Teacher shortages in some parts of Scotland, and in certain subject areas, are a growing concern. A topic that is often raised in discussions about teacher supply is the need for flexibility, with calls for innovation and different ways of becoming a teacher to be explored.
But how does this growing need sit with the legal requirement, highlighted by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and teaching unions among others, that an individual registered teacher must be employed in a role that is in line with their category of registration?
Dr Pauline Stephen, chief executive and registrar at GTCS, looks at the legal basis for this requirement, the benefits of and what teachers and their employers can do to introduce the flexibility that the system needs without compromising on the quality of teaching in schools.
This is a topic of great importance to us at GTCS - and of interest to me personally, based on my own professional background. Professional (Additional) Registration is the means by which a teacher who holds full registration in primary or secondary teaching categories and appropriate academic qualifications can apply for registration in a different category or subject.
This could be going from primary to secondary, adding an additional subject to your registration if you hold secondary registration or registering in additional support needs if you hold an appropriate qualification.
Encouraging additional registration
Not as many teachers are making use of the opportunity as we think could be, which is why we’re keen to talk about it. As of 31 May 2025, we have 80,932 individuals on the teaching register, with 93,032 registrations.
The difference in number is because of the teachers who are registered in more than one category.
Teaching according to registration category is a legal requirement, set out in the and the Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.
The matter was settled in 2021 by the Court of Session as a result of an appeal that we lodged against an employment appeal tribunal decision. That decision had said that the only requirement an education authority had to take account of when employing a teacher was that they were registered with GTCS.
The Court of Session disagreed. The decision had looked at the wording of the regulations in isolation and did not think it was necessary to interpret them in the context of our statutory role and functions. As the Court of Session’s judgement in overturning that decision pointed out, why go to the effort of empowering us to set different registration criteria for different types of teachers if the resulting categories have no impact on the scope of their employment?
Importance of additional registration
So why is it important for teachers to go through this Professional (Additional) Registration process if they want to teach in more than one category?
Apart from the fact that it’s a legal requirement, it’s important because registration is, and always has been, intended as a safeguard for the quality of school education. It ensures that teachers are teaching who and what they are qualified to. Registration came about in response to concerns about the use of unqualified teachers and the impact on teaching standards that led teachers to campaign for what would become the establishment of GTCS in 1965.
Taking myself as an example, I always wanted to be a teacher. But I also always wanted to be a psychologist; my first academic step on the road to both was a degree in psychology. Throughout my first four years at university, I had the opportunity to study other subjects. At the point of application to a programme of initial teacher education, I applied and interviewed for both a place on a primary-education postgraduate programme and a place on an English secondary programme.
In short, I am registered in primary education and have the academic requirements to explore additional registration as a teacher of English and a teacher of psychology. I am not unique, however, as many teachers have a rich range of degree qualifications.
As my own example shows, there will be some registered teachers who already have the qualifications to explore additional registration in other categories or subjects of registration, if they wish to.
Upholding trust in teaching
By ensuring that teachers are qualified to teach the categories and subjects they are teaching, we can uphold trust in the teaching profession in the public interest.
Why, then, aren’t more teachers applying for Professional (Additional) Registration?
In my view, there is limited availability of funding and support to help teachers to pursue this type of registration. In part this is down to a lack of awareness of the process and perhaps a lack of appreciation of what the longer-term benefits of it are.
There is another aspect to consider - how we provide the routes to those teachers who do not currently have the academic requirements for additional categories/subjects and want to get them. This is a much bigger question that would need a fundamental rethink about how we give teachers the flexibility to develop professionally.
So what can employers do to help teachers who want to pursue Professional (Additional) Registration?
As I already mentioned, we need to ensure that the right supports are in place for teachers. In the that we published in advance of the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, among other things we called for greater support to allow teachers to expand their registration categories. We highlighted that teachers need access to high-quality ongoing education opportunities to expand their registration status.
By supporting the individual teacher in this way, we can support an effective education system and ensure high-quality learning and teaching.
Dr Pauline Stephen is chief executive and registrar at the General Teaching Council for Scotland
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