24-25/14

I refer to your request for information dated 24 June 2024 (FOI 24 -25/14) in which you submitted various queries for statistics held by the General Teaching Council for Scotland which we have handled under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA).

As part of your request, you submitted the following queries:

1. The number of probationers allocated through the preference waiver scheme for school year 2024-25, broken down by local authority; by sector (primary and secondary); and by secondary subject
2. The total number of probationers allocated to each local authority for school year 2024-25; 2023-24; 2022-23; 2021-22; 2020-21 and 2019-20, broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject.
3. The total number of probationers requested by each local authority for school year 2024-25; 2023-24; 2022-23; 2021-22; 2020-21 and 2019-20, broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject.
4. The total number of probationers who joined the flexible route for school year 2024-25; 2023-24; 2022-23; 2021-22; 2020-21 and 2019-20, broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject.
5. The probationers allocated to schools in 2024-25; 2023-24; 2022-23; 2021-22; 2020-21 and 2019-20 how many completed the TIS, broken down by local authority, sector and secondary subject. (If it is possible to categorise those who failed to complete in the expected time (for instance, “dropped out”; “received extension”; “failed to reach standard”) please do provide this break down).

We indicated on 27 June that due to the significant amount of time and resources that would be spent locating, retrieving and interrogating the 142 identified records that section 12(1) of FOISA would apply due to the excessive cost of compliance. We provided a detailed Fees Notice and advised that if you were to amend the scope of your original request this would reduce the amount and could bring it within the £100 exemption.

On 27 June you indicated this request could be restricted to the first three queries with the information from 2020/21 and 2021/22 removed to reduce the scope. We responded on 28 June indicating that this would still create a Fees Notice. We again asked on 2 July if you were prepared to pay the Fees Notice. You responded on July 16 with the revised request again and asked that we examine the fees in this instance. Whilst this response would still exceed the £100 exemption under section 12(1) of FOISA, we agreed to waive this fee as part of our duty to provide advice and assistance under section 15 of FOISA.

Please note that multiple queries under your original request are reasonably accessible as per section 25(1) of FOISA.

Specifically, your third query for the “number of probationers requested by each local authority” between 2019/20 and 2023/24 “broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject” is available on our Disclosure Log under FOI 23-24/23.

Furthermore, under your fourth query for the “total number of probationers who joined the flexible route” in 2022/23 “broken down by sector (primary and secondary)” this information is available on our Disclosure Log under FOI 22-23/57.

Finally, under your fifth query for the number of “probationers allocated to schools” between 2019/20 and 2022/23 who completed the Teacher Induction Scheme this information is also available on our Disclosure Log under FOI 23-24/67.

As per the revised scope of your request, we have now collected information for the first three queries under your request.

Firstly, where you have asked for the “number of probationers allocated through the preference waiver scheme for school year 2024-25, broken down by local authority, by sector (primary and secondary); and by secondary subject” we have provided this information in Table 1 in the enclosure accompanying this response. Please note that these figures are subject to change over time due to additional placements being allocated after the initial allocation date and may include teachers who deferred or withdrew from the Teacher Induction Scheme after allocation and before the placement began. Please note that this qualification applies to all information provided as part of this response.

Secondly, where you have asked for the “number of probationers allocated to each local authority for the school year 2024-25; 2023-24; and 2019-20, broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject” we have provided this information in Tables 2 and 3 in the enclosure accompanying this response.

Please note that we are unable to provide the figures for the 2019/20 registration year broken down by secondary subject as they are held in records which are password protected and are not currently accessible. This does not constitute an exemption, but we wanted to provide our apologies and an explanation as part of our duty to advise. However, we can provide the number of provisionally registered teachers allocated Teacher Induction Scheme placements broken down by local authority and registration category/subject in Table 4 of the enclosure accompanying this response.

Finally, where you have asked for the “number of probationers requested by each local authority for school year 2024-25; 2023-24; and 2019-20, broken down by sector (primary and secondary) and by secondary subject” we have provided part of this information in Table 5 in the enclosure accompanying this response. As mentioned earlier, the information for the 2019/20 and 2023/24 registration year is available on our Disclosure Log.

You may contact informationgovernance@gtcs.org.uk if you are dissatisfied with this response, to request GTC Scotland conduct a review of it. You should describe the original request and explain your grounds of review. You have 40 working days from receipt of this response to submit a review request. When the review process has been completed, if you are still dissatisfied, you may use the Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on making an appeal to make an appeal to the Commissioner.

Enclosures

• Table 1: The number of provisionally registered teachers allocated Teacher Induction Scheme placements through the preference waiver scheme in the 2024/25 registration year as at 8 May 2024 broken down by local authority and registration category / subject;
• Table 2: The total number of provisionally registered teachers allocated Teacher Induction Scheme placements in the 2024/25 registration year as at 8 May 2024 broken down by local authority and registration category / subject;
• Table 3: The number of provisionally registered teachers allocated Teacher Induction Scheme placements in the 2023/24 registration year as at 15 May 2023 broken down by local authority and registration category / subject;
• Table 4: The number of provisionally registered teachers allocated Teacher Induction Scheme placements in the 2019/20 registration year as at 6 May 2019 broken down by local authority and registration category / subject;
• Table 5: The number of places offered under the Teacher Induction Scheme by each local authority for the 2024/25 registration year as at 6 May 2024 broken down by local authority and registration category / subject.