The Royal Charter of
The Chartered College of Teaching
Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING!
WHEREAS Queen Victoria granted the Charter of Incorporation (‘the Charter of 1849’) to The College of Preceptors on the twenty-eighth day of March 1849 to the Petitioners, one Trusty and well-beloved Henry Stein Turrell Esquire of Brighton and other loving Subjects who had founded the unincorporated College in 1846:
AND Whereas subsequently We granted a Supplemental Charter on the fifteenth day of May 1998 (‘the Supplemental Charter’) to revise the original Charter including a change of name to The College of Teachers:
AND WHEREAS The College of Teachers (‘the College’) has now petitioned Us for an additional Supplemental Charter to change its name to The Chartered College of Teaching and to revise the purposes and administration of the College in pursuance of the developments in the profession of education:
AND WHEREAS We have taken the said Petition into Our Royal Consideration and are minded to accede thereto:
NOW THEREFORE KNOW YE that We by virtue of Our Royal Prerogative in that behalf and of all other powers enabling Us so to do of Our Especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion do hereby for Us Our Heirs and Successors will, grant, direct, appoint and declare as follows:
THE CHARTERED COLLEGE OF TEACHING
1 Except in so far as it incorporates the College and confers upon it perpetual succession and authorises it to have a Common Seal and to sue and be sued and to continue to bear and use the Armorial Bearings granted to The College of Preceptors on 12 February 1981, the Charter of 1849 and the Supplemental Charter are hereby revoked but nothing in this revocation shall affect the legality or validity of any act, deed or thing lawfully done or executed under the provisions thereof.
2 The College shall continue to be one body corporate by the name of The Chartered College of Teaching with perpetual succession and a Common Seal and by the same name may sue and be sued in all Our Courts of law, and in all manner of actions and suits, and shall have power to do all other matters and things incidental or appertaining to a body corporate.
Objects
3 The Objects for which the College is hereby constituted are the promotion of sound learning and the improvement and recognition of the art, science and practice of teaching for the public benefit (where teaching may include but shall not be limited to instruction, research, and assessment).
Powers
4 Without limiting its capacities as a chartered corporation to do any lawful thing, the College shall have the following powers exercisable in furtherance of its said objects but not otherwise, namely:
(i) to establish and promote respected standards of teaching practice;
(ii) to establish a competent board of assessors to accredit members against such standards;
(iii) to establish a code of professional conduct for members with which they shall comply;
(iv) to engage with and to promote research and study concerned with the development of teaching, learning and assessment and to publish material concerned therewith in hard copy or electronic form;
(v) to organise, or assist others in organising, relevant courses and events;
(vi) to provide examinations and assessments of courses and qualifications in areas of interest to the College;
(vii) to create and maintain a Register of Chartered practitioners in teaching (registrants in which may, subject to the Bye laws, use the title ‘Chartered Teacher’ and the designatory letters ‘CTeach’), whether separately or in association with one or more other organisations, and to establish such conditions of registration as may be desirable;
(viii) to license organisations to admit individuals to the said Register, regulate their conduct and remove them from it subject to such conditions as the College shall decide;
(ix) to promote the formation of organisations, whether charitable or not, for the purpose of any of the objects of the College and to assist such organisations as necessary in the fulfilment of their objects, and to merge with relevant charitable educational organisations if the College should so decide;
(x) to make provision for lectureships, bursaries, prizes and grants, and to award Honorary Fellowships, Honorary Memberships and other distinctions of the College;
(xi) to give or lend money for the furtherance of the objects of the College;
(xii) to create, and undertake the management of, any trusts or endowments and any scholarships and exhibitions for the furtherance of the objects of the College;
(xiii) to support any institutions or persons having objects, charitable or otherwise, similar to those of the College;
(xiv) to make suitable arrangements for undertaking the work of the College and for organising meetings of the College;
(xv) to employ such staff as are necessary for the proper pursuit of the objects and to make all reasonable and necessary provision for the payment of salaries, pensions and any other benefits to them;
(xvi) to raise funds, otherwise than through permanent trading unless undertaken through a subsidiary incorporated company, including by inviting or receiving contributions from any person whatsoever by way of subscription or donation;
(xvii) to invest the monies of the College not immediately required in or upon such investments or other property or other assets as the Council may think fit;
(xviii) to purchase, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire real or personal property and rights or privileges therein, and to construct, maintain and alter buildings or erections;
(xix) to sell, let, mortgage, dispose of or turn to account all or any of the assets of the College;
(xx) to borrow or raise money on such terms and on such security as may be thought fit;
(xxi) to provide for the maintenance of the archives of the College and any predecessor body, including the College of Preceptors, its academic and membership records and those of such other educational organisations as may be requested from time to time;
(xxii) to select and appoint not normally more than five Professors of Teaching, according to the practice established by the College in 1873, who shall carry such academic responsibilities as the Council may determine from time to time;
(xxiii) to do all such other lawful and charitable things as are incidental to the attainment or furtherance of the said objects.
