School Teacher Registration Guidance for Employers (Local Authorities, Schools and Private Supply Teaching Agencies)
Contents April 2015 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Who needs to be registered with EWC and how do they register? 2.1 Who needs to be registered? 2.2 How school teachers apply to register with EWC and what criteria they need to satisfy? 3.0 Implications of EWC school teacher registration for employers and agents 3.1 What does an employer and agent need to do? 3.2 What action should be undertaken by employers and agents (maintained sector) if a teacher is not registered with the Council? 4.0 Access to information on the Register by employers and agents 4.1 What information from the Register of Education Practitioners may be supplied to employers and agents? 4.2 Web Access for Employers and Agents 5.0 How will school teacher records be kept up to date? 6.0 How to contact the Council - 1 -
1.0 Introduction Under The Education Wales Act 2014 and the Education Workforce Council (main Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2015 every qualified (holder of QTS) school teacher, who carries out the specified work of a teacher in a maintained school must be registered with the Educaction Workforce Council (subject to certain exemptions). The legal responsibility for ensuring that only registered school teachers are employed in such posts lies with the employer, namely the school, Local Authority and if applicable, private supply teaching agency. This document provides information to assist employers, agents and prospective employers in complying with this legal requirement. 2.0 Who needs to be registered with Education Workforce Council (EWC) and how do they register? 2.1 Who needs to be registered? The above regulations stipulate that employers and agents should ensure every qualified school teacher, who carries out the specified work of a school teacher in maintained schools and nonmaintained special schools in Wales, is registered with the Council before they commence work. Specified work is defined as: planning and preparing lessons and courses for pupils; delivering lessons to pupils; assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils; reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils. The following groups of people may undertake the specified work:- Qualified school teachers those who hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS); Individuals who are not qualified school teachers but who have special qualifications and / or experience which is specifically required to teach a certain art, skill or subject. However, the following conditions apply to such employment: at the time of the appointment the local authority or governing body need to be satisfied with the individuals qualifications and / or experience; no suitable qualified school teacher or school teacher on an employment-based teacher training scheme is available for appointment; the employment should last only for the length of time that no suitable qualified school teacher or school teacher on an employment-based teacher training scheme is available for appointment. - 2 -
Overseas trained school teachers who have completed their training in any country outside of the UK can undertake the specified work for a maximum of two years. Trainee school teachers on an initial teacher training course in Wales or England are able to undertake specified work in a school (not a pupil referral unit) under the supervision of a qualified school teacher during any period of practical teaching experience for the purpose of their course; Other persons such as teaching assistants are able to undertake specified work providing it is to assist or support the work of a qualified school teacher or other teacher (as above) and providing they are subject to the direction and supervision of the school teacher. Qualified further education teachers the specified work regulations allow qualified FE teachers to teach in maintained schools but only in the delivery of vocational courses of study which form a part of or the whole local curriculum where it has been formally established under legislation by a local authority. However only qualified school teachers are eligible for registration with the EWC (see National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL) in England exemptions below). Those who need to be registered include: full-time, part-time and supply school teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS); peripatetic school teachers; advisory school teachers who are qualified school teachers and who spend a proportion of their time in a teaching capacity, involving direct unsupervised pupil contact; home tutors employed by a LA to teach children unable to attend school on a regular basis. Those who cannot be registered include: trainee school teachers; school teachers working towards QTS through the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP); overseas trainedschool teachers; unqualified teachers, (e.g. instructors), where the school has been unable to find a qualified teacher with the necessary skills and experience; home tutors (self-employed, who provide additional education support to children who otherwise regularly attend school); school teachers who have been deemed unsuitable for registration following the Council s assessment of suitability for registration; school teachers who trained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA and who have been awarded QTS by the NCTL in England. These individuals are NOT recognised as qualified school teachers under legislation in Wales; - 3 -
