Primary Education

In Scotland, the age range of children in Primary Education is 3-12 years of age. The standard requirements for registration in Primary Education are:

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

• a degree level teaching qualification, which extends to SCQF Level 9 or above and is comparable in terms of organisation and content to the Scottish initial teaching qualification (the PGDE) which is one academic year in length and includes teaching practice. This study should be comparable in organisation and content to the Scottish pattern, which includes professional studies/pedagogy, subject studies (including methodology of teaching all primary curriculum subject areas across the primary age range), and teaching practice across the primary age range (3-12).

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.

In order for us to make a full assessment of your case, candidates applying for Primary Education must submit official documentation from your teacher education institution to confirm:

• details of the age range in years taught during your teaching practice
• the number of days/weeks spent teaching each age range and the subjects taught

Middle Years and Partial Primary Age Range Qualifications (e.g. Lower Primary)

The above is the standard professional requirement for registration. However, we can now consider applications from candidates who hold a partial primary age range teaching qualification (e.g. 7-11 years) or a Middle Years teaching qualification (e.g. 7-13 years).

Note: If you have completed the above type of teaching qualification and meet all of the requirements for registration you are likely to be offered Provisional Registration - i.e. you will be required to complete a probationary period covering the parts of the primary or secondary age range that were not covered by your training. We will only be able to make a decision regarding the length of probationary period after making a full and comprehensive assessment of your case. If you have successfully taught in the part of the age range that was not covered by your training we may be able to consider your prior service towards the probationary period - we will require satisfactory referee reports on this service in order to do this.

Important: If you applied for registration with the Council between 3 June 2009 and  February 2010 with a Middle Years or partial age range teaching qualification and were refused registration you will have to submit a new application for the register.

Unacceptable Qualifications

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

Find out How to Apply