A prohibition from teaching check is one of the most critical pre-employment checks schools must complete — yet it remains one of the most frequently missed, particularly for supply teachers and short-term appointments.
Under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), schools are legally required to verify that every member of teaching staff has not been prohibited from teaching before they begin work. Failure to do so is a serious safeguarding failure — and one that Ofsted will identify immediately.
This guide covers everything schools, HR teams, and Multi Academy Trusts need to know about the prohibition from teaching check — and how OnlineSCR streamlines the entire process directly into your Single Central Record.
A prohibition from teaching check — also referred to as a prohibition check — is a pre-employment verification that confirms whether an individual has been prohibited from teaching by the Secretary of State for Education.
The check is carried out through the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which maintains the list of individuals who have been issued with prohibition orders in England.
Under The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012, teaching work is defined as:
This definition is important — it means the prohibition check applies to anyone carrying out these activities, regardless of their job title or contract type.
Unlike a DBS check — which identifies criminal records — a prohibition from teaching check specifically identifies individuals who have been barred from the teaching profession following serious misconduct proceedings. The two checks are entirely separate and both are required under KCSIE.
For a full overview of all pre-employment checks required under KCSIE, see our guide on Ofsted safeguarding requirements for schools.
A prohibition order is one of the most serious sanctions the Teaching Regulation Agency can impose on a teacher. It permanently prevents an individual from carrying out teaching work in:
Prohibition orders are issued following professional conduct panel hearings where a teacher has been found guilty of:
In some cases, prohibition orders include a provision that allows the individual to apply for a review after a specified period. In the most serious cases, prohibition is permanent with no right of review.
Schools that employ someone subject to a prohibition order — knowingly or unknowingly — face serious regulatory consequences and potential safeguarding failures.
Under KCSIE, a prohibition from teaching check is required for all individuals carrying out teaching work — regardless of school type, job title, contract length, or employment route. This includes:
Prohibition checks are not automatically required for teaching assistants and support staff based on job title alone. The determining factor is whether their role meets the definition of teaching work under The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 — that is, whether they are planning and preparing lessons, delivering lessons, assessing pupil progress, or reporting on pupil attainment.
If a teaching assistant or support staff member is carrying out activities that fall within this definition, a prohibition check is required regardless of their job title or contract type. For more on which staff require which checks, see our guide on barred list checks for schools.
Where a school uses supply teachers provided by an agency, the agency is responsible for carrying out the prohibition check. However, schools must obtain written confirmation from the agency that the check has been completed before the individual begins teaching. This confirmation must be recorded in your Single Central Record.
Prohibition from teaching checks must be completed before an individual begins any teaching work. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Key points on timing:
Prohibition checks are carried out through the TRA's Employer Access Online service using the individual's Teacher Reference Number (TRN).
The process involves:
Whilst this process can be completed manually, it requires access to a separate system, manual recording, and relies on individuals remembering to carry it out for every new starter. OnlineSCR provides the facility to carry out this check from within your SCR dashboard — keeping everything in one place and reducing the risk of gaps or missed records.
Under the renewed Education Inspection Framework, both Ofsted and ISI inspectors will specifically look for evidence that prohibition checks have been completed for every member of teaching staff.
Inspectors expect to see:
Inspectors will not accept verbal assurances that checks have been completed. If it is not in the SCR with a date, it effectively did not happen.
Missing prohibition check records are one of the most common SCR failures identified during Ofsted inspections — and one of the easiest to prevent with the right system in place. Read our full Ofsted safeguarding compliance checklist for everything inspectors look for.
Under KCSIE, your Single Central Record must clearly show:
Schools must ensure that these records are:
With OnlineSCR, prohibition check results are recorded directly into your SCR the moment they are completed — with the date captured instantly and no manual entry required.
The most common gap we see during SCR audits. Many schools incorrectly assume supply teachers do not require prohibition checks or that the agency has handled it without obtaining written confirmation. Both assumptions are wrong.
A DBS check and a prohibition from teaching check are entirely separate requirements. Having an enhanced DBS check on record does not satisfy the prohibition check requirement. Both must be recorded independently in your SCR.
