Registration fee

The annual registration fee is £65 for all registrants.

This includes teachers and college lecturers who: work part-time hours; work on supply; are on parental leave; are retirees who wish to maintain their registration; or are working outside Scotland and wish to maintain their registration.

The registration fee is for the period 1 April – 31 March.  The fee remains the same irrespective of the point during this period at which you join or leave the Register. It will not be reduced pro rata.

Payment of the annual registration fee is taken between March and June each year, depending on your employment context. See ‘How do I pay my registration fee?’ below for more information.

As part of your registration with GTC Scotland, you need to ensure your contact details are correct.

If you do not keep your details up to date it may lead to a delayed or missed payment, which could result in your removal from the Register. Find out how to update your details.

While efficiency savings and planned use of reserves are sufficient to fund our work for the beginning of our 2023-2028 strategic planning period, the level of the registration fee will be kept under review and may need to increase to ensure GTC Scotland’s financial sustainability.

The annual registration fee is teachers’ individual contribution to their collective responsibility as a self-regulating profession.

For applicants who qualified outside Scotland
From 1 April 2024, the Application Assessment Fee will rise from £65 to £185. The Annual Registration Fee will remain the same.

Who is responsible for paying the registration fee?

It is the responsibility of anyone wishing to maintain eligibility to teach in a Scottish school or college to ensure their annual registration fee is paid. For the majority of registrants, payment will be deducted automatically from your salary by your employer, usually in March or April.

GTC Scotland will attempt to contact you if we do not receive payment, so please ensure that your contact details are up-to-date on MyGTCS.

How do I pay my registration fee?

The way your annual registration fee is paid depends on your employment context.

Employed by Local Authority/ies (including supply) or College(s)

Your employer deducts the registration fee from your salary (Deduction at Source). This will show in your March or April payslip.

If you work for more than one employer, you may find that your registration fee has been deducted from your salary by multiple employers. Our system will notify us that you have overpaid, and we will contact your employer(s) to advise them to refund the additional payment. We will not refund you directly.

If the payment has not been deducted from your salary, we will contact you by June to organise payment via MyGTCS. Please note: we cannot accept payments over the phone.

Parental Leave

When you are on parental leave, the annual registration fee may not be deducted from your salary. If this is the case, we will notify you by June to organise payment via MyGTCS.

Other contexts

If you are:

  • on Associate Status
  • working outside teaching, for instance for a charity or national body
  • on a career break
  • not in employment
  • working outside Scotland
  • on long-term sick leave

We will notify you by June to make payment via MyGTCS.

I work for more than one employer, and my registration fee has been deducted from my salary from each employer. What should I do?

If you work for more than one employer, you may find that your registration fee has been deducted from your salary by multiple employers. Our system will notify us that you have overpaid, and we will contact your employer(s) to advise them to refund the additional payment. We will not refund you directly.
 
Thank you for your patience while we work through this process.

My employer hasn’t paid my registration fee – how do I resolve this?

If we do not receive your annual registration fee from an employer, we will contact you directly by June to organise payment via MyGTCS. The payment facility in MyGTCS will not be available until we have contacted you to ask for payment.

To help us to contact you, it is essential that your contact and employment details are correct on MyGTCS. Update your contact details or inform us of a change to your name.

What happens if I don’t pay?

If we do not receive payment of your registration fee by the deadline, you will lapse from the Register of Teachers.

This means you will be ineligible to teach in a Scottish school.

It is a legal requirement for all teachers working in Scottish schools to be registered with GTC Scotland. In 2018, there was a national agreement to register lecturers working in Scotland’s colleges through GTC Scotland. 

If you still wish to teach, you will be required to apply to return to the Register.

I’m over 65/ retired, do I still need to pay my registration fee?

If you intend to engage in any supply teaching work, it is a legal requirement to be registered, regardless of how many days worked in any registration year. The fee must be paid in full (£65).

Can I suspend my registration for a period of time?

