Primary Education

In Scotland, the age range of children in Primary Education is 3-12 years of age. In order to be considered for registration in Primary Education, you must have:

Academic Education Requirement

• An acceptable degree. An acceptable degree is a UK degree or UK degree equivalent, having completed a period of higher education at a university or equivalent institution of at least three years' duration (either full-time or part-time equivalent). A degree shall be regarded as a UK degree equivalent if it is recognised as such by the UK National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC).

Professional Education Requirement

In Scotland initial teacher education programmes for primary education comprise of:

• Professional studies
• Subject/curriculum studies relating to teaching all primary subject areas across all stages of the primary age range (3 to 12 years)
• Teaching practice during which all primary subject areas are taught. Important: this practice is spread across all stages of the primary age range.

If your own teacher education programme included all of the above you should obtain official documentation from your teacher education institution to confirm this. This documentation must include details of the age ranges taught during your teaching practice, as well as the number of days/weeks spent teaching each age range and the subjects taught.

If your teacher education programme did not include all of the above you will not meet the professional requirement for registration.

There are certain qualifications which we do not accept in Scotland. A list is available from the Where did you qualify? page.

Note: Teacher education programmes relating to teaching in middle years (KS2/KS3) and lower or upper primary are not accepted for registration in Scotland. Candidates who can provide evidence of at least 5 years' (full-time equivalent) satisfactory primary education service outside of the age range covered by their teacher education programme are entitled to the right of appeal to the Committee on Exceptional Admission to the Register. Further information about Appeals can be found on the  Outcome of Assessment page.

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