One of the council's top jobs is to register teachers before they go into the classrooms. All teachers must have earned their teaching qualifications, the same thing as a university degree, before the council will grant them registration. The council also keeps a watchful eye on new teachers during a two-year probationary period. But it also gives headteachers discretion in evaluating them. Headteachers must submit reports on young teachers' classroom competence and recommend whether to extend probation, grant full registration or withdraw their credentials.
Probationary teachers can appeal decisions to a council committee, then to an appeals committee.
But if a headteachers' decision to pull a teacher's credentials is upheld, that person will not be allowed to teach in a Scottish classroom. You must be certified. Even in private schools, where qualifications are not required, teachers without qualifications are hardly seen. Parents place a high value on qualified teachers. Every teacher arrested or cited for breaking the law is reported to the council.