Introduction
Here you can find out about the standards that teachers work to, how to check a teacher’s registration, what to do if you have a serious concern and how you can get involved in our work
Our communities place a high degree of trust in teachers. They rely on teachers to interpret what is right and wrong, keep learners safe and be positive role models. It’s GTC Scotland’s role to make sure that teachers are qualified and fit to teach.
What does this mean for learners, parents and carers?
- Trust in the teaching profession as you know there is a system in place to set and uphold standards.
- Ability to search our Register, to check that a teacher has the knowledge, skills, and character to teach.
- Confidence that registered teachers have achieved the appropriate qualification(s) for their registration category or categories.
- Assurance that there is a process if there is a serious concern that a teacher has fallen below the standards expected of the profession.
Teaching standards
The knowledge and skills that teachers must have and the ethical standards they must uphold are set out in the Standard for Provisional Registration, Standard for Full Registration and the Code of Professionalism and Conduct.
Search the Register
You can search our Register to find out what registration category a teacher is qualified to teach, if they hold full registration or provisional registration and if they are subject to a Fitness to Teach order.
What we investigate
Our Fitness to Teach process is about ensuring that teaching standards are upheld. We investigate:
- serious concerns about registered teachers working in Scottish schools and colleges
- when we think a teacher is a risk to learners or colleagues
- where we think there could be a risk to public confidence in the teaching profession
The point of our process is to decide if the teacher involved should be allowed to continue teaching. This is why our investigation usually happens after any employment or criminal procedures. If you have a concern about a teacher, you should first raise this with their employer.
We only investigate concerns about registered teachers.
What other organisations do
If your concern relates to someone working in a school who is not a teacher (for example, a classroom assistant or administrative worker), or if it relates to the school or the quality of education, you should contact the education provider.
If you are dissatisfied with how your concern is dealt with by the education provider, you may be able to refer the matter to:
- for local authority schools: the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
- for independent schools: the Registrar of Independent Schools
Anyone working with children and / or vulnerable adults including classroom assistants and tutors should have a PVG scheme membership.
You can find out more about this from Disclosure Scotland.
Concerns about people working in children and young people services such as early years and residential childcare can be raised with the SSSC.
Make a referral to us
Members of the public can raise concerns about the behaviour (which we call conduct) of a teacher.
Employers can raise concerns about the conduct and competence of a teacher (by competence we mean the knowledge and skills of a teacher).
How to get involved in our work
We regularly seek the views of the public in our work. Information about open and past consultations can be found on our consultations webpage.
We also recruit lay members to join our Fitness to Teach panels, Education panels and Council.
Recruitment happens typically every 2 years for Council and every 4 years for panels. Lay member vacancies will be posted on our vacanices page.
