Fitness to Teach Application
Anyone who is learning to be a teacher will be asked to complete a health assessment that is designed to ensure you are able to complete the activities that a teacher must be able to perform.
This assessment will lead to a 'Fitness to Teach' certificate being shared with you and with us. If necessary, the certificate will advise any reasonable adjustments that may need to be considered to support you whilst on placement and at university.
Please don’t be put off sharing something. There are many teachers who have a disability or a chronic health condition, this is not necessarily a barrier to becoming a teacher. We would encourage you to be open and honest with the information you share. We want to be able to support you in the best way possible but can only do this if we know about the issues you may face.
Completing the health assessment will be one of the conditions of your course offer. It is your responsibility to ensure that you cooperate with all occupational health procedures. You will not be able to fully register until we have received a Fitness to Teach certificate.
The University of Nottingham works with Optima Health (previously TPHealth) to carry out the health assessment.
How do I complete the assessment?
You will receive an email directly from the Optima Health online portal from the beginning of June 2023 onwards inviting you to register on their online portal and complete a health questionnaire. It is essential that you complete the actions in the email as soon as possible in order to avoid any delays with your clearance.
This email and any subsequent reminders will come directly from the Optima Health system (notification@mail.tphealth.co.uk), please check your email settings to make sure emails from this address and domain are not automatically moved to your junk or spam folder. For more information about Optima Health and how they process data please visit the Optima Health website.
The information you enter into the questionnaire will only be accessible by the Occupational Health Service. The university will receive an outcome of the health assessment, however, the School of Education will not be able to view your responses and will not be provided with any medical information.
Please action any emails from Optima Health as quickly as possible after you receive them.
How can I access support for a health issue, disability or additional need?
Now that you know the university will not receive the information you include in your health assessment questionnaire you may feel it is important for your tutor to be aware of any health issues or additional needs.
Information on how to do this is available on the Disability Support Services website. When you arrive at this page click on the Get a Support Plan box to tell us of a disability. You can contact the team at any point before starting your course.
We would encourage anyone who identifies as experiencing one of the following conditions to contact the Disability Support Services team: if you have a disability, mental health difficulty, long-term medical condition, autistic spectrum condition, or a specific learning difference such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia or ADHD.
In addition to sharing in this way before the course, we always encourage you to talk to your tutor once you are on course. Please bear in mind that choosing not to share before you join us may well make things more difficult for you, often simple adjustments can be put in place that will make the course much easier for you to manage.