How to claim for travel, meals and accommodation after attending a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct hearing or induction appeal.

Read this guidance before you claim. It contains information on:

  • who can claim
  • what you can claim for
  • how to submit a claim

Email [email protected] if you have any questions.

Witnesses

We’ll pay expenses for one witness plus a witness supporter, such as a family member.

You can claim for reasonable travel costs and some meals.

You’ll be provided with a hotel if you need to stay overnight, either before or during the hearing or appeal.

If you want to book your own accommodation, you’ll need to contact us and get approval.

Teachers who are subject to serious misconduct hearings

You’ll only be able to claim for expenses if you’re experiencing serious financial hardship. If you need to claim, contact us to discuss your circumstances.

Teachers who are subject to an induction appeal

You’ll be able to claim for reasonable travel expenses only.

Expenses you can claim

Keep all receipts, tickets or invoices and submit them with your claim.

Meals (subsistence)

You’ll get a lunch voucher for £4.50 when you arrive that you can use in our on-site canteen.

You can also claim:

  • £4.80 if you’re away for more than 10 hours
  • £9.30 if you’re away for more than 12 hours
  • £16.75 if you stay overnight

Your time away includes travel time between your home address and the venue where the hearing or appeal is held.

You cannot claim for alcoholic drinks, tipping or service charges.

All meal receipts must:

  • itemise each item you’re claiming for
  • have a VAT number
  • include the date that you purchased the item

Public transport

You can only claim for standard class return tickets, usually by rail, bus or coach. You’ll need to get approval from us before you can book first class travel.

Car or private vehicle

You can claim:

  • 25 pence per mile to and from your home address and the venue where the hearing takes place
  • for parking charges
  • toll charges

Taxis

You can only claim for taxi fares if:

  • you cannot use public transport because you have a temporary or permanent disability
  • you have heavy or bulky luggage to carry

Air travel

You can only claim for air travel if:

  • it’s cheaper overall, for example, if it meant you would not need to stay in a hotel overnight or claim other expenses
  • you contact us for approval before you book

Hotels and accommodation

If you need to stay overnight, TRA will book a 3-star hotel for you near the hearing or appeal venue. You may be able to claim for accommodation you book yourself if you contact us in advance up to:

  • £75, including VAT, outside London
  • £110, including VAT, inside London

Other overnight expenditure (incidentals)

You can claim up to £5 if you stay overnight to cover the cost of telephone calls, tipping in restaurants and hotels, wifi and toiletries. You do not need to provide receipts for these incidental costs.

Loss of earnings

TRA will pay a flat-rate payment to compensate loss of earnings of:

  • £65 for up to 4 hours
  • £130 for over 4 hours

You must provide one of the following pieces of evidence to claim:

  • a payslip
  • an email from employer stating that loss of earnings was down to specific dates of a hearing
  • an invoice (if self-employed) stating total amount of earnings lost due to a hearing with dates
  • a client email showing you were offered work on the hearing dates

TRA will also consider claims of up to £65 for loss of earnings if you travel over 4 hours on the day before a hearing.

Supply cover for schools who’ve hired a supply teacher

You can claim up to a maximum of £250 per day if you’ve had to hire a supply teacher to cover someone who has attended a TRA hearing.

You cannot claim for supply cover if the teacher involved is claiming for loss of earnings. If you gave a teacher unpaid leave to attend a TRA hearing, then TRA will cover their unpaid earnings at £130 per day. If you gave a teacher paid leave, but also needed to pay for supply cover, then TRA will reimburse you for this supply cover up to a maximum of £250 per day.

To claim, you’ll need to provide:

  • your school’s name, full address and details of a contact person
  • the payee’s name, National Insurance number and address (if different from your school)
  • an invoice
  • your school’s bank details, including:
    • the bank name
    • the branch
    • the branch address
    • sort code
    • account number
    • name that the bank account is held in

How to claim

  1. Email [email protected] and request the ‘non-staff expense claim form’ and guidance.

  2. Once you receive this, register as a vendor at Provide information about your banking and payments to DfE and follow the instructions – it can take up to 15 working days for your vendor account to be set up.

  3. Complete the expense form sent to you in step 1 and return to [email protected].

Information you must provide with your claim

Your payment may be delayed if your:

  • relevant evidence is missing
  • receipts are missing
  • vendor account has not been set up

Payment

Your claim will be processed within 10 working days. Some claims may take up to 30 days to process. Your claim will be paid directly into your bank account and you will not receive a remittance advice. We might contact you if we have a query about your expenses.

Contact

Teacher misconduct: claiming expenses

Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)
Expenses officer, teacher misconduct unit
Ground Floor, South
Cheylesmore House
5 Quinton Road
Coventry
West Midlands
CV1 2WT

Email[email protected]

Contact us if you have any questions about:

  • whether you’re allowed to claim expenses
  • which expenses you’re allowed to claim
  • the claims process

Published 14 April 2014
Last updated 4 June 2020 + show all updates

  1. Updated the process for making a claim. Included further details about the types of expenses which can be claimed – this information was previously held on another webpage.

  2. EXP21 form amended to SOP21

  3. Corrected the amount that can be reimbursed to schools that need to pay for supply cover to release a member of staff to be a witness at a hearing.

  4. First published.

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