Protection of Vulnerable Groups

All applicants for GTC Scotland registration are required to be a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.

If you are barred from regulated work with children under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (or similar legislation), your registration application will be refused automatically.

You have no right of appeal where you are refused registration by GTC Scotland in these circumstances.

What is the PVG scheme?

The PVG membership scheme is managed and delivered by Disclosure Scotland.

It helps make sure people whose behaviour makes them unsuitable to work with children and/or protected adults, can’t do ‘regulated work’ (including teaching/lecturing) with these vulnerable groups.

GTC Scotland registration will not be possible if PVG Scheme membership is refused by Disclosure Scotland.

What happens when I apply?

When you apply for GTC Scotland registration, Disclosure Scotland will email you an application for the PVG scheme.

Once you have completed and submitted this form, they will carry out criminal record checks and share the results with you and us.

These checks include any non-conviction data held by police that may be relevant to working as a teacher or lecturer.

The PVG scheme membership application must be completed within 7 days. If not, it will become void and you will need to contact us to start another application.

What are Disclosure Scotland’s required identification documents?

photo identification
birth certificate
confirmation of your current address (utility bill/ bank statement)

New PVG Scheme Applicants

The cost of joining the PVG Scheme for the first time is £59.

Existing PVG Scheme Members

If you are already a PVG scheme member, with membership for regulated work with children, you will be required to complete an Existing PVG (EPVG) scheme member application.

Checks will be made to cover the period when you joined the scheme up to the present date. There is an £18 fee for this payable by you to Disclosure Scotland.

If there is new information on your PVG scheme record, you will be required to complete a further full scheme record check for an additional £41 payable by you to Disclosure Scotland.

Do you have the correct PVG scheme membership type?

If your PVG scheme membership is for regulated work with protected adults only, it is a requirement to apply to add the other group (children) to your record; this applies to both teachers and lecturers. This will incur a cost of £59, which is payable by you to Disclosure Scotland.

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