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Promoting Quality in Teacher Education

DfE: Overseas' Teaching Qualifications in England (February 2023)

Summary

On 1st February, the DfE open their service to nine new countries, alongside those eligible now. Further details are below. An update on eligibility will also be circulated in May 2023.

On 1 February, we will open our service to nine new countries, alongside those eligible now. However, we will introduce a new requirement so that initially, teachers from Ghana, India, Jamaica, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, and Zimbabwe will also need to be qualified to teach Sciences, Mathematics or Languages, in addition to meeting the other criteria that all eligible overseas teachers are required to meet. Teachers from Ukraine and Hong Kong will be able to apply across the full range of subjects.

This approach ensures we can provide a good service to applicants when they do apply, given that the assessment process is new and more detailed than the previous approach. We expect an increase in applications given the interest from teachers in these new countries and the new approach we are taking will focus our assessment process on those in the subjects that we know schools need the most. It will also ensure that any increase in applications from overseas teachers with QTS is manageable, particularly when we know that not all schools are accustomed to overseas recruitment.

We have updated our page here with more information on eligibility. We will look to expand the criteria and widen the rollout of this new approach at an appropriate time. We expect to publish an update on eligibility in May 2023.

What do I tell teachers from other countries who might qualify for QTS?

Teachers can go to this page to find out more about whether they can apply for QTS:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualified-teacher-status-to-overseas-teachers/a-fairer-approach-to-awarding-qts-to-overseas-teachers--2

Teachers from overseas may still wish to train to be a teacher in England to build their knowledge and experience in England. However, we advise that they should review this page and decide which route they might take.

Candidates in other subjects beyond mathematics, sciences and languages are deciding whether to complete Assessment only or apply for QTS - what should I tell them?

It remains our intention to open to more subjects. We will look to expand the criteria and widen the rollout of this new approach at the appropriate time and expect to publish an update on eligibility in May 2023:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualified-teacher-status-to-overseas-teachers/a-fairer-approach-to-awarding-qts-to-overseas-teachers--2