GTCS Professional Update: A Guide for Scottish Teachers

The GTCS Professional Update is the process that registered teachers in Scotland use to show, every five years, that they are keeping their professional learning up to date. It is a requirement for staying fully registered with GTC Scotland, and it is ongoing in between, not a one-off task at the end of the cycle. This guide covers Scotland only. If you teach in England, different rules apply, and nothing here describes the English system.

The facts below come from GTC Scotland's own knowledge base, mainly the article "Key elements of Professional Update" (gtcs.org.uk/knowledge-base/articles/key-elements-of-professional-update), checked on 15 October 2026.

Professional Update at a glance

Who has to do the Professional Update?

GTC Scotland says that to work in a Scottish school you need Full (General) Registration, and that to maintain it all teachers must engage in Professional Update. Its page on who needs to engage lists primary, secondary, Further Education and Additional Support Needs teachers, supply teachers, retired teachers who want to stay on the Register, and registered teachers in non-classroom roles such as national bodies, universities or local authority posts.

GTC Scotland also states that the requirements are the same for every fully registered teacher. What can differ is how you confirm it, because that depends on your employer's system.

A few specific points from the GTCS pages:

• Supply teachers: professional learning and Professional Review and Development may work differently for supply work, so check with your employer. If you work for more than one employer, you can nominate one for sign-off.
• Teachers not currently working: you still need to complete Professional Update, including sign-off, to stay on the Register. You can record your learning in MyGTCS.
• Associate status: this is a legacy status that can no longer be newly acquired. GTCS says existing holders are not expected to confirm Professional Update.
• Deferrals: some circumstances allow you to defer your Professional Update year. GTCS directs people to its deferral eligibility requirements, and its direct submission page says anyone absent for illness or parental leave should ask their line manager about deferral.
• Competence procedures: GTCS says sign-off is suspended during stage 2 competence procedures, though learning and PRD should continue.

What you do all the time (the ongoing part)

GTC Scotland sets out five ongoing requirements. These are things you do in every year of the cycle, not only in your Professional Update year:

• Keep your personal and employment details up to date in MyGTCS. GTCS recommends checking at least annually.
• Self-evaluate against the appropriate Professional Standards.
• Take part in professional learning.
• Maintain a reflective professional learning record, with evidence of its impact.
• Discuss and evaluate your learning with your Professional Update reviewer through the Professional Review and Development (PRD) process.

GTC Scotland says reflection is central: you record your learning and its effect on your thinking and actions, then discuss it with your reviewer.

Which Professional Standards?

GTCS lists separate standards for teachers and for college lecturers. An older GTCS summary document, "Professional Update: Your Professional Responsibility", says early-career teachers often use the Standard for Registration, while more experienced teachers often use the Standard for Career-long Professional Learning and the Standards for Leadership and Management. That document may not be the latest version, so confirm the right standard on the GTCS website.

What is recorded, and where?

GTCS does not set a number of hours, points or courses for Professional Update on the pages used for this article. The expectation is a reflective record of your learning and its impact, not a total to hit.

The older GTCS summary document describes keeping a record of your most significant professional learning in an online profile, either MyGTCS or an employer system such as Gateway or SOPRA, depending on where you work. It says entries should be brief and work as prompts for your PRD discussion. The newer "Key elements" article does not say where the record must be kept, only that MyGTCS is used for your details, your status and, for some teachers, sign-off. Ask your employer which system they use.

Your Professional Update year and sign-off

In your Professional Update year, you carry on with the ongoing requirements and then confirm your engagement. GTCS emails you around 1 September to tell you it is your year. You must have your Professional Update confirmed by 1 July of that academic year.

The two declarations

The sign-off has two sides. As the registrant, you confirm that you have taken part in ongoing professional learning, reflected against the Professional Standards, kept a reflective record with evidence of impact, and discussed this with your line manager through PRD. Your line manager then confirms, in a similar statement, that you have engaged in the process and discussed your learning with them.

Which sign-off route applies to you?

• MyGTCS users: sign off in MyGTCS.
• Gateway CPD manager users: sign off in Gateway.
• Employer validated by GTCS for Professional Update: sign off in MyGTCS.
• Employer not validated: use direct submission.

If you are not sure which applies, GTCS advises checking with your employer.

What is direct submission?

Direct submission is an online form on MyGTCS for confirming Professional Update straight with GTC Scotland. GTCS says it is for teachers working outside Scotland, teachers who are not working but want to stay on the Register, and teachers whose employer's professional learning process GTCS has not validated.

GTCS says it is your responsibility to make sure the submission sufficiently demonstrates your continued professionalism against the Professional Standards. It assesses a random proportion of submissions, and if yours is chosen it says it will be in touch within 10 working days. If you hear nothing, your Professional Update is confirmed for the current five-year cycle, your MyGTCS status changes to "Confirmed", and you are emailed a copy of your submission. The direct submission page gives no separate deadline.

Changes to how employers' systems are checked

In a news item dated 19 August 2025, GTCS said it had replaced panel-based revalidation of employers' Professional Update systems with a self-evaluation process. Employers now assess their own systems against a GTCS framework. GTCS said most teachers will stay within a validated employer system, and teachers whose employer's system is not validated or revalidated will use direct submission. The teacher's own obligation does not change: confirm your commitment to professional learning every five years.

A practical way to keep on top of it

• Check your details in MyGTCS once a year, as GTCS recommends.
• Keep short, dated entries on learning that changed what you do.
• Book your PRD conversation early enough for your line manager to sign off.

Professional Update is about teachers on the GTCS Register. If you work alongside teachers in a support role in England, our England-only guide to teaching assistant qualifications and CPD covers a different set of rules. For wider background on keeping your learning on track, see the Learnsignal CPD hub.

Frequently asked questions

How often do I have to do the GTCS Professional Update?

GTC Scotland says you must confirm your Professional Update every five years. The underlying activity, such as learning, reflection and PRD, is ongoing.

When is the deadline?

In your Professional Update year, your Professional Update must be confirmed by 1 July of that academic year, according to GTCS. It encourages early sign-off.

How many hours of CPD do I need?

The GTCS pages used for this article do not set a number of hours. They describe ongoing professional learning, reflection against the Standards, and a record with evidence of impact.

Who signs off my Professional Update?

You make a declaration, and your line manager (your Professional Update reviewer) makes a matching statement. Where you submit it depends on your employer's system: MyGTCS, Gateway or direct submission.

Does this apply to teachers in England?

No. It is a GTC Scotland requirement for teachers registered in Scotland.

What if I am not working at the moment?

GTCS says you must still complete Professional Update, including sign-off, to remain on the Register. Direct submission is available for teachers who are not working but want to stay registered.

In short

Keep your details current, keep learning, reflect against the right Professional Standards, talk it through in PRD, and confirm it before 1 July of your Professional Update year. For anything specific to your circumstances, such as deferral, supply work or a non-validated employer, check with GTC Scotland or your employer.

This article is general information about a regulatory process. It is not regulatory, legal or compliance advice. Always check current requirements with GTC Scotland.