FE qualified teachers who are recognised as qualified school teachers by the NCTL and are therefore eligible to work as qualified teachers in England only. This recognition is NOT recognised under legislation in Wales. 2.2 How teachers apply to register with EWC and what criteria they need to satisfy? Applying to register in the School Teacher Category All applicants must hold the appropriate Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) which is recognised under Welsh regulations; must not be barred from teaching by the Disclosure and Barring Service, the EWC or any of their equivalents in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland; if the Returning to Practice scheme applies to them (refer to our website www.ewc.wales for further guidance), they must have completed the required period of updating; must answer all questions in Part 8 (Declaration) of the application form and provide a written detailed explanation of any declaration made. Failure to do so will result in the application form being rejected; must provide evidence of their formal teaching and degree qualifications (e.g. photocopy certificates) if applicable. must not have failed to successfully complete an Induction period in Wales or England. Details of EWC procedures for considering any declaration made and further guidance is available from the Council's Fitness to Practise Team on 029 20460099; fitnesstopractise@ewc.wales Please note that practitioners who are only eligible for registration in the category of Registered Further Education Teacher are not able to undertake the specified work of a qualified teacher in maintained schools in Wales (save for certain exemptions). How to register? In line with the above information, registration is subject to compliance with the Education Workforce Council Registration Rules and: completion and submission of a new application for registration form with the declaration fully completed and with the provision of supporting documents where required; payment of the relevant application fee; In addition, if the applicant has not taught as a qualified school teacher in the last five years they are required to complete a period of updating of at least 10 full days or equivalent and provide confirmation of this with their application forms. Note School teachers with QTS gained after 1 st April 2003 are required to complete a period of Induction in Wales or in England. If an applicant for registration in the category of school teacher has not yet met the Practising Teacher Standards they will be given Provisional Registration status only (subject to meeting the eligibility criteria above). Full registration will be granted once the registrant has met the Practising Teacher Standards. - 4 -
Registration in more than one category Practitioners can apply for registration in both the school teacher and further education teacher categories providing they meet the eligibility criteria for each category. Please refer to our website (www.ewc.wales) for further information. Annual Registration Fee All practitioners registered with the EWC are required to pay an annual registration fee of 45 in order to maintain their registration. The registration period runs from 1st April to 31st March each year. In processing an application, the Council will check to ensure that the applicant meets the criteria set out above. If the applicant makes a declaration on their application form, his or her suitability for registration will be formally considered under the Council s Fitness to Practise responsibility. Where the Council is not satisfied as to the applicants suitability for registration and they cannot be registered, the Council will notify him / her accordingly. 3.0 Implications of EWC registration for employers and agents 3.1 What does an employer and agent need to do? In complying with the legal requirement for every qualified school teacher, who carries out specified work in a maintained school to be registered with the Education Workforce Council, employers and agents should: make pre-employment checks to ensure that a school teacher is registered prior to commencing work. This can be done via online employer access to the Register. Where a school teacher s registration status cannot be verified from the employer access, the Registration Team should be contacted directly; check annually that all school teachers in their employment continue to be registered, as continued registration is dependent upon the payment of an annual registration fee. Where employers and agents consistently breach their statutory duty by employing unregistered school teachers, the Council is obliged to inform the Welsh Government. We are often asked whose responsibility it is to ensure that a school teacher is registered, namely the school, the LA or a private supply agency (where relevant). The legal requirement applies to all those organisations listed above. However, more importantly, it is essential that all parties are clear who is actually making the checks to ensure that a person is registered with the Council. A school should not assume that a LA or supply agency is automatically making this check or vice-versa. In the Council s experience, it is usually the LA or where relevant, the private supply agency that checks with EWC that a school teacher is registered. However, schools are also advised to use their online access to the Council s Register of Education Practitioners to check the registration, qualifications and restriction status of the teachers working within their school. - 5 -