Membership
5 The College shall have such classes of Membership as shall be specified in the Bye laws which shall prescribe the requirements for admission to, and all other rights, privileges and obligations of, membership of the College. The Bye laws may also make provision for the College to associate additional persons or groups of persons with the College without thereby conferring membership of the College upon such persons or groups of persons.
Officers
6 There shall be a President and such other officers of the College with such functions, tenure and terms of office as the Bye laws may prescribe.
Council
7 The government and control of the College, its property and its affairs shall be vested in a Council which shall be constituted as set out in the Bye laws.
Application of Income and Property
8 The income and property of the College shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its Objects as set forth in this Our Supplemental Charter. No portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to members of the College and no member of its Council shall be appointed to any Office of the College paid by salary or fees, or receive any remuneration or other benefit in money or in kind from the College other than where the employer of a member will allow attendance at College committees only on payment of absence cover for such employee. Provided that nothing herein shall prevent or restrict any payment in good faith by the College:-
(a) of reasonable and proper remuneration to any member of the College or its Council or employee of the College for any agreed services rendered to the College;
(b) of reasonable out-of pocket expenses to any member of the College or its Council properly incurred when acting on behalf of the College;
(c) of any premium for trustee indemnity insurance purchased in accordance with, and subject to the conditions in, section 189 of the Charities Act 2011 (as modified or re-enacted);
or the provision or awarding of scholarships, exhibitions, grants, medals or prizes or the provision or maintenance for the benefit of members of the College or its Council generally of proper amenities and facilities including the distribution without charge of any journal or other publication of the College.
Bye laws
9 (i) The Bye laws shall regulate and prescribe all matters directed or authorised to be regulated or prescribed by the Bye laws and all other matters which consistently with this Our Supplemental Charter may be considered necessary for the good administration of the College. Where by any provision of this Our Supplemental Charter any matter is directed or authorised to be regulated or prescribed by the Bye laws, the same may, to the extent that any Bye law expressly so permits, be regulated or prescribed by Regulations made in the manner authorised by the Bye laws and which shall be subject to the provisions of the Bye laws relating thereto.
(ii) The Bye laws shall henceforth be those contained in the Schedule hereto and they shall remain in force subject to any revocation, amendment or addition made in the manner therein prescribed. Provided that no such revocation, amendment or addition shall have effect until approved by the Lords of Our Most Honourable Privy Council of which approval a Certificate under the hand of the Clerk of the Privy Council shall be conclusive evidence.
Charter Changes
10 (i) The College may by a resolution passed at any general meeting by not less than two-thirds of the members qualified to vote and present and voting thereon, from time to time revoke, amend or add to the provisions of this Our Supplemental Charter.
