Qualified Outside Scotland – Teacher

GTC Scotland is the teaching profession of Scotland’s independent registration and regulation body. We work to maintain and enhance trust in the teaching profession of Scotland. Our work is funded by the registration fee that teachers and college lecturers in Scotland pay.

We welcome registration applications from individuals qualified outside Scotland who intend to teach in Scotland.

Introduction

It is a legal requirement for all those employed as teachers in Scottish schools to be registered with GTC Scotland. To be eligible to apply for registration an applicant must have a suitable teaching qualification and academic qualification.

Teachers who apply via the Qualified Outside Scotland (QOS) route have their qualifications assessed against our Registration and Standards Rules 2015. We carry out individual assessment of QOS applications, which includes thorough checks of an applicant’s qualifications, their experience and their personal details, as well as criminal record and PVG scheme checks.

We are receiving a growing number of QOS applications – on average we receive 1,300 QOS applications a year – and about 90% of these are successful because the individual meets our criteria. Any refusals to register are appealable to the Court of Session.

Our registration process plays an important role in ensuring that teachers in Scotland meet the high standards required to enter the profession. We set and uphold teaching standards in the public interest and as a safeguard for the quality of education.

How much does it cost to register?

The total cost of registering with GTC Scotland is currently £189. This breaks down as:

Not a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups SchemeExisting member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme
Application Assessment Fee£65 (non-refundable)Application Assessment Fee£65 (non-refundable)
To join PVG Scheme£59Existing PVG Scheme member application
(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.)
£18
Annual Registration Fee£65Annual Registration Fee£65
TOTAL£189TOTAL£148

From 1 April 2024, the Application Assessment Fee for applicants who qualified outside Scotland will rise from £65 to £185. The total cost of registering will be £309. This breaks down as:

Not a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups SchemeExisting member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme
Application Assessment Fee£185 (non-refundable)Application Assessment Fee£185 (non-refundable)
To join PVG Scheme£59Existing PVG Scheme member application
(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.)
£18
Annual Registration Fee£65Annual Registration Fee£65
TOTAL£309TOTAL£268

Application processing time

Qualified Outside Scotland registration applications are individually assessed. At present, It can take up to 4 months for fully completed applications (i.e. without any missing documents) to be assigned to a Registration Case Officer for assessment. The majority of applications are processed in date order of a fully completed application being submitted.

Changes to the requirements for full registration

We enacted a refreshed Provisional Registration and Probationary Service Policy on 1 August 2023.

This will mean changes to the requirements for Full Registration.

Advice is available: Advice for Probationers and Headteachers on new Flexible Route requirements – The General Teaching Council for Scotland (gtcs.org.uk) In particular, we recommend that applicants read the section for ‘Teachers who qualified outside Scotland who have been awarded Provisional Registration with no teaching service required’.

Teaching in England

If you intend to register with GTC Scotland so that you can teach in England, please note the changes made to the QTS route in England by the UK Government.

Eligibility and guidance

If you do not meet all of the requirements set out below, you could be considered for Provisional (Conditional) Registration. Read more about Provisional (Conditional) Registration.

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.

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. We will contact you to request missing documentation. We can only allow 28 days for you to provide missing documents and your application will be closed if we do not receive these within this timeframe.

Teaching employment details

We may be able to waive or reduce the probationary service requirement if you can provide satisfactory references on your employment as a teacher and in your teaching qualification age range and subject area.

We will ask you to confirm:

  • school name(s)
  • dates of employment
  • hours worked per week
  • subject(s) and age range taught

Please do not list: voluntary service, teaching assistant/language assistant posts, nursery/early years practitioner posts, private tutoring, after school classes/clubs, service given as part of your student teaching practice, service given before you qualified as a teacher as this cannot be considered towards the Teacher Service requirement.

We consider supply-based teaching service towards the Teaching Service Requirement, however, please do not list details of employment/recruitment agencies. Instead, please provide details of schools where you taught on a supply basis.

If we do not receive references on sufficient teaching service in your teaching qualification age range and subject area we will only be able to consider you for Provisional Registration. You will have to complete a probationary period.

Referees’ details

Before you start your application, please source contact details of referees who are happy to support your application for registration with GTC Scotland. One of these referees should be at your current or most recent school. Your referees must be the head teacher or senior leader (deputy headteacher / deputy pricipal) at the school where you taught

We may be able to waive or reduce the probationary service requirement (190 days of full-time equivalent teaching) if we can obtain satisfactory references on your employment as a teacher (including at least 105 days of teaching n your teaching qualification age range and subject area).

Please note that for Full Registration to be awarded a recommendation for Full Registration must be obtained from a head teacher or senior leader who currently holds Full (General) Registration with GTC Scotland. Further information is provided in the Probationer Teachers section of our website.

