Apply for QTS in England: Overseas Qualified Teachers

If you are a qualified teacher from a country outside the UK or have gained teaching experience outside the UK, a QTS will allow you to teach in all schools in England. Applications are currently being processed for applicants with a subject specialism in languages, mathematics or science and a teaching qualification to teach 11 to 16 year olds. To successfully apply and obtain a QTS in England, please read the information regarding requirements carefully as failure to provide required documents in the right format may cause administrative delay to your application.

You can choose to either go through the application process on your own, or for a stress free application, you can the get support from our team of Teaching Professionals who will be able to guide and help you each step of the way in your journey to obtaining QTS to teach in England.

Requirements: (Documents in highlighted in bold are essential. Application without these documents will NOT be processed)

1. PROOF OF IDENTITY:

   Current and valid international passport

2. QUALIFICATIONS

   i. You must hold a University Bachelor’s/Teaching Degree Qualification (Minimum 2:2) that’s equivalent to a UK ‘level 6’ or higher in one of the follow subjects. Mathematics, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish

   ii. Subject Specialism and Teaching Qualification Requirements: Applicants must have a subject specialism and a teaching qualification to teach 11 to 16 year old). The following subjects are applicable. Mathematics, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish

3. PROOF OF QUALIFICATIONS

   For any BSc and/or master’s qualifications , you will need to provide:

   Degree certificate

   Degree transcript (or diploma supplement)

4. PROOF OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ABILITY

   If you were born in or hold citizenship of any of the exempt countries listed below, you’re exempt from English language requirements: You’ll need to provide your passport or official identification documents for that country as proof.

   Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

   If you’re not exempt by birth or citizenship of any of the countries listed above, you must be able to provide evidence of your English language ability either by showing that your teaching qualification or university degree was taught exclusively in English Language or provide an approved English Language certficate. If your teaching qualification or university degree was taught exclusively in the English language you can upload an official document, which is sometimes called a Medium of Instruction (MOI). You can request this from the institution where you studied. If you cannot provide a MOI, your English language qualification could be evidence you’ve reached a certain standard in an English language test, for example, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or C2 Proficiency, formerly known as Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE).

   Test must be awarded within the last 2 years before the date of your application.

5. PROOF THAT YOU ARE RECOGNISED AS A TEACHER

   You must provide evidence of your current registration as a teacher. This could be in a form of a “Letter of Professional Standing” from the relevant regulatory body in your country or a Licence Number issue by the regulatory body.

   Letter of Professional standing must confirm:

   Completion of a teaching qualification/teacher training

   Successfully completion any period of professional experience comparable to an induction period (if required)

   Authorisation to teach has never been suspended, barred, cancelled, revoked or restricted, and that you have no sanctions against you

   Age ranges and subjects you’re qualified to teach

   Qualified to teach at state or government schools

   This must be dated within 3 months of you applying for QTS.

6. PROOF OF WORK HISTORY

   Please note: Applications are only accepted from teachers who are qualified to teach children aged 11-16 in one of the subjects listed above.

   Minimum of 1-year full time employment as a recognised teacher (i.e., registered with the regulatory body)

   Name and email address of refrences/contact who can confirm that during your professional work experience you:

   Worked unsupervised with children aged between 5 and 16 years

   Were solely responsible for planning, preparing, and delivering lessons to at least 4 students at a time

   Were solely responsible for assessing and reporting on the progress of those students

   References provided will be contacted to verify your work history before QTS is awarded.

   If you have more than 1 year of professional experience, but less than 2 years, you’ll need to complete a 2-year ‘statutory induction’ period as a newly qualified teacher.

7. CERTIFIED TRANSLATIONS:

   If your documents are not in English, you must provide certified translations (at your own cost) for your:

   Qualifications

   Transcripts

   Proof that you’re recognised as a teacher

   You do not need translations for ID or change of name documents.

Notes about certified translations: Translations must be carried out by a certified translator, who must state (on the document or a separate certification page) that the translation is a true, accurate and correct rendering of the original. Each one must include the date of the translation as well as the certified translator’s:

Signature

Name and contact details

Official certification seal/stamp or ID number

Finding a certified translator

KGC cannot recommend translation providers. You may want to explore translators who are members of the Institute of Translating and Interpretation (opens in a new tab). Sometimes a university’s language department can also help.

Criminal Record Check

On successful application for QTS and before applying for teaching psoitions in England, You may need to provide a recent police report (dated within 3 months) from your country of origin or any country you have lived continuously in the last five years. You will undergo safeguarding and criminal record checks also known as DBS in the UK.