.png)
On 2 June 2025, GTC Scotland turns 60.
Regulators are often set up in response to a crisis and it was in 1961 that the campaign to set up a Scottish Teachers’ Council began. Teacher shortages led to uncertified teachers teaching in Scotland’s schools. Qualified teachers grew concerned and began strike action. Support for a Council was strong and on 2 June 1965, the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent and Scotland’s General Teaching Council was born.
In this anniversary year I have been thinking a lot about GTC Scotland’s past, present and future. Over the last 60 years a strong regulatory framework has been built and the essence of what we are here to do remains unchanged: ensuring the professional status of teaching by setting, upholding and promoting teaching standards.
What has changed is the wider context in which we operate. For example, professional regulation has grown in status and with this a pool of knowledge has built up on what the defining principles of this work are and how to regulate more effectively in the public interest. Trusted Teaching, our strategic plan for 2023 to 2028, sets out this direction for our profession. Over the last 2 years our focus has been on our core regulatory functions, on improving our use of data and our digital systems, and supporting our people to deliver this work with impact.
In 2023, the groundwork for change was laid and last year we used the data we collect to publish 2 new reports: our Registration snapshot report and Fitness to Teach Insight report. Last month we announced that a new digital platform will host MyGTCS, provisional registration profiles and MyPL, and will be rolled out to provisionally registered teachers from August. Our next digital project will be a case management system for our Fitness to Teach work. Shortly we will be publishing a review of our Fitness to Teach conduct process, which will form part of a wider project to review our Fitness to Teach Rules.
As part of our commitment to being a modern, agile regulator, we are enhancing how we communicate with our stakeholders. Drawing on best practice from other regulators, we are adopting new, more engaging channels. We’ve launched short video resources for registrants, expanded our newsletters, developed dedicated webpages for employers and the public (coming soon), and are transitioning from Teaching Scotland magazine to this blog. While Teaching Scotland has been a valued platform, this blog will allow us to connect more effectively with both registrants and partners, offering timely insights and a shared space to speak up for high standards in teaching. Registrants will continue to receive analysis and commentary through the registrant newsletter.
We also started to increase our parliamentary engagement at the beginning of this strategic plan. In 2024, we held a Scottish Parliament roundtable where we highlighted teaching standards and discussed the role of Fitness to Teach and the growing expectations on teachers. To mark our 60th anniversary year, we will visit Parliament again to highlight the importance of teaching as a profession and to discuss the frameworks needed for trusted teaching to thrive.
Sixty years on, GTC Scotland continues to work in the public interest, helping enhance trust in teachers by setting, upholding and promoting high standards. While some of the challenges faced today are different from those in the 1960s, issues in teacher supply persist – shortages in some areas and surplus in others – compounded by budget pressures. A frequent refrain is for standards to be lowered to remedy the situation. GTC Scotland knows its roots; we will continue to advocate for the high standards teachers fought for 60 years ago.
