Council election FAQs

To be eligible to stand for election you must:

• be nominated in accordance with the procedure set out below.
• within a period of two years ending on the 19 September 2025, have been employed in the election category in which you are seeking election (either on a full-time or part-time basis).

On 19 September 2025 you must:

• have paid the GTC Scotland registration fee for the current year in order to maintain your registration
• have the election category in which you are seeking to be elected, entered against your name in the Register.

A candidate will be disqualified from the election if at any time before the election they no longer meet any of the above criteria.

Reasons for ineligibility

In addition you may be ineligible to be elected if any of the following apply to you:

• Unspent criminal convictions or outstanding criminal charges;
• A finding of impaired fitness to practise by any regulatory body;
• Disqualification from a profession or as a company director;
• Bankruptcy;
• Removal from a position as a charity trustee, as a director of a public body or similar;
• Barred or disqualified from regulated work with children or protected adults by virtue of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2020 (or any similar equivalent legislation).

If any of these apply to you, you must tell us in your Nomination Form.

Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme

If elected, before serving as a Council member you will be required to be a member of Scotland’s Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme in respect of both the children’s and protected adults workforces. GTC Scotland initiate the relevant PVG application process and will meet the associated fee as applicable to Council membership.

Make a Difference:

• Play a key role in the strategic development and performance management of GTC Scotland.
• Ensure GTC Scotland meets its statutory functions and aims

Learn:

• Work with people from a wide range of educational and other backgrounds; develop and strengthen your skills whilst gaining a deeper understanding of the key issues facing GTC Scotland, Scottish education and the teaching profession in Scotland.

Please refer to the guidance notes for full details of the nomination process.

2 seats within each of the primary/nursery and secondary school election categories are reserved to those employed as headteachers (those who, within a period of 2 years ending on the candidate qualifying date of 19 September 2025, have been employed on a permanent - not acting – part-time or full-time basis in that capacity) within either category.

The headteacher reserved seats are allocated on the following basis:

• If the number of headteacher candidates standing in an election category does not exceed the number of reserved headteacher seats vacant in that category, the Returning Officer will declare those candidates elected unopposed to the reserved headteacher seats.
• If the number of headteacher candidates standing in the election category exceeds the number of reserved headteacher seats vacant in that category, the reserved headteacher seats will be filled by those headteacher candidates credited with the greatest number of votes in the election.

Any headteacher candidate not so elected to a reserved headteacher seat will be entitled, in accordance with the Election Scheme, to be elected to any other vacant seat in their election category.

The seats in the primary/nursery and secondary school election categories will be allocated as follows

• the reserved headteacher seats with a 4-year term will be filled by the headteacher candidate in the relevant category credited with the greatest number of votes in the election;
• the remaining seats with a 4-year term will be filled by the candidates credited with the highest number of votes or remaining headteacher candidates credited with the next highest number of votes in the relevant category in descending order in the election;

If there is no headteacher candidate to fill the reserved headteacher seat or if there are no headteacher or teacher candidates to fill any other vacant seat, the seat will be treated as an interim vacancy to be filled in accordance with the GTC Scotland Election scheme and Election policy.

Please refer to the guidance notes for full details of who can nominate you and the nomination process

Candidates can withdraw from the election at any time up to 12:00pm on Monday 5 January 2026.

In order to be entitled to vote, by the qualifying date of Friday 28 November 2025 you must:

• have paid the GTC Scotland registration fee required for the current year in order to maintain your registration, and
• be on the GTC Scotland Register of Teachers.

We want all registrants to have a say in the strategic direction of GTC Scotland and the easiest way to do this is to vote in the Council election for your preferred registered teacher candidates.vo

You may only vote in the election category entered against your name on the GTC Scotland register at the electorate qualifying date of Friday 28 November 2025.

In the primary/nursery and secondary school election categories, a registered teacher (whether a teacher or headteacher) may vote for a teacher or headteacher.

1. Please make sure we hold an up-to-date email address for you and that you are in the correct election category by 5:00pm on Friday 28 November.
2. The Independent Scrutineer will send you an email with a unique PIN and link to the secure and independent voting website to enable you to cast your vote online.
3. This unique PIN and link will enable you to vote in the election category entered against your name in the register on the above closing date.

Voting in the 2025/2026 Council Election will take place solely online. You will not receive a printed ballot paper and candidate information.

You can update your details online by logging into your MyGTCS account.

You will need your registration number to log in.

If you have forgotten your password, you can reset your password.

If you do not have a MyGTCS account or have any queries about MyGTCS, please contact us.

There are 4 election categories:

• Primary school teachers
• Secondary school teachers
• Further education teachers/lecturers
• Teachers/lecturers delivering Initial Teacher Education

You will be affiliated to one of the categories listed above based on your registration category (which it is assumed reflects your employment). If the nature of your registration means that you could fall into more than 1 election category and the category that you have been affiliated with does not match your current employment, please log on to MyGTCS to change your election category to be changed by Friday 28 November 2025.

• For the purpose of a Council election, within each of the primary/nursery and secondary school categories the teacher and headteacher categories are integrated (with seats reserved to those employed as headteachers).
• If within a period of 2 years ending on the candidate qualifying date of 19 September 2025 you have been employed (on a permanent basis, either part-time or full-time) as a school headteacher in the primary or secondary school election category, you will be automatically considered to be a headteacher candidate for the purposes of filling any vacant reserved headteacher seat in the election.

To update your details, please log in to your MyGTCS account using your registration number and password. If you have forgotten your password, you can can reset your password.

If you do not have a MyGTCS account or have any queries about MyGTCS, please contact us using our contact form.

At the same time you can add or update your email address to receive an email with ballot instructions and a unique PIN that are necessary to vote in the election.

You have until Friday 28 November 2025 to ensure that you are in the correct election category for voting in the election.

Standing in the election

If you are standing for election, you must make sure you are in the election category in which you wish to stand for election when you submit your Nomination form.

The closing date for receipt of Nomination Forms is 5:00pm on Friday 19 September 2025.

The election takes place by the first past the post system.

To ensure that the election process is fair, open and transparent, we have engaged Civica as the Independent Scrutineer to run the (including the counting of votes) of the 2025/2026 GTC Scotland Council election

‍

Monday 18 August 2025

Notice of Election goes live, nomination papers available

19 September 2025

Closing date for receipt of nomination papers; by this date all candidates must be in the correct election category

28 November 2025

Closing date for electors; by this date all electors must be in the appropriate election category

13 January 2026

Emails with ballot information and instructions sent to registrants to enable them to vote online

6 February 2026

Closing date for receipt of online votes

11 February 2026 (or as soon as possible after this date)

Publication of results

March 2026 (date to be confirmed)
Induction meetings of the new Council

2 April 2026
New Council members take up office