There should be “one national approach” to teacher induction, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) has said - amid concern that the current approach has “mutated” from its original intentions.

The GTCS also wants to consign the commonly used term ”probationer” to the past, as it believes this “does not reflect the status or professionalism” of teachers at this stage of their careers.

In a report, Reimagining Teacher Education in Scotland: Teacher Induction, the GTCS sets out its hopes for the review of the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) that the Scottish government announced in May 2025.

The report finds that, while many teachers “continue to experience very effective induction”, the purpose of the TIS “has mutated and roles and responsibilities have become muddled”, with too much emphasis on the ”filling of vacancies” by probationer teachers in schools rather than their professional development.

It adds that “now is the time to reimagine the possibilities for effective teacher induction”.

‘Negative perceptions’ about flexible route

The report highlights flaws in the current operation of two routes to full teacher registration.

The TIS - which has been operating since 2002, after the seminal McCrone report - gives a guaranteed one-year, salaried teaching position based on 0.8 full-time-equivalent hours, along with mentoring and professional development.

Meanwhile, the ”flexible route” (FR) is for those who may not be able to do the TIS, perhaps because they need the flexibility of working part-time or want to complete their induction period somewhere other than in a Scottish local authority school.

On 11 March 2026, the report notes, 4,372 of the 80,510 teachers on Scotland’s register of teachers were provisionally registered teachers (PRTs); 2,258 were on the TIS and 2,114 on the FR.

“Unfortunately, there are negative perceptions about FR and those who take it,” the report states. “Our interaction with system partners suggests that there can be a view that those taking FR are ‘trying to evade scrutiny’.”

“This is highly problematic when we know those taking FR are more likely to be minoritised in a variety of ways; in short, they are less like a stereotypical image of a beginning teacher,” it adds.

Calls for one model of induction

Today’s report makes five key recommendations, notably calling for “one flexible model of induction for all”.

It states: “In essence we should move to one national approach and take the opportunity to proactively ensure our new model is underpinned by an equity-focused framework specifically designed to mitigate any equality-related barriers faced by teachers.

“A core objective of a new approach should be to foster a greater sense of belonging, where teachers from underrepresented groups feel valued, heard and systemically supported.”

The GTCS report adds: “TIS is often referred to as the national approach, but it is not a route for all. The numbers tell a story with teachers opting out of TIS in favour of more flexible arrangements.”

The proposed single alternative model would include “core elements and optional modules” and “would meet the needs of all teachers regardless of where they qualified and could even address the needs [of] the third group of PRTs - fully registered teachers who are adding an additional category of registration”.

Ditching references to probationers and NQTs

The report also calls for “language that reinforces teacher professionalism”.

Specifically, while noting that ”‘probationers’ is currently a more common term to describe PRTs”, the GTCS believes “this term does not reflect the status or professionalism of PRTs and has a cultural impact on the expectations and experience of PRTs”.

It states: “Moving to more consistent use of terminology such as ‘graduate teachers’ better reflects that professionalism than the current use of ‘probationer’. This should also replace use of the term NQT [newly qualified teacher].”

The report adds: “The use of ‘NQT’ brings an incorrect expectation that PRTs are ‘classroom ready’, leading to negative perceptions when they are not.

“These negative attitudes can in turn create a context of infantilisation and may well contribute to the fact that one in 10 PRTs told us they had experienced bullying, harassment, racism or discrimination”.

Creating the conditions for success

Thirdly, the GTCS report calls for better mentoring, which it sees as “essential” to the development of teachers at the start of their career, “but also critical to ensuring teacher retention”.

The report warns that any new model of teacher induction “will fall short without creating the conditions for success through the enhancement of mentoring”, adding: “Better support of experienced teachers will mean better support for beginning teachers and as a consequence better outcomes for learners.”

The fourth recommendation is to “reaffirm and uphold the true purpose of induction” - a response to concerns that, rather than being about “teacher preparation” as envisaged at the outset in 2002, “the need to fill vacancies [in schools] is the main driver”.

The report suggests that there could be a need to “review the structure, scope and length” of initial teacher education in universities.

Finally, the GTCS stresses that essential change will not come about unless funding is directed towards it: “Investing in teacher induction is not an optional extra - it is a strategic necessity.”

The report also advises that the right approach to funding will be determined by how radical any change to induction turns out to be. One option, for example, could be to move away altogether from a model built on school placements; another could be longer school placements.