Return to the register

If you previously lapsed from the Register of Teachers or were removed or refused entry to the register through Fitness to Teach processes, you may be eligible to apply to rejoin the register.

It is a legal requirement for any teacher to be registered with us to teach in a Scottish school. For college lecturers in Scotland, registration with GTC Scotland is part of the agreed national terms and condition of employment.

If you completed a teaching qualification in Primary or Secondary Education at a Scottish Higher Education Institution and did not apply for registration with us at the time, please send us the information outlined here. If you did not submit an application for registration and pay the annual registration fee, you will not have become registered.

Click the following links to jump to the relevant information:

I chose to leave the Register of Teachers or lapsed through non payment of the Annual Registration Fee

Information you will need to provide

Your GTC Scotland Registration Number (if known)
Full name as it appeared on the Register prior to lapsing
Full name now (if changed) If your name has changed, please attach a copy of proof of name change (marriage certificate, civil partnership certificate or change of name deed as appropriate)
Date of birth
Current full postal address
Telephone number
Email address
Are you a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme? If so, please include a copy of your PVG membership certificate. If you do not have a copy of your certificate, please let us know your membership type (children, children and protected adults, protected adults). You can call Disclosure Scotland (03000 200 040) to get this information. Find out more about the PVG Scheme.
A Criminal Record check if you have spent three months or more in a single period in a non-UK country in the last ten years. Find out more about Criminal Record checks.
If you have completed a Return to Teaching Course, you should provide evidence of successful award
Only if you were provisionally registereda completed Reference using this form.
Copy of the photograph page of your passport and/or driving licence
Copy of your birth certificate or other form of identification
Copy of a utility bill showing your current address

To re-register, email us with scanned copies of all the information listed above to gtcs@gtcs.org.uk with the subject line ‘Return to the register’. For any other enquiries in relation to registration, please use our Contact Form.

Teachers may be interested in our ‘It’s time to return to teaching in Scotland’ booklet.

I was removed from the register or refused registration via the Fitness to Teach process

To register again, your application needs to be considered by a Fitness to Teach Panel at a hearing.

When you were removed from, or refused entry to, the Register of Teachers, you would have been prohibited from applying for registration or re-registration for a set period. You cannot make a Subsequent Registration Application until that period has expired.

For you to be admitted to the Register, the Panel will need to be satisfied that you are now professionally fit to teach. You will need to demonstrate as part of the application and hearing process that this is the case.

If you are barred from regulated work with children and protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (or similar legislation), any subsequent registration application will be refused automatically. You have no right of appeal when you are refused registration by GTC Scotland in these circumstances.

Information you will need to complete your application

Birth certificate
Documentation in support of a name change (if applicable)
Personal details page of passport (if applicable)
PVG Scheme Membership (if applicable, find out more)
Overseas Criminal record check (if applicable, find out more)

Once we have received your application we will:

  • Write to your nominated referees
  • Send you a link to complete a PVG or EPVG application – this must be completed within seven days. If not, it will become void.
  • Once we have received your referee reports and PVG information from Disclosure Scotland, your application, references and PVG scheme record will be passed to our Regulation and Legal Services Department.

The Regulation and Legal Services Department may carry out any further investigation considered appropriate in the circumstances.

A case management discussion may be arranged to discuss your case and plan how a Fitness to Teach hearing will run. Further information about that process would be provided to you at the time.

A hearing date will be arranged and you will be given at least 28 days’ notice of this. The purpose of the hearing is not to reconsider or re-hear the decision that was made to remove you from, or refuse you entry to, the Register of Teachers. The hearing will focus on determining whether you are now fit to teach. You can find out more about this process here.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decides at the hearing that you may be admitted to the Register, we will write to you to request payment of your registration fee. Once this fee has been received, your name will be placed on the Register in accordance with the Panel direction.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decides that you may not be admitted to the Register, you will be advised of your rights of appeal and will be told when it would be possible to apply for registration again.

The Rules that govern our Subsequent Registration Application procedure are set out in our Fitness to Teach Rules.

You may find it helpful to obtain advice from your Professional Association or a legal adviser to assist you in demonstrating at a hearing that you are now professionally fit to teach. Any costs associated with obtaining such advice are a matter for you.

Failure to send all the required documentation will result in your application being delayed. It may also lead to your application being closed. If this happens you will be required to re-apply and you will be treated as a new applicant who will be required to complete another application form and provide supporting documentation.

Choose the relevant application form for your situation below.

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