(ii) No such revocation, amendment or addition shall, until approved by Us, Our Heirs or Successors in Council become effectual so that this Our Supplemental Charter shall thenceforward continue and operate as revoked, amended or added to. This Article shall apply to this Our Supplemental Charter as revoked, amended or added to in manner aforesaid.
Surrender of Charter
11 (i) The members, by a Special Resolution passed at any general meeting by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting, may determine to surrender the Charter of 1849, this Our Supplemental Charter and any further Supplemental Charter, subject to the sanction of Us, Our Heirs or Successors in Council and upon such terms as We or They may consider fit.
(ii) On surrender, the Members may wind up or otherwise deal with the affairs of the College in such manner as shall be determined by such resolution or, in default of such direction, as Our Courts of law shall think expedient having due regard to the liabilities of the College for the time being.
(iii) If, on the winding up or dissolution of the College, there shall remain, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid or distributed among the members or any of them but, subject to any special trusts affecting the same, shall be given and transferred to some association having objects similar to the objects of the College which shall prohibit the distribution of its income or property amongst its members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the College by this Our Supplemental Charter, such association to be determined by the members at or before the time of dissolution.
Conclusion
12 And We do hereby for Us Our Heirs and Successors grant and declare that these Our Letters or the enrolment or exemplification thereof shall be in all things good firm valid and effectual according to the true intent and meaning of the same and shall be taken construed and adjudged in all Our Courts of law and elsewhere in the most favourable and beneficial sense and for the best advantage of the College any mis-recital, non-recital, omission, defect, imperfection, matter, or thing whatsoever notwithstanding.
IN WITNESS whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.
WITNESS Ourself at Westminster the eighteenth day of July in the 66th year of Our Reign.
BY WARRANT UNDER THE QUEEN’S SIGN MANUAL
Bye laws of The Chartered College of Teaching
Introduction
The Chartered College of Teaching exists to promote the standing and enhance the quality of the teaching profession through its body of members enabling improvements in the standards of teaching and learning by the promotion of professional standards in teaching practice, the award of professional qualifications, the provision, validation and accreditation of learning, by providing opportunities for professional development of educators and to advance this knowledge through research, publications and networking.
Interpretation
1 In these Bye laws the words standing in the first column of the Table next hereinafter shall bear the meaning set opposite to them respectively in the second column thereof, if not inconsistent with the subject or context:-
| Words | Meanings |
| The Charter | The Royal Charter of Incorporation granted to the College in 1849 as amended by Supplemental Charters |
| The College | The Chartered College of Teaching |
| The Council | The Council for the time being of the College |
| The Seal | The common seal of the College |
| Month | Calendar month |
| In writing | Written, printed or other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form including electronic form |
Words importing the singular number only shall include the plural number, and vice versa, and
Words importing the masculine gender only shall include the feminine gender and vice versa; and
Words importing persons shall include corporations.
These Bye laws have effect subject to the Transitional Provisions contained in Bye law 41.
Membership
2 (i) The members of the Corporation shall be the Fellows of The Chartered College of Teaching and the Members of The Chartered College of Teaching (who shall, subject to these Bye laws and to the Regulations, be entitled to use the designatory letters FCCT and MCCT respectively).
(ii) The College shall have Associates and Affiliates and such other categories of non-voting individual supporters as from time to time prescribed by the Regulations.
(iii) The College may have a category or categories of non-voting institutional supporters as from time to time prescribed in the Regulations.
(iv) Persons of distinction who have contributed to the College or to its aims shall be eligible for election as Honorary Fellows or Honorary Members of The Chartered College of Teaching at an appropriate general meeting on the nomination of the Council. Honorary Fellows and Honorary Members shall be entitled to use the designatory letters HonFCCT and HonMCCT respectively
3 (i) The criteria for the qualifications, knowledge and experience required for admission to the College and the assessment procedures therefor, shall be as determined from time to time by the Regulations.
(ii) The Regulations shall prescribe the requirements for any institutional membership of the College.
