25-26/027

We refer to your request for information (FOI 25-26/027) dated 15 July 2025 which we have handled under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). 

You asked:

I am not seeking any personal information. I wish to know some data regarding secondary teachers' length of service. This could be a breakdown for categories or even a single figure which gives the average length of service of secondary teachers in Scotland. (I am engaged in a small research project (details available on request) and have collected some, anonymous, data on teachers' length of service as a variable. It would be useful to know how this compares to national data.

Clarification:

You clarified on 16 July 2025 that your request concerns currently registered teachers.

Our response:

The average length of time registration in Secondary (subject) education has been held for all currently registered secondary teachers, as extracted on 25 July 2025 is 15 years and 252 days.

Where multiple registrations are held, this is based on the earliest registration. Individuals may have left and returned to the Register within this period.  

The following table shows the number of currently registered secondary teachers broken down by the length of time registration has been held (as at 25 July 2025). Again, where multiple registrations are held, this is based on the earliest registration, and individuals may have left and returned to the Register within this period.

Right to review and appeal

You may request a review of how we have dealt with this information request if you are dissatisfied with this response. This can be done by contacting us at informationgovernance@gtcs.org.uk, describing your original request and explaining the basis for your dissatisfaction. You have 40 working days from receipt of this response to submit a review request.  

Once the review process has been completed, if you are still dissatisfied, you can apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. See the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on making an appeal for information about how to do this.