GTC Scotland, the teaching profession’s independent registration and regulation body, has set out its vision of Trusted Teaching in its Strategic Plan 2023-28.
The organisation’s role is to keep a public register of teachers and set and uphold the standards for entering and remaining in the teaching profession.
Khadija Mohammed, Council Convener, GTC Scotland said:
GTC Scotland was created almost 60 years ago following calls from teachers for a body to ensure teaching standards. It exists to help maintain and enhance public trust in the teaching profession, as the profession’s independent registration and regulation body.
GTC Scotland is accountable to the teaching profession and the public through its Council. In February we approved the Strategic Plan 2023-2028. The focus of our change and improvement work over the next five years will be on expertly delivering our core functions of registration and regulation.
Dr Pauline Stephen, Chief Executive and Registrar, GTC Scotland said:
When you boil everything down to the essence of why GTC Scotland does something, it’s to advance trust in teaching.
Our work starts when someone is becoming a teacher, as they embark on a challenging Initial Teacher Education programme which has been accredited to our standards. Our focus then moves to registering and regulating teachers according to a framework of mandatory and aspirational professional standards. Taken together, our work speaks to a teaching profession which holds itself to the highest of standards.
Strategic Plan in summary
Our Mission: Maintain the integrity of registration and regulation of the teaching profession as a safeguard for the quality of education in Scotland. To enhance trust in teaching at an individual, group and system level. This ensures the best possible outcomes for learners.
Our Vision: Trusted Teaching
Strategic themes: Trust and impact
Strategic outcome 1: Trust in teaching is enhanced at an individual, group and system level, positively impacting learners and guiding educational change. To achieve this, we will:
- Strengthen our registration and regulation frameworks
- Speak up for high standards in teaching
Strategic outcome 2: Improve our performance and impact for the teaching profession and in the public interest. To achieve this, we will:
- Enhance our data, systems and processes to better meet needs and ensure our sustainability
- Value and support our people to deliver with impact
The registration fee
GTC Scotland is independent of government and receives no funding for its core role of registration and regulation. This work is funded by the £65 annual registration fee that teachers and college lecturers pay.
As a charity, GTC Scotland must maintain good financial governance; we have a duty to teachers and college lecturers to ensure our money is managed well. We are required to strike a balance between holding enough in our reserves to ensure sustainability while furthering our statutory roles of registration and regulation.
To this end, efficiency savings have been identified over the course of the next five years. This includes continuing to hold some meetings virtually, refreshing our awards and events programme and replacing the paper version of Teaching Scotland magazine with the digital version for all registrants. Our move to a wholly digital magazine also helps us to reduce our impact on the environment.
By doing this, the £65 registration fee, supplemented by planned use of reserves, is sufficient to fund our work for the beginning of our strategic planning period. The level of the registration fee will be kept under review and may need to increase to ensure GTC Scotland’s financial sustainability.
