Check a teacher’s record
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-23)

Use this service to check a teacher’s record before they start working for your school, college, teacher supply agency, or other organisation.

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), qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) status, 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:
- is allowed to manage or govern schools – you need to check the section 128 list (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/individuals-prohibited-from-managing-or-governing-schools)
- 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 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-the-childrens-barred-list)
You should only check the children’s barred list (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-the-childrens-barred-list) if a candidate:
- will start working with children while waiting for the result of an enhanced DBS check (https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-applicant-criminal-record/get-a-standard-or-enhanced-dbs-check-for-an-employee)
- 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identity-proofing-and-verification-of-an-individual)
- a DfE Sign-in account (#if-you-do-not-have-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)
Start now (https://check-a-teachers-record.education.gov.uk/check-records/sign-in)

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 (https://help.signin.education.gov.uk/contact-us) to request an account if you do not have an approver
- email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) 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 xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) 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 xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) if you have questions about this service. We will aim to respond within 5 working days.