We are reviewing our Fitness to Teach rules to make sure they reflect current law and best regulatory practice, while making the process work as fairly and efficiently as it can.
As part of this review we asked the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) to review our conduct process and we also issued a call for views on general themes surrounding the rules and processes.
The results will inform the changes we need to make to the Fitness to Teach process and the rules that govern it.
Jennifer Macdonald, Strategic Director, GTC Scotland said: “We said we would review our Fitness to Teach rules during our 2023 to 2028 strategic planning period. From the very beginning, we wanted the review to be thorough. We know how important this work is as a public protection and as a safeguard for the reputation of the teaching profession.
“We have over 80,000 teachers on our Register and we receive Fitness to Teach referrals for about 200 teachers each year. We remove on average 25 people a year.
“As well as issuing a call for views on general themes surrounding our rules and processes, we asked the PSA to provide an objective view of how we could improve the conduct process. We wanted to be challenged and that is what the PSA has done in this report.
“We have already begun to address some of the issues raised. Other recommendations require collaborative work with our partners at a national level.
“We will consider the PSA’s recommendations in full and we will be presenting an action plan to our Professional Regulatory Assurance Committee. In the meantime, we ask all our partners and stakeholders to read the report in full and consider it in the context of the wider regulatory system in which we all operate.”
“We thank the PSA for their advice and all participants for their time and feedback.”