4 (i) The rights of members shall be determined by the Regulations.
(ii) Any institutional members shall identify one person to represent the institution in respect of membership matters exercising such rights and bearing such liabilities as the Regulations may provide.
5 Every application for membership shall be in such form as shall be required by the Council.
6 Resignation of membership shall be signified in writing, but the person so resigning shall be liable for payment of the annual subscription for the year in which the member resigns, together with any arrears to the date of such resignation. However, the Council, in its discretion, may expel a member for conduct unbecoming. Non-payment of the subscription or death shall also terminate membership.
7 The Council shall cause to be established and reviewed at least biennially a statement of policy with regard to equal opportunities.
The Register of Chartered Practitioners in Teaching
8 The College may maintain separately or in association with, or under licence from another organisation, a Register (which may have separate sections) of current Chartered Practitioners in Teaching or such other Chartered Practitioner description as any other licensing authority may allow.
9 Admission to the Register shall be open to members of the College and in agreed circumstances to those who are not members of the College according to criteria set out in the Regulations
10 Those who are entered onto the Register shall have satisfied the College in respect of their current active status, their qualifications and experience and their willingness to abide by the code of professional conduct including demonstrating the regular undertaking of continuous professional learning. Registrants may describe themselves as the Charter or any licence may allow.
11 The Council may charge such registration fees as are necessary to cover the costs of maintaining the Register and shall exercise or delegate such other powers in this connection as are provided from time to time by the Regulations.
Subscription
12 The Council from time to time shall determine the annual subscription to be paid by each category of membership and any other payments that may be required from members.
13 The subscriptions for any subscription year shall become due on such dates as Council shall determine.
Council
14 The Council comprises those who shall be elected by the members in general meeting, who shall always be a majority of the Council, and those who shall be appointed by the Council itself to provide expertise or experience not otherwise available.
15 The Council shall consist of the following voting members elected or appointed in the manner and for the terms of office set out in the Regulations:
(i) the elected Officers of the Council;
(ii) such number of other elected Council members who, together with the elected Officers, shall be not less than twelve or more than twenty-two; and
(iii) no more than five who shall be appointed by Council, whether as appointed Council members, appointed Officers of the Council, or a combination thereof.
(iv) Registered Chartered Teachers shall be in the majority of members serving on the Council.
16 The Officers of the Council, whose duties and terms of office shall be as defined in the Regulations, shall consist of:
(i) up to seven elected Officers of the Council, which shall include The President, and may include:
(a) up to three Vice Presidents,
(b) The Honorary Dean,
(c) The Honorary Secretary, and
(d) The Honorary Treasurer; and
(ii) up to five appointed Officers of the Council appointed under Bye law 15(iii).
(iii) Only members may be elected as Officers of the Council.
17 (i) A quorum at a Council meeting shall be as determined from time to time in the Regulations.
(ii) Subject to the provisions of these Bye laws, the Council may regulate its proceedings as it thinks fit, including making provision for participation in meetings by electronic means.
(iii) Questions arising at a meeting of the Council shall be decided by a majority of votes and in the case of an equality of votes the Presiding Member shall have a second and casting vote.
(iv) The Presiding Member at any meeting of the Council shall be the President or, if absent, a Vice President, or, in default of a Vice President another member, chosen by the Council.
18 The Council, from time to time, may make such Regulations as it deems necessary or expedient or convenient for the proper conduct and management of the College and for the purposes of prescribing conditions of membership, and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such Regulations may include:
(i) the admission of members to the College and the rights and privileges of such members and the conditions of membership;
(ii) the conduct of members of the College in relation to one another and to the College’s employees; and
(iii) the procedure at general meetings and meetings of the Council and its committees.
