General Teaching Council for England

The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) was the professional body for teaching in England between 2000 and 2012. The GTC was established by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 which set two aims: "to contribute to improving standards of teaching and the quality of learning, and to maintain and improve standards of professional conduct among teachers, in the interests of the public". The GTC was abolished in 2012 with some of its functions being assumed by the Teaching Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Education, which in 2013 became the National College for Teaching and Leadership.

In line with the aims set by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, the GTC had three principal functions.

The GTC was the awarding body for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England. Registration with the GTC was a legal requirement for all qualified teachers in maintained schools, pupil referral units and non-maintained special schools. In addition, around a third of teachers in the independent sector were registered with the GTC. There were over 560,000 teachers on the GTC register.

The GTC published the Code of Conduct and Practice for Teachers. This code formed the basis of the regulatory process of the GTC. The GTC regulated the conduct and competence of teachers according to this code. Teachers' employers were required to tell the GTC when a teacher had been dismissed because of misconduct or incompetence or where they resigned in circumstances justifying dismissal. The GTC could make the decision to remove from their register or restrict any teacher who had 'compromised the public confidence of the profession' or who had put 'the safety and welfare of children at risk'.

The GTC regulated all "Registered Teachers", in other words any teacher working in maintained (state) schools. The GTC could also regulate teachers who were no longer registered provided misconduct or incompetence occurred when they were registered.

The GTC convened panels to hear cases. Each panel was normally held in public, and included two teachers, one lay member, and a legal advisor employed by the GTC. Panels were drawn from members of the Council plus a pool of specially appointed panellists. The GTC employed a presenting officer who was often a leading solicitor in the field of Professional Discipline. A panel had the powers to issue reprimands, issue a conditional registration order (continued GTC registration required the teacher to adhere to certain conditions set at the hearing), suspend a teacher from the register, or prohibit a teacher from registration

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