Teacher reference number (TRN)

What is a teacher reference number (TRN)

A TRN is a 7 digit number that uniquely identifies you in the education sector in England.

You will only have one TRN – it stays with you throughout your career. If you already have a TRN you do not need a new one if you change roles or start a new period of training.

Your TRN is personal to you – only disclose your TRN to your employer or an official.

What to do if you’ve forgotten your TRN

If you’ve forgotten your TRN, you can:

1. Check your payslip, pension statement or teacher training records

Your TRN is sometimes on your payslip, pension statement or teacher training records.

2. Use the Find a lost TRN service

You’ll be asked for your:

• name
• date of birth
• National Insurance number

If there’s a match, you’ll get your TRN straight away.

If there’s no match, or you don’t have a National Insurance number, it might take up to 5 days to find your TRN.

3. Request a reminder by phone

Who gets a TRN

You will have a TRN if you:

• hold qualified teacher status (QTS) in England or Wales
• are working towards QTS
• hold early years teacher status (EYTS) in England
• are working towards EYTS
• hold a national professional qualification (NPQ)
• are working towards an NPQ
• contribute to the Teachers’ Pensions scheme
• have a relevant restriction in relation to teaching in England

How to get a TRN

If you’re eligible for a TRN in England, you should be allocated one automatically by the Teaching Regulation Agency or Capita Teachers’ Pensions.

If you do not have a TRN but need one to do a national professional qualification, you should get instructions about how to request one. If you do not receive these instructions, email:

What a TRN is for

You need to know your TRN to:

• view your record with the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), check your record is accurate and download professional certificates in the Teacher self service portal
• give to employers so they can complete mandatory teacher status checks
• to manage records of your contributions to the Teachers’ Pensions scheme
• give to the Department for Education (DfE) when you have been awarded QTS so you can begin your early career teacher induction and access your early career framework induction training programme