The teacher reference number (TRN) is a unique reference number. TRNs are allocated to all those who hold qualified teacher status, or who have ever trained to teach, in England, and all those eligible for the Teachers’ Pensions scheme. You do not need to hold qualified teacher status to have a TRN.
If you have a TRN or are eligible to be assigned one:
- We will need your TRN for our records.
- You will need a TRN to access a NPQ certificate when you complete your course.
- You will also need your TRN when you complete evaluation surveys for DfE.
Please use the guidance below if you are undertaking an NPQ and:
- You know you have a TRN but are unsure / want to check what it is, or
- Do not currently have a TRN and are working as a teacher / leader in England or living in England but not in a teaching / leadership role at present.
I have a TRN but have forgotten it/want to check it
If you do not know your TRN or want to check your TRN, you can contact the Teaching Regulation Agency helpdesk by:
Phone: 0207 593 5394. Phone lines are open 9am– 5pm Monday–Thursday and 9am – 4:30pm on Friday. Lines are closed on bank holidays. Please state that you are undertaking a National Professional Qualification and require clarification of your TRN.
Email: qts.enquiries@education.gov.uk. Please put the phrase ‘Undertaking an NPQ and require TRN clarification’ in the subject line. The team aim to respond to valid email requests within 5 working days.
In either case you will need to provide any three of the following information types to have your TRN released to you:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- National insurance number
- Your email address
- The establishment where you undertook your initial teacher training
I do not have a TRN, I am working/living in England on an NPQ Programme
If you know that you do not have a TRN, then please email the Teaching Regulation Agency at qts.enquiries@education.gov.uk. The team aim to respond to valid email requests within 5 working days.
You will need to provide certain items of information, and confirmatory identification, so we can allocate you a TRN. Please use the free Galaxkey secure email platform to ensure your identification documents are protected.
To send a secure email to the department, please go to the Galaxkey site: https://manager.galaxkey.com/services/registerme
Please enter your email address that you wish to sign up with and complete the registration process. You will be sent an email to activate your accountonce you have completed this step. You will then be able to send secure emails to the Teaching Regulation Agency using Galaxkey.
The steps you need to take are:
- Select ‘Compose’ to start a secure email
- Enter qts.enquiries@education.gov.uk as the recipient
- Input the ‘Subject’ of the email as: Undertaking an NPQ, do not have a TRN and require a number to be issued
- Please including the following information in your email:
- State you are undertaking an NPQ, do not have a TRN and require a number to be issued
- Your full legal name (we will use this to create a record for you)
- Your date of birth
- An email address for us to respond to you at
- Attach a copy of one of the following types of identification as a file to accompany your submission. Please follow the restrictions on file size in the provided guidance:
- Passport
- Driving licence (full or provisional)
- Certificate of residence
- Birth certificate
The Teaching Regulation Agency will use the information you provide to create a permanent record for you and allocate you a TRN. Any copies of personal identification documents you provide will be destroyed once your request is processed. Information about how the TRA processes your date is available at the teacher self-service site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teacher-self-service-portal