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We have launched a consultation on proposed changes to our Accreditation Policy.
As the independent regulator for teachers in Scotland, we also have responsibility for accrediting programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) and setting the minimum entry requirements for these programmes.
A lot has changed since we assumed formal responsibility from the Scottish Government for the accreditation process in 2012. The number of ITE programmes available and the providers offering them has increased, and it has also become a legal requirement for college lecturers to register with GTC Scotland and for further education teaching qualification programmes (TQFE) to be accredited.
Aspects of the current practice need to be brought up to date to reflect the changes in the landscape of teacher education. As part of our review, we have sought feedback from the 11 higher education institutions that provide programmes of ITE in Scotland, as well as local authority probation managers, on our current arrangements. We have also benchmarked our process against other regulators with a similar accreditation function.
The draft policy aims to provide a streamlined source of information and guidance that clearly sets out what the process for accrediting teaching qualification programmes is, why it’s necessary, and what our expectations in overseeing it are.
The consultation is open until 5pm on 12 March 2026, and responses can be submitted via an online questionnaire.
To learn more about the consultation and to review the documents, please visit the consultation page.
