Qualified Outside Scotland – College Lecturer

We welcome and support applications from college lecturers who qualified outside Scotland.

Teacher education

If you have not completed your teacher education please do not apply. You should wait until you have successfully completed the full teacher education programme and your awarding Higher Education Institution is able to provide you with written confirmation. If you apply before this we will not be able to assess your application and we will not be able to refund your processing fee.

Teaching Qualification required

An applicant must have completed teacher education equivalent to 60 Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credit points

Teaching qualifications should:

  • extend to SCQF Level 9 or above
  • relate to the 16 year and above student age range
  • include professional and pedagogic studies
  • include appropriate teaching experience

Find out more about the SCQF on their website.

Guidance

Read our pre-application guidance for answers to the most common questions about college lecturer registration. This guidance includes a list of qualifications which we have previously accepted as meeting requirements for Provisional, Provisional (Conditional) and Full Registration with GTC Scotland.

College Lecturer Checklist

Please click on each item on the checklist below to view specific details of the information required.

If you submit your application without uploading all the required documents this will lead to delays in the assessment of your application. Once we have allocated a case officer they will need to request the missing documentation before they will be able to reach a decision on your application. We can only allow 28 days for you to provide missing documents and we may close your application if we do not receive these within this timeframe.

Employment details

You will need to have taught in a college setting for a minimum of 190 days in order to be considered for registration in the Further Education category.

We require reference reports on this service from the college(s) where you were employed.

We will ask you to confirm:

  • college name(s)
  • dates of employment
Your original teacher qualification certificate
  • We require a copy of your original qualification certificate issued by the Higher Education Institution/Universty/College or alternative proof as outlined below. This is a mandatory document and you will be unable to submit the application unless uploaded.

Details you will be asked to enter in the application form:

  • the title of your teacher qualification
  • name of awarding education institution
  • country where you qualified
  • date of the award
  • age range your teacher qualification relates to

If you are yet to be issued with your award certificate

If you have recently completed your teacher qualification, you should provide an official statement from the awarding education institution where you qualified, giving the following information:

  • the title of the qualification
  • the date on which you passed the qualification
  • that you are not subject to any appeals process
  • that there are no known impediments to you being issued with your teaching qualification certificate at graduation

If you have lost/no longer have a copy of the document

You will need to provide an official statement from the awarding education institution, confirming the title of your teacher qualification and the date of the award.

Transcript of your teacher qualification

This is the document showing the modules studied during your teacher qualification.

Three forms of ID

We need clear scans of photographs of forms of identity to confirm:

name (e.g. birth certificate, passport)
date of birth (e.g. birth certificate, passport)
current address (e.g. utility bill, bank statement, drivers licence).

One of these must be a photo ID.

We are required by Disclosure Scotland to obtain these documents in order for us to issue you with a link to the PVG/EPVG application form.

If you are using your passport as one of these forms of ID, the image below shows an example of the passport page required. This page should show your photograph and details.

Official documentation confirming the age range your teacher qualification relates to

As part of the assessment process, we will check whether your teacher qualification is comparable to the Scottish Teaching Qualification in Further Education.

We need the following information to be confirmed by the awarding education institution:

  • the age range your teacher qualification relates to
  • that teaching practice in the 16 and above student age range was included

If the above is not clear from your teacher education transcript, you will also need to provide an official statement from the education institution where you qualified, clearly confirming the above information.

This document can be uploaded at the end of the application process via the upload page.

Documentation in support of name change (if applicable)

This can either be a Marriage Certificate or Deed Poll document.

Criminal Record check(s) (if applicable)

We require a criminal record check from applicants who have spent 3 months or more (in a single period) in a non-UK country in the last 10 years and applicants who were born and have lived overseas until adulthood. Find out more

Criminal Record Check
If you do not submit a Criminal Record Check, your application will be put on hold and will not be assessed until the Criminal Record Check is received.
PVG Scheme Certificate (if applicable)

All applicants are required to be a member of Disclosure Scotland’s Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme for regulated work with children and protected adults. Find out more.

Official certified translations of all documents not in English

We require all documents that are not in English to be officially translated. We would recommend that you visit Association of Translation Companies where you can find your nearest translation company.

Documents
To complete the application, please upload one document at a time, do not upload two or more documents with the same name. Preferred document formats are PDF and Microsoft Word. We cannot accept HEIC files. When scanning files, please scan at no more than 100dpi. Maximum file size per upload is 5MB.

Before you start

  • This application has a total of 9 pages, all pages are to be completed.
  • You will be unable to submit your application unless you have uploaded the required documentation listed above.
  • You will be unable to save and print a hard copy to send to GTC Scotland.
  • When you start your application you will be asked to register for an account. This will allow you to begin an application.
  • If you do not begin your application within 30 days your account will be closed.
  • Once you begin the application, you will have 30 days in which to complete it.
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