Closed petition Allow the general public to access the QTS register for teachers in England

Closed on 17 March 2022

Up to 2012, the General Teaching Council (GTC) for England made the teachers register available to the public. In 2012 the law was changed so the qualified teacher status (QTS) register is now private, accessible only by potential employers.

In Scotland and Wales, the registers of teachers are still available to the general public. The national register of doctors has been available to the public for decades, as is the case for nurses, social workers, and others. Availability of professional registration information is considered so important for public safety that it is a disciplinary offence not to disclose a medical registration number to a patient on demand. All of these professions have in common that they come into contact with vulnerable members of the public. Children are especially vulnerable, so their teachers’ qualifications should be public.