Fitness to Teach: what it means when we remove a teacher from the Register
Sometimes parents, carers and learners hear about our work on the news. But the news does not always get things right. If something is reported in a way that is wrong or confusing, we ask the news provider, for example a newspaper, to correct it. We want everyone to understand how we help to keep learners safe.
What is Fitness to Teach?
Fitness to Teach is how we check that teachers in Scotland:
- are safe to be a teacher
- meet our standards
Most teachers work very hard and do a great job. But if we hear about something very serious, we look into it.
If there is a serious concern about an individual, we can:
- say they cannot become a teacher
- let them be a teacher but they have to do certain things to make sure they are safe to teach
- take them off the Register, which means they cannot work as a teacher
What does it mean when we take a teacher off the Register?
If we remove a teacher from the Register:
- they are not allowed to be a teacher in Scotland
- sometimes they must wait a certain amount of time before they can ask to be a teacher again
- if they apply again to be a teacher, we look at their case to decide if they are safe to teach now
It is very uncommon for someone who we have removed to be allowed back onto the Register. This is because if they are removed from the Register, this would have been for a serious issue.
The PVG Scheme: helping keep learners safe
Disclosure Scotland runs the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme, which helps stop people who might harm children and vulnerable adults from working with them.
The law says that:
- we cannot register anyone who is banned under the PVG Scheme
- we must remove someone from the Register if they are put on the banned list
If we find a serious safety concern during our Fitness to Teach work, we tell Disclosure Scotland. This helps make sure the person cannot work with children and vulnerable adults in any job, not just teaching.
Why our work matters
We are the independent organisation that regulates teachers in Scotland.
Our job is to make sure teaching standards stay high and that the public can trust teachers.
Teachers play a very important role in our communities. Learners and families rely on teachers to make good choices, keep learners safe, and be positive role models.
Helping everyone understand our work
Many people want to know how and why we make decisions about a teacher’s fitness to teach. We post decisions on our website to help people understand this. View hearing decisions.
We also have a webpage for parents, carers and learners that explains what our work means for them.
