITE are professionally appropriate and demanding and prepare students for registration as a primary or secondary teacher.  

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) must design programmes of ITE to equip students to meet the Standard for Provisional Registration,which is the gateway standard for entry to our Register.  

Find out more about accreditation.

Professional Standards

We set the standards for entering and remaining in the teaching profession. Together the Professional Standards for Teachers and the Code of Professionalism and Conduct set by GTC Scotland describe teacher professionalism in Scotland.  

They help to create a shared language for teaching professionals; ensure and enhance public trust and confidence in the teaching profession; and are used as a benchmark for professional competency and conduct.

Fully registered teachers are required by the Professional Standards to demonstrate a depth of knowledge and understanding of the distinctive culture, context and ethos of the learning community, how to take account of the social and cultural context of learners and how to adapt practices accordingly.

Fully registered teachers are required by the Professional Standards to demonstrate care and commitment to working with every learner, embracing diversity to ensure that every learner feels welcome, included and is ready to learn.

Find out more about the Professional Standards and Code of Professionalism and Conduct.

Upholding Teaching Standards

Registering teachers

GTC Scotland registration is about ensuring that teachers are suitably qualified to teach. A recognised teaching qualification or equivalent is the foundation for registration, which is an essential part of ensuring and maintaining a trusted teaching profession in Scotland.  

We set the qualifications and suitability criteria to join the Register of Teachers and we manage the Register. We individually assess Qualified outside of Scotland registration applications.

A requirement of registration is ongoing professional learning through our Professional Update process. This contributes to improving the quality of teaching and learning.

The online Register lets you check the registration status of any teacher who is registered with us. Search the Register.

Managing serious concerns about teachers

We investigate and determine serious concerns about the conduct or professional competence of teachers through our Fitness to Teach process.

Fitness to Teach is about ensuring that teaching standards - the Standards for Registration and the Code of Professionalism and Conduct - are upheld.

Our Fitness to Teach process is about managing the wider, future risk that a teacher poses.

We are legally required to ensure that any Fitness to Teach action taken is proportionate, transparent, consistent and targeted only where action is needed.

We investigate when an allegation is of a level of seriousness that we think the teacher is a risk to learners and/or colleagues. We also investigate where we think there is a potential risk to public confidence in the teaching profession.

Find out more about Fitness to Teach.

Promoting teaching standards

To regulate effectively, we promote standards and the benefits of maintaining and enhancing them among teachers. In addition to our mandatory Standards for Registration, we have aspirational standards which support the professional growth of teachers.

Our work allows us to use our voice to speak up for high standards in the teaching profession and to influence policy development in the public interest, providing the Scottish Government and others with advice and evidence to support decision-making in relation to education, regulatory and wider social policy affecting teaching standards.

Find out more about our policy initiatives.

Data and insights

We analyse the data we gather on the teaching profession to influence public policy development, providing policy makers with relevant evidence to support decision making in the areas of teacher education and supply.  

Gathering and analysing our data helps us to identify trends within the profession, as well as learn more about the career-long teacher experience. It also helps us with our statutory function of making recommendations to Scottish Ministers about matters relating to teachers’ education, training, career development and fitness to teach, and the supply of teachers (except matters of remuneration or conditions of service).

We also engage with national and international partners to discuss global developments in professional regulation with the aim of promoting teaching standards and influencing teacher growth in Scotland.

Read our publications.

The registration fee also meets the cost of our corporate functions which are essential to enabling us to deliver our statutory duties.