19 The Council shall have the power to alter, add to or repeal the Regulations, provided that no Regulation shall be inconsistent with, or shall affect or repeal anything contained in the Charter and Bye laws. The Council shall adopt such means as it thinks sufficient to bring to the notice of members of the College all such Regulations, which shall be binding on all members of the College
20 The Council may open and control such bank accounts as it may consider necessary and shall authorise from time to time the procedures for withdrawing money from such accounts.
- The Council may form committees consisting of members of the College and such other persons as it thinks fit, and may delegate any of its powers to such committees and any such committee so formed, in the exercise of the powers so delegated, shall conform to rules imposed upon it by the Council.
- No members of Council or any of its committees shall incur personal liability in respect of any loss or damage done in good faith for the benefit of the College. The College shall indemnify every Council and committee member, Officer and employee of the College against any loss or expense incurred through any act or omission done or committed by them in the course of the performance in good faith of their authorised duties on behalf of the College.
23 While no members of Council shall be paid for undertaking their duties as Council members, it shall be within the discretion of Council, and subject to the agreement of the Charity Commission if relevant, to pay members of Council who provide services to the College for which payment would otherwise have to be made.
24 (i) Members of the Council or its committees shall avoid a situation in which they have, or can have, a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or may possibly conflict, with the interests of the College.
(ii) Members of the Council or its committees in such a situation shall declare their interest or possible interest at a relevant meeting of the Council or committee or by notice in writing to all the other members of the Council. If there is a dispute as to whether such a situation exists in relation to a person, it shall be determined by the other members of the Council present at the meeting.
(iii) The other members of the Council present at the meeting shall decide how this conflict shall be managed:
- it can decide that the conflicted person may remain at the meeting, participate in the discussion, and even vote on the matter concerned , or
- it can allow the conflicted person to remain but not vote and/or speak, or
- it can require the conflicted person to withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the discussion and the voting on the issue (and not being counted in the quorum for the duration of the discussion and voting).
The Executive Committee
25 There shall be a regular meeting of the Officers, described as the Executive Committee, to discuss matters concerned with the policies and practices of the College and which shall exercise such authority as Council may delegate to it from time to time.
The Chief Executive and Other Officers
26 (i) There shall be a Chief Executive of the College (by whatever name) appointed by the Council who shall have such duties, responsibilities and conditions of appointment as set out in the Regulations. The Chief Executive shall advise the Council on matters of College policy and administration, shall implement its decisions, and shall guide the Council on compliance issues. The Chief Executive shall not be a member of Council but shall have the right to attend and speak at all Council meetings (except where the remuneration, conditions of service, conduct, suspension, dismissal or retirement of the Chief Executive are to be considered).
(ii) The Regulations may also provide for other Officers of the College to be appointed by the Council, and shall define the name, duties and terms of office of any such Officers. Such Officers shall not by virtue of their office be members of the Council, but the Regulations will provide whether or not each office is incompatible with membership of the Council.
The Calling and Conduct of General Meetings
27 There shall be an Annual General Meeting, held no more than fifteen months after the coming into effect of these Bye laws, and thereafter it shall be held not more than fifteen months after its predecessor, for election of Officers and Council and for receipt of the Annual Report and Accounts and the conduct of any other business for which notice has been duly given. There may be other general meetings during each year which shall be called by the Chief Executive on the instruction of the Council or at the request in writing of twenty members of the College.
28 (i) Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be published at least ten weeks before the date of the Meeting and shall also be sent to the Auditors or Examiners. A notice convening any other general meeting of the College shall be published at least three weeks before the date of the meeting and shall give the date and place of the meeting and the purpose for which it is called shall be explicitly stated. No other business shall be transacted at the meeting except on the directions of the Council.
(ii) The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting to, or the non-receipt of such notice by, any person entitled to receive notice thereof shall not invalidate any resolution passed at any meeting.
(iii) If within half an hour from the time appointed for the holding of a general meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting shall be dissolved
(iv) The Presiding Member, with the consent of any meeting at which a quorum is present, may (and shall if so directed by the meeting) adjourn the meeting from time to time, and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than business which might have been transacted at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. Whenever a meeting is adjourned for thirty days or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given in the same manner as of an original meeting. Save as aforesaid, the members shall not be entitled to any notice of an adjournment, or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting.
