Registration and Regulation
The GTC Register
Qualified teachers in England who teach in maintained schools and non-maintained special schools register with the General Teaching Council for England.
The register of teachers contains information about more than 520,000 teachers (including members of the profession of the profession from the independent sector who have chosen to register with the GTC voluntarily), all of whom have qualified teacher status (QTS). It is therefore a growing valuable source of information and research about the state of the profession and teachers' views that the GTC is able to use in shaping its advice to Government.
The GTC is able to draw representative samples from the Register to develop an accurate picture of teachers' views and we also prepare an annual abstract of statistics from the Register to give local and national stakeholders a clear idea of teacher workforce demographics.
Registration fee
Teachers are required to pay a registration fee to register with the GTC. Through an arrangement with the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) teachers, other than those employed by supply agencies, receive an allowance of £33 from their local education authority (LEA) to cover registration fee.
Regulation
The creation of the General Teaching Council has conferred on the teaching profession the same right to professionally led regulation as other professions such as medicine, nursing and law.
The Council is responsible for running a system of regulation that encompasses both professional conduct and professional competence. The GTC's regulatory responsibilities also involve Council Members acting as the Appeals body for those few teachers who do not pass induction as a qualified teacher.
The GTC's regulatory work contributes to our overall objective to support a culture of improvement within the profession, building on the responsibility teachers take for their own standards of practice and professional development.
The GTC's approach to regulation will be supported by the work the Council is developing on a Code of Conduct, which draws upon the Council's regulatory experience and reflects the high standards of the profession.