Register of teachers

published:30 Mar 2009

The register of teachers contains information about more than 500,000 teachers who have qualified teacher status (QTS). The GTC is the organisation that awards QTS in England.

The following kinds of teacher must register with the GTC if they work in England:

• teachers in maintained (state) schools
• teachers in pupil referral units (which teach children who have been excluded from other schools)
• teachers in non-maintained special schools (schools outside the state sector which teach children who have statements of special educational needs).

Employers must check the register to make sure that their teachers are registered with us and do not have any disciplinary orders against them which have not yet been resolved.

Other teachers can choose to register. Many thousands of teachers in independent schools in England are registered, as are teacher trainers, school inspectors and local authority advisers.

Trainee teachers
Anyone starting a course of initial teacher training in England leading to the award of QTS must be provisionally registered with the GTC. A provisionally registered teacher is subject to the same regulations regarding professional conduct as a fully registered teacher.

Information from the register
The register gives valuable information about the teaching profession. Every year the GTC sends details of patterns in the teacher workforce to local and national education organisations to help them with recruitment and retention. The GTC also publishes an annual Survey of Teachers, based on a representative sample of the people on the register.

Data protection
Any member of the public is entitled to be told whether or not a teacher is registered with the GTC.

Employers, including local authorities, large supply teacher agencies and some schools, are also able to access more detailed information about teachers by using the GTC Employer Access system.