The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) has set out five recommendations to improve teacher supply as it publishes new data showing teachers are leaving the register “sooner than expected”.
Teachers must be registered with the GTCS in order to teach in Scottish schools.
The , which covers the registration year to 31 March 2025, shows that most teachers who left the register had retired (63 per cent).
However, the next largest group (21 per cent) noted “other reasons” for leaving, with the most common being: lack of support; problems with securing a post; the effect of workload or unnecessary bureaucracy; pupil behaviour, violence and/or additional support needs; and bullying from colleagues or leadership.
The GTCS is, therefore, calling on the government to address the reasons some teachers are quitting early, as well as recommending exploring ideas that could make the profession more attractive, such as flexible working.
It is also warning against “quick fixes” such as lowering entry requirements, which it says “can backfire”.
Addressing teacher retention
The independent regulator for teachers in Scotland issued the advice for MSPs as it published its latest report on data and insights from the register of teachers.
The five recommendations are:
1. Focus on teacher retention
GTCS analysis suggests that teachers are leaving the register sooner than expected. Addressing this is “critical to keeping more teachers in the profession and making it a more appealing career choice”, it says.
2. Increase teacher mobility
“Supporting teachers to gain extra qualifications and add registrations can help meet the needs of the education system and open up career opportunities,” the GTCS says.
3. Hold firm on high teaching standards
“Experience from other countries shows that quick fixes, such as creating new entry routes or lowering entry requirements, can backfire,” the GTCS says. “They reduce the status of teaching and make it less appealing, which only makes supply problems worse.”
4. Improve use of data
“We must urgently improve how we collect and share data and develop targeted and national communication channels,” says the GTCS.
There is a need for a better understanding of “which teachers are needed, where and when, and teachers need to know where the jobs are”, it notes.
5. Increase attractiveness of teaching
“We need to think carefully about things like flexible working, time for personal development and support for career progression to enhance the attractiveness and diversity of the profession,” the GTCS says.
Teaching register
The GTCS report shows that on 31 March, there were 81,148 individual registrants on Scotland’s teaching register and 93,262 individual category registrations.
Some teachers hold registration in more than one category, such as primary teachers who are also registered for a secondary subject, or languages teachers who are registered in both French and German.
The number of registrants in each category is:
- 41,531 primary.
- 37,429 secondary (subject).
- 716 additional support needs.
- 3,654 further education.
- 246 registrations in historical registration categories that are valid but no longer in active use.
Around 5 per cent of teachers choose to leave the register each year. This time, 4,272 teachers left the register and 738 (17 per cent) submitted survey responses to the GTCS giving their reasons.
You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get Vlog magazine on and on