Information Required

We will ask you for this information about your referees:

  • their full name,
  • their work email address.

How we contact your referees

We will contact your referees directly via email, once your application has been received. They will be asked to complete a reference form commenting on your teaching ability and return it to us.

All reports must be given in English so that they can be read and understood by your case assessor. You may want to contact your referee to check whether there is an English-speaking member of staff currently employed at the school who would be able to assist with completing the report in English.

FAQs

My referee is no longer employed at the school where I taught. What do I do?

We are able to accept reference reports completed by a head teacher or senior leader who is no longer employed at the school where you taught.

In this case the school (or the Local Education Authority) has to confirm in writing that your nominated referee was the headteacher or senior leader at the school when you were employed there.

You will be required to submit this statement with your application for registration.

I work on a supply basis. Can I nominate my employment/recruitment agency as my referee?

Please do not nominate employment agency consultants as your referees; they will only give the dates you were employed in a school and will be unable to comment on your professional ability as a teacher.

Your original teacher qualification certificate
  • We require a copy of your original qualification certificate issued by the University/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 of pupils, and subject(s) your teacher qualification relates to

We will not be assessing your licensure/certification entitlements.

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.

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, UK 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 and subject(s) your teacher qualification relates to

As part of the assessment process, we will check whether your teacher qualification is comparable to the Scottish pattern of initial teacher education. We will not be assessing your licensure/certification entitlements.

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

  • the age range your teacher qualification relates to
  • what curriculum subject area(s) were covered by your subject studies (i.e. the studies within your teacher qualification that related to the teaching and learning of either the primary curriculum or one or more secondary curriculum subject areas)
  • that teaching practice observed and assessed by the awarding higher education institution was included
  • what curriculum subject area(s) you completed as part of your student teaching practice

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

You need to upload this document during the application process.

Undergraduate degree certificate (or equivalent qualification)

If you qualified via a postgraduate programme (e.g. Post Graduate Certificate in Education), you need to provide a copy of your undergraduate degree certificate.

It should confirm the name of the awarding education institution, the title of the qualification and the date of the award.

You need to upload this document during the application process.

If you were awarded ‘advanced standing’ onto your degree you should also provide a certificate of your previous higher education award (e.g. if you entered your degree at Year 3 level, after previously completing an HND, you will need to include a copy of your HND Certificate and transcript).

You need to upload this document during the application process.

If you no longer have a copy

If you no longer have a copy of this document (e.g. lost or stolen) you will need to provide an official letter or email from the awarding body, confirming the title of your undergraduate degree (or equivalent qualification) and the date of the award.

You will also need to upload this document during the application process.

What do we mean by an ‘equivalent qualification’

As part of the assessment process, we will contact the UK National Academic Information Centre (UK ENIIC) to obtain confirmation of the academic standing of the qualification(s) that you hold.

An academic qualification will be regarded as equivalent to a United Kingdom degree if it is either:

  • recognised as such by the UK ENIC
  • has been undertaken at an institution that is recognised by the UK ENIC and has borne the equivalent of 120 credit points at Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level 7 (or above), 120 credit points at SCQF level 8 (or above) and 120 credit points a SCQF level 9 (or above)
An official transcript of your undergraduate degree certificate or equivalent

This is a year-by-year breakdown of the subjects studied during your degree. 

The transcript may be referred to as a diploma supplement, a statement of learning, a record of achievement, or similar depending on the education institution you studied at.

It should:

  • Include the credit weighting and level of each module
  • Be stamped and signed by the registry/records office of the awarding body
  • Be on the awarding body’s letterheaded paper
  • If your study pre-dates credit weightings:
    • Clearly state all the modules studied
    • State whether or not you have passed each module.

If the awarding education institution is unable to provide you with a copy of this document, you should ask them to issue you with an official statement confirming the reason (e.g. they no longer hold any records for you).

If you were awarded ‘advanced standing’ onto your degree you should also provide a transcript of your previous higher education award (e.g. if you entered your degree at Year 3 level, after previously completing an HND, you will need to include a copy of your HND transcript).

You need to upload this document during the application process.

An official transcript of your teacher qualification

This is a breakdown of the modules/courses completed during your teacher qualification.

If the awarding institution is unable to provide you with a copy of this document, you should ask them to issue you with an official statement confirming the reason (for example, they no longer hold any records for you).

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. Find out more.

Evidence of foreign residency (only required for Modern Foreign Languages applicants)

If you wish to register to teach a modern foreign language, you must meet the residency requirement for modern foreign language teachers.

If you have not met the requirement, please see our section on Provisional (Conditional) Registration.

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. You can also find details of freelance translators on the website of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

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 must upload these as individual files: please do not combine all of your documents in one file.
  • Preferred document formats are PDF and Microsoft Word. We cannot accept HEIC files.
  • 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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