29 The Presiding Member at any general meeting of the College shall be the President or, if absent, a Vice President, or, in default of a Vice President another member, chosen by the members.
30 At any general meeting a quorum shall be twenty College members present in person or by proxy, of whom at least twelve shall be present in person.
The Common Seal
31 The common seal of the College shall not be affixed to any instrument except by the authority of a resolution of the Council, and in the presence of at least two members of the Council and the said members and Chief Executive shall sign every instrument to which the seal shall be so affixed in their presence, and in favour of any purchaser or person bona fide dealing with the College such signatures shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that the seal has been properly affixed.
Accounts
32 The Council shall cause accounting records to be kept at such place as the Council shall think fit, and such records shall always be open to the inspection of the Council members.
33 The Council, from time to time, shall determine whether and to what extent and at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts and books of the College or any of them shall be opened to the inspection of members not being Council members.
34 At the Annual General Meeting the Council shall lay before the College an income and expenditure account for the period since the last preceding account together with a balance sheet made up as at the same date. Every such balance sheet shall be accompanied by reports of the Council and the Auditors or Examiners and copies of such accounts, balance sheet and reports (all of which shall be framed in accordance with any legal requirements for the time being in force) and of any other documents required by law to be annexed or attached thereto and the same shall be sent not less than twenty-one clear days before the date of the meeting to the Auditors or Examiners and to all other persons entitled to receive notices of general meetings in the manner in which notices are herein directed to be served.
Audit or Examination
35 Once at least in every year the accounts of the College shall be audited (or examined if appropriate) and the correctness of the income and expenditure account and balance sheet ascertained by one or more Auditors or Examiners.
36 Auditors or examiners shall be appointed and their duties regulated in accordance with the provisions of the law. The Auditors or Examiners (who shall be qualified under the law) shall be appointed and their remuneration determined by the Council.
Notices
37 A notice may be served by the College upon any member, personally or by letter or electronically, addressed to such member at the address as agreed by the member.
38 Only those members who are described in the list of members by an address within the United Kingdom shall be entitled to receive notices from the College unless they are to be served electronically.
39 Any notice, if served by first-class post, shall be deemed to have been served by the end of the second working day following that on which the letter containing the same is put into the post, and in proving such service it shall be sufficient to certify that the letter containing the notice was properly addressed and put into the post as a prepaid letter. Any notice served electronically shall be deemed to have been served within twenty four hours of despatch.
Amendments to Bye laws
40 Subject to and in accordance with the Charter, the College may by a resolution passed at any general meeting by not less than two-thirds of the members qualified to vote and present and voting thereon, from time to time revoke, amend or add to these Bye laws.
Transitional Provisions
41 (i) Upon the coming into force of these Bye laws, the members of the Council and the Officers of the College shall remain in office as heretofore until a new Council is elected in accordance with the Bye laws at the first Annual General Meeting following the date of these Bye laws.
(ii) In the subsequent three Annual General Meetings, the term of office of one-third of the elected members shall come to an end in accordance with provisions set out in the Regulations, which shall also establish the cycle of elections for the elected Officers.
(iii) Bye law 15(iv) shall not come into force until such date as determined by the Council.
(iv) Those Fellows of The College of Teachers by membership and Members of The College of Teachers by membership who were admitted after the first day of September 2015 or who hold the post of Registrar or Chief Executive shall, on the date these Bye laws come into force, become Fellows of The Chartered College of Teaching and the Members of The Chartered College of Teaching respectively under Bye law 2(i).
(v) Provision shall be made in the Regulations for the continuing rights, responsibilities and subscriptions of all other historical categories of membership of the College under previous Bye laws, including the continued use of any relevant designatory letters.