Full registration

You must be registered with the GTC if you are a qualified teacher and you are employed to carry out 'specified work' in a maintained school, a non maintained special school or a pupil referral unit.

Specified Work is defined as:

• planning and preparing lessons and courses for pupils
• delivering lessons to pupils
• assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils; and
• reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils.

    
The requirement to register applies to full time, part time and supply teachers.

If you are employed in other settings it might be a requirement of your contract of employment that you are fully registered with the GTC. You should check this with your employer.

Contact the registration helpdesk to find out if you are registered or not by using the link below, emailing registration@gtce.org.uk or by telephoning 0870 001 0308.

Your Teacher Reference Number is a permanent reference number. It is not an indication that a person has either Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Full Registration.  Student Teachers, unqualified teachers and instructors do not have QTS and cannot fully register with the GTC but can all have a Teacher Reference Number.

Yes. Regular and occasional supply teachers teaching in a maintained school, a non maintained special school or a pupil referral unit are legally required to have full registration with the GTC.

Advisory teachers or consultants working with teachers in schools rather than fulfilling the duties of a practising teacher, are not required to register. If you undertake specified work as set out in the Specified Work regulations then you will need to register.

Many teachers who were in employment while the Register of Teachers was being established were automatically registered. At the time, the GTC worked with the Department for Education and Skills, Local Authorities and other employers to establish who was required to be registered. You therefore may have been registered with the GTC through your employer. If you have been automatically registered but you are no longer in employment as a teacher you can de-register from the GTC by completing and returning a De-registration form.

The Register of Teachers is now considered to be established and as such automatic registration does not take place. A teacher can now only gain full registration by making an application.

To simply check whether you are registered or not you will need to tell us your full name and your date of birth. For more in-depth enquiries we will also need your Teacher Reference Number or your National Insurance number.

We need to create an audit trail that includes your handwritten signature on the application form, so unfortunately, online registration is not available.

We need your handwritten signature on the form, so unfortunately we cannot accept forms that are faxed, e-mailed or photocopied. Please post your completed form to us at the following address:

The General Teaching Council for England
Registration Helpdesk
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4AJ

Yes, but please do not tell us until you have actually moved. Please notify us in writing, including your signature, if you want changes to be made to your details. Alternatively you can complete and return a change of details form.

If you are leaving the profession or taking a break from teaching you do not need to maintain your full registration and can deregister by completing a deregistration form or by emailing registration@gtce.org.uk.

If you return to teaching in a maintained school or non maintained special school you must register with us at that point. If you wish to undertake supply teaching you will need to maintain your full registration.