Registration fee increase
In December 2024, we announced a plan to raise the annual registration fee in incremental stages over 3 years.
Here we set out why this was necessary and what the increases will be. There is an opportunity at the end to leave feedback.
Why GTC Scotland was set up
GTC Scotland was established in 1965 following calls from thousands of teachers for a body to ensure standards and give teachers similar control over their own profession to equivalent bodies in medicine and accountancy.
As the independent regulator for over 80,000 teachers in Scotland, GTC Scotland charges an annual registration fee to cover the costs of our core functions to set, maintain and uphold teaching standards in Scotland.
We were most recently given the authority to do this by this law - the Public Services Reform (GTC Scotland) Order 2011 (the Order).
Why do you need GTC Scotland registration?
To work as a teacher or college lecturer in Scotland, it is a legal requirement to be registered with us. Registration is a common feature of being part of a regulated profession. The purpose of professional regulation includes maintaining society’s trust in the profession, safeguarding the interests of the public, and providing a framework for teachers to meet and exceed high professional standards.
Professional regulation also ensures that teachers rather than government are in control of setting, maintaining and upholding teaching standards.
What does your annual registration fee pay for?
The annual registration fee pays for the work that we do. We:
- set standards of competence, conduct and ethics which teachers must meet to be on our register, including those who have qualified outside Scotland.
- ensure that teachers commit to professional learning through the Professional Update (PU) accreditation process.
- set requirements for initial teacher education programmes in Scotland to ensure that student teachers develop the knowledge, skills and qualities to register with us.
- maintain a publicly accessible register of teachers who meet our standards.
- investigate serious concerns about teachers and make decisions about whether they should be on our register.
- advise the government on matters relating to the education and career development of the profession, including teacher supply.
Learn more about our core functions.
What has the fee increased to?
- In 2025, the fee increased to £75
- In 2026, the fee will increase to £83
- In 2027, the fee is planned to increase to £88
This approach was agreed at Council’s meeting in December 2024, and reaffirmed at its meeting in December 2025.
Why have we increased the annual registration fee?
Until April 2025, we had held our annual registration fee at £65 for 8 years which is the longest amount of time that has passed without an increase. During that time, we used a combination of reserves we had built up and efficiency savings to absorb the impact of turbulent economic conditions without having to increase the annual registration fee but it was no longer sustainable for us to continue operating in that way.
The chart below shows that had the annual registration fee increased in line with inflation since April 2017, then the 2025 year’s fee would have been in the region of £78.
We knew that the longer we left implementing a fee increase, the higher the increase would ultimately need to be. This is why we are raising the fee incrementally.
What will raising the fee allow us to do?
Like many organisations, our operational costs increased over the years we maintained the registration fee at £65. This means that fees have not been meeting the cost of our work.
Raising the fee allows us to deliver our statutory functions in a more financially sustainable way and means we can use some reserves to pay for improvement work. This allows us to modernise our processes and systems to improve our services and better meet needs. For example, we are introducing a new platform to replace MyGTCS and MyPL for fully registered teachers, having rolled the new system out for provisionally registered teachers in August 2025.
Further information about recent and planned work over our 5-year strategic period is available in our annual report and accounts for 2024 to 25.
Read our annual report and accounts
When were the changes introduced?
We introduced the changes from 1 April 2025. The reason we wanted to have agreed the annual increases for the next 3 years was to provide registrants with certainty over the longer term and to give employers who deduct the fee from teachers’ salaries sufficient notice of our plans to make the necessary changes.
As a responsible regulator and a registered charity, we have an obligation to report on our financial operations in an open and transparent way. Our annual report and accounts provide full details of how our income is being spent.
Read our annual report and accounts.
What was the feedback on increasing the fee?
A feedback survey for the registration fee increase was open for 8 weeks from 11 December 2024 to 7 February 2025. We issued the survey directly to registrants and partners along with an explanation of why an increase was needed. We received 2,230 anonymous responses. The majority (98%) of respondents were registrants, which is approximately 3% of the Register.
Many of the responses indicated dissatisfaction with our role and the work we do. They also highlighted a number of misconceptions of what our role and functions are. An example of this is employment conditions and remuneration, which are expressly excluded from our statutory work.
It was helpful to receive this feedback and we are using it to inform our communications approach as well as longer-term planned work on fee arrangements.
Read the summary of responses.
If you would like to leave any further feedback, you can do so by clicking on the feedback button below.
Leave feedback on the registration fee increase for 2026
Can I pay monthly and/or by direct debit?
Not currently, no. Our finance processes and system would require significant change and investment to support a different fee collection method. Enhancement of our finance system is something that we are considering for the future.
We asked for feedback on whether this would be a useful service for future collection of fees. Read a summary of responses to the feedback survey.
How do I claim a tax reduction on my registration fee?
You can claim a tax deduction on any registration fees paid to GTC Scotland. We will send you a payment confirmation for your annual registration fee payment once we have collected the fee from all registrants to assist with this. Contact HMRC if you have any questions about the tax relief process or to find out more about how to claim.
Read more about the annual registration fee and how to manage your registration