Anyone with a teacher reference number (TRN) has access to the teacher self-service portal.
Who has a TRN?
TRNs are not just for qualified teachers. There are 5 reasons someone may be given a TRN:
The complete set of people who have TRNs therefore looks like this:
Who should have a TRN in future?
The TRN discovery found (in June 2021) that whilst TRNs are central to many systems and processes in teaching, they can cause confusion in the sector due to their ambiguous purpose and scope. Additionally, the current approach for allocating TRNs to people will fail in 2033. There is more information in the discovery report.
As a result, the TRA aims to reduce allocation of TRNs so that only qualified teachers are given TRNs in the future, and to find other ways to share data about people who aren’t qualified teachers when we need to which doesn’t involve giving them a TRN - for example using Get an identity to access Teacher Services.
There is no intention to remove TRNs from people who already have them (this wouldn’t be possible even it was desirable) so the set of people who have TRNs will remain the same.
People who have started an ITT course (includes most Qualified Teachers)
Given how embedded TRNs are into systems across the sector, it is not realistic at the moment to remove the need for TRNs for qualified teachers.
However, we can stop giving trainees a TRN, and instead give out TRNs at the end of the academic year to those who achieve QTS. Information about trainee teachers should be mastered in Register until someone is a qualified teacher.
To do this, we need to find a way to meet the following needs without TRNs:
- potential employers need to perform employment checks for trainees before their QTS is awarded
- trainees need to update incorrect personal details in their employment check record
- the Teacher Analysis Division (TAD) need to produce the ITT census
People with international teaching qualifications
People who apply for QTS in England should continue to be allocated a TRN if they are awarded QTS.
Former unqualified teachers who are now prohibited from teaching
We should stop giving people a TRN in order to prohibit them from teaching.
To do this, we need to find a way to meet the following needs without TRNs:
- potential employers need to know that an unqualified teacher has been prohibited from teaching
People with a Pension provided by TPS (incl. teaching assistants, some lecturers)
It is not clear what needs are currently being met by giving TRNs to members of the Teachers Pension Scheme. Research from the TRN discovery suggested that this may not be necessary at all. More research is needed with the TPS and TAD to validate this.
People who have started a National Professional Qualification (NPQ)
We should stop giving people a TRN so that they can participate in an NPQ. Both TRN holders and non-TRN holders should be able to register for NPQs and receive their certificates. Work is already in progress to enable this - see Get an identity.
To do this, we will meet the following needs without TRNs:
- NPQ participants need to access their certificates
- Employers need to confirm someone’s NPQs
TRN holders’ other needs from the Teacher Self Service Portal
More user research is needed to fully understand what the different types of people who can currently access the Teacher Self Service Portal need from the TRA, especially as the scope of the TRN is reduced.