3.2 What action should be undertaken by employers and agents (maintained sector) if a school teacher is not registered with the Council? It is possible, that an employer or agent will find, following contact with the EWC, that an employee or prospective employee is not registered. This may be for two reasons: school teachers who are eligible for registration but are not currently registered. These school teachers need to be registered before they can be employed as qualified school teachers in the maintained sector. In such cases, at the request of the employer / prospective employer, a registration pack will be sent to the school teacher. If an employer or agent employs an unregistered qualified school teacher to undertake the specified work of a teacher they are in breach of the law. Reducing a school teacher s salary to an unqualified rate does not negate an employer or agent s statutory responsibility to comply with the legislative school teachers who cannot be registered due to restrictions. Any school teacher who is not eligible for registration should not be employed as a qualified school teacher. If the school teacher believes that he / she is eligible and disagrees with the record held by the Council we will investigate the matter. Once the case has been investigated, the employer or agent and individual teacher will be notified accordingly. If an employer knowingly continues to employ a qualified school teacher who is unregistered in a post involving the specified work of a school teacher, the Welsh Government has powers to issue a direction to an employer to comply with its statutory duty. 4.0 Access to information on the Register by employers and agents Under The Education Workforce Council (Main Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2015, the Council is required to supply a subset of information on a particular teacher, if requested by an employer or prospective employer. This applies to registered school teachers or unregistered persons for whom records are held on the database. The Council s Register only holds information on school teachers and further education teachers in Wales. Therefore, should an employer or agent require information relating to a teacher who is employed in Scotland or Northern Ireland they should contact the respective GTC. For queries relating to teachers in England, the National College for Teaching & Leadership should be contacted. 4.1 What information from the Register of Education Practitioners may be supplied to employers and agents? The information which can be provided to employers and agents is set out in Schedule 2 of the EWC Functions Regulations. This information mainly relates to a school teacher s registration and qualifications. In summary, this covers: whether or not the school teacher is qualified as per the relevant legislation in Wales whether or not the school teacher has been deemed suitable for registration; whether or not the school teacher is registered; information about the school teacher s qualifications; - 6 -
details concerning Initial Teacher Training; whether or not the teacher has satisfactorily completed a statutory Induction period in Wales; the description of any restriction or prohibition which may be in force in relation to the teacher as the result of a direction given by the Education Workforce Council. If an employer / prospective employer or agent only want to check whether a school teacher is registered and they hold details of the school teacher s teacher reference number (TRN), surname and date of birth, then confirmation of the registration status should be obtained using the employer access to the Register via the internet. If the employer does not hold all three identifiers (TRN, Surname & date of birth) then they should contact the Registration Team directly (registration@ewc.wales). The legislation is specific as to the purposes for which employers or agents may request information. The EWC provide responses to employers and agents on the understanding that the information is being released for the specific purpose and subject to the rules about disclosure set out below: the information supplied should not be disclosed to any person other than the school teacher to whom the information relates; the supply of information is subject to the condition that it is used for the purposes of ascertaining the suitability of the school teacher or unregistered person for employment or continued employment. If any of these areas appear to be potentially a concern, the Deputy Chief Executive will be notified before any information is released. Only members of the Qualifications and Registration Team at the Education Workforce Council will give information about teachers records in response to requests and appropriate checks on identity will be made before any information is released to school teachers, employers, agents, prospective employers or others. 4.2 Web Access for Employers and Agents The Council has a facility for electronic access to the Register for employers and agents in order that they can carry out their own registration checks. For further information or guidance on using the access contact the Qualifications and Registration Team. 5.0 How will school teacher s records be kept up to date? The information held in a practitioner s record may change from time to time and registration is subject to compliance with the Education Workforce Council Registration Rules. As such there is a requirement for teachers to notify the Council, within a month, of a change to any of their particulars recorded on the Register. However, the Council is also keen to receive such details from employers and agents on an ongoing basis, preferably by using the online employer access facility provided to them. 6.0 How to contact the Council - 7 -
Any queries should be directed to the following: Contact : The Qualifications and Registration Team Address : 9 th Floor, Eastgate House, 35-43 Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 0AB Telephone : 029 2046 0099 Fax number : 029 2047 5850 E-mail : registration@ewc.wales - 8 -