Check a teacher's record
Use this service to check a teacher's record before they start working for your school, college, teacher supply agency, or other organisation.
Applies to England
You must check a teacher’s record before they start working for you in England as part of your safeguarding checks.
If you are an organisation that uses a teacher supply agency, you must get confirmation from the agency that they have completed the safeguarding checks.
You can check a record for anyone with a teacher reference number (TRN), including:
- teachers and former teachers
- teaching assistants and higher level teaching assistants
You can use this service to check the records of multiple teachers at once.
A teacher’s record tells you whether they have:
- qualified teacher status (QTS) or early years teacher status (EYTS)
- passed their induction
- national professional qualifications (NPQ) or mandatory qualifications for teaching pupils with sensory impairments
- been prohibited from teaching by the Teaching Regulation Agency
- had sanctions or restrictions placed on them by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE)
- been found guilty of serious misconduct but not prohibited from teaching
It will not tell you whether someone:
- has qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) status – you need to check the Society for Education and Training professional register
- is allowed to manage or govern schools – you need to check the section 128 list
- is barred from working with children – regulated employers can check the DBS’s children’s barred list using the check the children’s barred list service
You should only check the children’s barred list if a candidate:
- will start working with children while waiting for the result of an enhanced DBS check
- does not need an enhanced DBS check because they’ve worked with children in a school or college within the last 3 months
Before you start
To check the record of a single teacher, you’ll need:
- the teacher’s last name and date of birth (you do not need to know their TRN)
- to confirm the teacher’s identity
- a DfE Sign-in account
To check the records of multiple teachers at once, you will need:
- all of their dates of birth
- all of their TRNs
- a DfE Sign-in account
If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account
You can:
- ask your organisation’s approver to create an account for you
- use the contact form to request an account if you do not have an approver
- email teaching.status@education.gov.uk if you work for a teacher supply agency – you should normally receive a response within 5 working days
If you need to check a teacher’s record while you wait for your DfE Sign-in account, email employer.access@education.gov.uk and say ‘urgent query’ in the subject line.
Claiming and disowning teachers
You do not have a legal obligation to claim or disown a teacher from your organisation.
You can no longer claim or disown a teacher using this service.
Contact
Email teaching.status@education.gov.uk if you have questions about this service. We will aim to respond within 5 working days.
Updates to this page
Last updated 10 October 2024 + show all updates
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Updated to include the latest information on who must use the service and how. Added a section on claiming and disowning teachers.
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First published.