Our role
We are the independent regulator for teachers in Scotland. We work in the public interest to enhance trust in teachers by setting, upholding and promoting high standards.
Our functions are set out by law in the Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011.
The principal aims of GTC Scotland are:
To contribute to improving the quality of learning and teaching; and
To maintain and improve teachers’ professional standards.
Our governing body is our Council, which is made up of 7 appointed lay people, 19 elected teacher professionals on our Register and 11 educational stakeholder nominees. We are accountable to Scottish Parliament. We are also a registered charity and look to ensure that all our work is in the public interest.
Our vision is trusted teaching. Our mission is to maintain the integrity of the registration and regulation of the teaching profession as a safeguard for the quality of education in Scotland. We also seek to enhance trust in teaching at an individual, group and system level. This ensures the best possible outcomes for learners.
Our core role is to regulate. We do this by:
- Promoting high professional standards for teachers in Scotland;
- Maintaining the Register of Teachers in Scotland – including all aspects of initial registration, maintaining registration and enhancing registration. Maintaining the Register is about ensuring that only teachers who meet the standards in Scotland are on the Register; and
- Investigating serious concerns about teachers – something that affects a tiny minority of teachers each year – taking action where necessary. We believe in taking account of the context in which incidents occur and giving teachers the chance to address concerns, but we will always take action when needed.
We inform and educate on our role so people can engage effectively in our work.
What we learn from our work allows us to influence. We share intelligence from our activities and work with our partners to support strategic decision making in the interests of trusted teaching.
In this report, we set out the importance of registration, share data extracted from our Register and summarise insight gathered over registration year 2024-25 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025). Statistics are provided to illustrate our activity. Reading this together with our Annual Reports and Accounts provides a broad overview of our core work.
We are the independent regulator for teachers in Scotland. We work in the public interest to enhance trust in teachers by setting, upholding and promoting high standards.
Our functions are set out by law in the Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011.
The principal aims of GTC Scotland are:
To contribute to improving the quality of learning and teaching; and
To maintain and improve teachers’ professional standards.
Our governing body is our Council, which is made up of 7 appointed lay people, 19 elected teacher professionals on our Register and 11 educational stakeholder nominees. We are accountable to Scottish Parliament. We are also a registered charity and look to ensure that all our work is in the public interest.
Our vision is trusted teaching. Our mission is to maintain the integrity of the registration and regulation of the teaching profession as a safeguard for the quality of education in Scotland. We also seek to enhance trust in teaching at an individual, group and system level. This ensures the best possible outcomes for learners.
Our core role is to regulate. We do this by:
- Promoting high professional standards for teachers in Scotland;
- Maintaining the Register of Teachers in Scotland – including all aspects of initial registration, maintaining registration and enhancing registration. Maintaining the Register is about ensuring that only teachers who meet the standards in Scotland are on the Register; and
- Investigating serious concerns about teachers – something that affects a tiny minority of teachers each year – taking action where necessary. We believe in taking account of the context in which incidents occur and giving teachers the chance to address concerns, but we will always take action when needed.
We inform and educate on our role so people can engage effectively in our work.
What we learn from our work allows us to influence. We share intelligence from our activities and work with our partners to support strategic decision making in the interests of trusted teaching.
In this report, we set out the importance of registration, share data extracted from our Register and summarise insight gathered over registration year 2024-25 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025). Statistics are provided to illustrate our activity. Reading this together with our Annual Reports and Accounts provides a broad overview of our core work.
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