You cannot suspend or pause your registration, however you can either lapse from the register or move to Fully Registered Associate Status.

Lapse from the Register

You can choose to lapse from the Register of Teachers. When you wish to return to teaching, you can re-register with us. 

The cost to re-register includes a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme record check, which is either £59 or £18, depending on your status with the scheme, plus the Annual Registration Fee which is currently £65. 

If you are working or travelling abroad when you come to re-register, we will require an overseas police clearance from any countries you have lived/ worked in while you were lapsed. It is best to obtain this document while still in the country. 

Associate Status

Alternatively, you can move from Fully Registered General Status (the default status for fully registered teachers) to Fully Registered Associate Status. Registrants with Associate Status are not required to participate in Professional Update and cannot teach unless they move back to General Status. The annual registration fee for those with Associate Status remains £65.

Read more about Associate Status.

Claiming a tax deduction on your registration fee

Contact HMRC to claim a tax deduction on any registration fees paid to GTC Scotland and any questions about the tax relief process.

We will issue a payment confirmation for your annual registration fee payment once we have collected the fee from all registrants.

How much you can claim depends on the rate you pay tax. For example, if you spend £65 on your annual registration fee and pay tax at a rate of 20%, the tax relief you can claim is £13.

You must keep records of what you have spent, and claim within 4 years of the end of the tax year that you spent the money.

How you’ll get tax relief

HMRC will usually make any adjustments needed through your tax code for the current tax year.

How to claim

You must claim using a Self Assessment tax return if you already fill one in, otherwise, fill in form P87.

If you’ve made a successful claim in a previous tax year, you may be able to make your claim by phone.

Registration fee for historical claims

DatesAnnual Registration Fee
1 April 2017 – Present£65
How do I cancel my registration?

Information on how to cancel your registration.  

Please be advised you will be required to provide your name, date of birth and registration number to process this.  

It is a legal requirement for all teachers working in Scottish schools to be registered with GTC Scotland. 

The registration fee is for the period 1 April – 31 March. The fee remains the same irrespective of the point during this period at which you join or leave the Register. It will not be reduced pro rata.

I have been contacted to request I pay my annual registration fee, what do I need to do?

If you receive a notification requesting you to pay your annual registration fee, it means we have not received payment from an employer. Please follow the instructions in your email to make payment via MyGTCS. If you think that you have already made payment, please contact us.

Why do I have to pay an annual registration fee?

GTC Scotland’s governing legislation (The Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011), gives GTC Scotland the legal authority to charge a registration fee. GTC Scotland requires all individuals registered on the Register of Teachers to pay a registration fee to maintain their registration. This Fee Policy sets out the principles and rules that GTC Scotland applies in setting, charging and collecting fees under the Order.

The current registration fee is £65 and has been so since 2017. The fee is used by GTC Scotland to deliver our core tasks and functions.

The annual registration fee is teachers’ individual contribution to their collective responsibility as a self-regulating profession.

How is my registration fee used by GTC Scotland?

GTC Scotland uses the income from the annual registration fee in the delivery of our core tasks. Read about our core tasks.

For a breakdown of how GTC Scotland uses the income from the annual registration fee, please see our Annual Report and Accounts.

I qualified outside Scotland, 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

Find out more about the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme.

I’m a student teacher, when will I pay the annual registration fee?

The annual registration fee of £65 is due before you enter the classroom in August.

Once your higher education institution confirms to us that you have passed your course, and Disclosure Scotland has sent us your PVG Certificate, we will contact you with instructions on how to pay. Please ensure that your email address is up to date on your Applications portal profile.

Once you have made your payment, we will send you confirmation of your registration status with us which you can share with your employer. This confirmation includes your GTC Scotland Registration Number.

Will I receive confirmation of my annual registration fee payment?

We will issue email confirmation of your annual registration fee payment once we have collected the fee from all registrants.

Do you still have questions about the fee?
If you didn’t find the answer to your question here, and would like to discuss your Registration Fee with us, please complete our contact form.
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