Summary:
- How long does it take for Teacher’s Registration to be processed?
- When can I apply for Teacher’s Registration?
- What can I do if I think something has gone wrong?
If you want to be a teacher in Adelaide or South Australia, you will need to apply for Teacher’s Registration through the Teacher’s Registration Board of South Australia (TRB). You will need to fill in and submit all of the forms as well as a registration fee to begin the process. You will not be able to work in South Australian schools before your registration has been processed and you have your Certificate of Teacher’s Registration.
How long does it take for Teacher’s Registration to be processed?
The TRB warns that it can take up to eight months for your Teacher’s Registration to be processed. In reality, it rarely takes this long.
When you submit your forms and apply for your Teacher’s Registration can have a significant impact on how long it will take to be processed. If you submit all of you paperwork and your payment immediately after finishing your university degree, you are doing so at the same time as hundreds of other new teachers. If you do this during this time, it will take much longer for your Teacher’s Registration to be processed compared to other times of the year.
If you have just finished university and you would like to start working as a teacher in South Australian schools as soon as possible, you may not get much of a choice in when you submit your forms and apply. Even if you wait until everyone else’s forms have been processed and the waiting time is shorter, it is unlikely that you will have your Teacher’s Registration sooner than if you had applied immediately and waited longer for it to be processed.
Regardless of how long it takes for your Teacher’s Registration to process, if you want to be working as a teacher in South Australian schools as soon as possible, you will need to submit your application to the TRB as soon as possible.
When can I apply for Teacher’s Registration?
Because it can take so long for the TRB to process every new South Australian teacher’s Teacher’s Registration when everyone is applying at the same time, they recommend that you begin the process earlier.
While you will need an official Academic Transcript from your university to show your grades and achievement for your teaching degree, the TRB will allow you to submit some of the other paperwork earlier. You will need to get verified copies of a number of documents such as your proof of identity, as well as the application forms that you can print off of the TRB’s website. You will need to either post these to the TRB, or you can go into their office in the Adelaide CBD to submit them in person.
If you submit everything except for your academic transcript early, they can process these forms sooner. It will then take far less time to process your final Teacher’s Registration after you submit a verified copy of your official Academic Transcript. If you submit the bulk of your application approximately three months early, it is possible that it will only take a few days to finalise the process and you can be a registered teacher in South Australia.
What can I do if I think something has gone wrong?
If it has been eight months or longer and you still haven’t received your Teacher’s Registration, it is worth contacting the TRB to check on your application. You can call them, or you may prefer to go into their office in the Adelaide CBD in person to inquire about the status of your application.
The TRB staff are always very friendly and happy to help. They may not be able to give you an update on how much longer your application is going to take to process, but they will definitely be able to check and ensure that all of your paperwork has been submitted and filled in correctly.
