Contents
What is the Teaching Regulation Agency?
This agency, known as the TRA is responsible for regulating the teaching profession on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education. This means investigating and, where appropriate, progressing allegations of serious teacher misconduct to hearings.
The outcome of a misconduct hearing could be that an individual is prohibited from teaching. This could be for a fixed period or indefinitely. It is for the panel hearing each individual case to decide on this outcome. Teacher and prohibition orders prevent a person from carrying out teaching work as defined in the Teachers’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012. Teacher prohibition orders are made by the Secretary of State following consideration by a professional conduct panel convened by the TRA. Pending such consideration, the Secretary of State may issue an interim prohibition order if it is in the public interest to do so.
TRA pre-employment checks?
As part of a school or settings pre-employment checks, anybody who has a teaching qualification must be checked using the DfE portal to ensure that they are not currently prohibited from teaching. This check should be completed prior to any commencement of a teaching role or duties. We advise that a copy of this check should be retained within the individual’s personnel file alongside copies of their teaching qualifications. This check should only be completed for the successful candidate via the secure DFE portal
Should we check those applying for roles other than teaching posts, who are qualified teachers?
Yes. Despite the individual not having a Teaching post, (an example being a Teaching Assistant or Administrator), as they are a qualified teacher, the setting should satisfy themselves that they (the candidate offered the role) have not been prohibited. It would be sensible to ask the individual for their consent in completing this check both to gather their DfE teacher number, but also as a deterrent should they be seeking to again work with children when knowingly prohibited from teaching.
Are only qualified teachers subject to regulation?
No, all people who carry out ‘teaching work’ in a relevant setting, whether they are qualified or otherwise, are covered by the regulatory system. Those, such as Teaching Assistants and other support staff who operate under the supervision and direction of a teacher are not deemed to be carrying out teaching work and therefore fall outside the remit of the TRA. They may, however, be subject to barring by the DBS so an enhanced DBS certificate with barred list check is essential as a pre-employment check.
How can we define/decide those who are in ‘Teaching’ roles who are not teachers and therefore we should check as part of our pre-employment checks?
The Teachers’ Disciplinary Regulations (England) 2012 makes the following statements:
(1) Subject to paragraph (3), each of the following activities is teaching work for the purposes of these Regulations –
- planning and preparing lessons and courses for pupils
- delivering lessons to pupils.
- assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils; and reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils.
(2) “delivering” includes delivering lessons through distance learning or computer aided techniques.
(3) The activities specified in paragraph (1) are not teaching work for the purposes of these Regulations if the person carrying out the activity does so (other than for the purposes of induction) subject to the direction and supervision of a qualified teacher or other person nominated by the head teacher to provide such direction and supervision.
At the point of appointment, Leaders should carefully consider an applicant’s employment history as listed on their application to identify whether they have been in a post which may be considered a ‘teaching role’, even if they are not a qualified teacher. Where it is deemed that a role may be a ‘teaching role’, leaders should check the individual against the TRA secure portal to ensure they are not prohibited. The check, and date of check completion, should be added to their Single Central Record.
Where a role is directed by teachers or senior staff (including the Headteacher or SENDCo), such as Teaching Assistants, the requirement for checking is unlikely. However, it is advisable for leaders to discuss the nature of these roles with the applicant to increase assurance that the role could not be classed as a ‘teaching role’.
Do we need to check current staff who are likely to now be undertaking ‘teaching work’ but are not a qualified teacher?
Possibly. Where those in roles where leaders define this to be the case from their previous employer, we would advice that they are checked on the TRA portal retrospectively. Where the individual has been appointed internally to such a role where they are likely to be ‘teaching’ where at their point of employment they had no history of having been in a teaching role, but now are, this check would be irrelevant due to them not previously meeting the Teachers’ Disciplinary Regulations (England) 2012 requirements and have since had continuous employment with their current school.
How is someone referred to the TRA?
The most likely route to an individual being referred is due to their reported behaviour or conduct whereby following investigation, supported by LADO and likely HR services, a TRA referral is agreed. There are other routes that can result in a referral, which could also result in a referral being made to the DBS service.
The importance of robust shortlisting and recruitment processes
As part of any recruitment process, schools and settings should ensure they have considered the following areas when considering if a candidate is a qualified teacher when applying for a ‘non-teaching’ role.
- Application forms should require candidates to share both their employment and education history.
- Application forms should also confirm employment history reason for leaving
- Reference requests should ensure that referees are from most recent employer and where they have worked with children the role in which the individual was employed.
- On-line checks undertaken for shortlisted candidates could highlight any TRA findings that have been placed within the public domain.
Where any questions, queries or inconsistencies are known, interview panels should explore these issues with the candidate in question.
How will inspection evidence these checks are complete and relevant
Inspection will, as part of the SCR and sample of personnel files check, need to satisfy themselves that all teachers have been checked to confirm they are not prohibited from teaching. This is likely to enquire how for other posts, leaders have defined if they are in a ‘teaching role’ as defined by The Teachers’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012. Schools and settings should therefore consider where those in non-teacher roles, but could have a teaching responsibility, have been checked to ensure they are not prohibited.
How to check those who meet the criteria, but do not have a teacher qualification and number?
Those who leaders have decided meet this criteria can be checked against the current prohibited list and the GTC (General Teaching Council) the predecessor to TRA against the alphabetical list within the portal. Having done so, they should annotate their SCR accordingly. For further information about pre-employment checks, please refer to part 3 of Keeping Children Safe in Education