Whether a prohibition check is required depends on whether the individual is carrying out teaching work as defined under The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 — not their job title. A teaching assistant who plans, delivers and assesses lessons requires a prohibition check, regardless of what they are called.
Recording that a prohibition check was completed without a date is treated as an incomplete record during inspection. Always ensure the date is clearly recorded alongside the result.
Where agency supply teachers are used, schools must record written confirmation from the agency that a prohibition check has been completed. A verbal confirmation is not sufficient.
Staff transferring between schools — including within the same MAT — require their prohibition check to be recorded at the new school. Do not assume it transfers automatically.
Prohibition checks are most commonly missed during busy recruitment periods — September starts, mid-term supply cover, and maternity replacements. These are exactly the moments when a manual process is most likely to fail.
OnlineSCR provides the facility to carry out prohibition checks directly from within your Single Central Record system — removing the need to switch between systems and keeping everything in one place.
Request a prohibition from teaching check directly from within your OnlineSCR dashboard. The check can be initiated at the click of a button alongside all other pre-employment checks — no need to access external systems separately.
Once the prohibition check has been completed, results are recorded directly into your Single Central Record — complete with the date the check was carried out. No manual data entry, no copy and paste between systems, no risk of recording errors.
OnlineSCR's colour-coded compliance dashboard shows the prohibition check status of every member of teaching staff at a glance. Missing or outstanding checks are flagged immediately — so you always know where you stand before an inspector arrives.
OnlineSCR's built-in reminder system alerts you to any outstanding checks — including prohibition checks for new starters — so nothing slips through during busy recruitment periods.
Customise your compliance requirements for each staff category — from permanent teachers to short-term supply staff. OnlineSCR ensures prohibition checks are flagged as required for every applicable individual, regardless of contract type or job title.
For Multi Academy Trusts, managing prohibition checks across multiple schools adds significant complexity:
OnlineSCR's Trust Overview dashboard gives executive leaders and CEOs instant visibility of prohibition check compliance across every school in the trust. Identify gaps, resolve issues centrally, and ensure consistent standards are applied across all sites — from one screen.
For more on managing compliance at scale, see our guides on barred list checks for schools and adverse media checks for schools.
No. A DBS check identifies criminal records. A prohibition from teaching check identifies whether an individual has been prohibited from teaching by the Secretary of State. Both are separate requirements under KCSIE and both must be recorded in your SCR.
Yes. All individuals carrying out teaching work — including supply teachers — require a prohibition check regardless of the length of their engagement. Where supply teachers are provided by an agency, schools must obtain written confirmation from the agency that the check has been completed.
It depends on their role. If a teaching assistant is carrying out teaching work as defined under The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 — planning lessons, delivering lessons, assessing or reporting on pupil progress — a prohibition check is required regardless of their job title.
If a prohibition order is identified, the individual must not be employed in any teaching role. Schools should seek immediate advice from their HR provider, local authority, or legal counsel.
A prohibition check is a one-off pre-employment check. However, a new check is required if a member of staff returns after a break of service of 3 months or more, if they transfer from another school, or if they have not previously had a prohibition check recorded in your SCR.
Yes. Prohibition checks are required for teaching staff in all school types, including independent schools inspected by ISI.
Yes, via the TRA's Employer Access Online service. OnlineSCR provides the facility to carry out this check from within your SCR dashboard — keeping everything in one system and reducing the risk of gaps or missed records.
A prohibition from teaching check is not optional. It is a statutory requirement under KCSIE for every individual carrying out teaching work — and missing records are treated as missing checks by Ofsted and ISI inspectors.
The most common reason schools have gaps in prohibition check records is not negligence — it is manual processes that cannot keep up with busy recruitment periods, supply cover arrangements, and staff transfers.
With the right system in place, prohibition checks are straightforward to manage and results are recorded directly into your SCR. There is no reason for any school or MAT to have gaps in their prohibition check records.
For more on staying inspection-ready, see our guides on Ofsted safeguarding requirements for schools, social media safeguarding in schools and adverse media checks for schools.
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