Overseas trained teachers

There is a severe shortage of teachers in the UK, particularly in London and other large cities. Therefore, there is often scope for teachers from overseas to come and work in the UK.

Most schools welcome the fresh perspectives foreign teachers bring to the teaching staff, their professionalism and the opportunity they provide for students to meet someone with a different life experience. 

Comprehensive advice about working in schools in the UK - behaviour management, inspections, assessment, etc - is featured on the Teaching in England section of the Teachernet website. This site also features details of how to apply for positions, what pay and conditions you should expect and the work permits or visas you may require.

Many teachers from overseas can end up in schools which are in special measures or in fresh start schools because they often have more staff vacancies. Be aware that both types of schools are likely to have more difficulties with pupil discipline and staff morale than more successful schools.

Working in England if you trained overseas

Comprehensive advice about work permits and visas, applying for a job and working without qualified teacher status is featured on the Teaching in England section of the Teachernet website. 

Overseas trained teacher programme

To take the Overseas trained teacher programme (OTTP) route you must first be qualified as a teacher overseas and working as an unqualified teacher in a school in England.

In addition, if you qualified outside the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need: 

• a qualification equivalent to a UK bachelors degree
• a qualification equivalent to GCSE grade C or above in mathematics and English 
• a  qualification equivalent to GCSE grade C or above in science if you intend to teach primary or key stage 2/3 (ages seven to 14) and you were born on or after 1 September 1979.          

Go to The National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom website to find out whether your qualifications are of an equivalent level to UK GCSEs, A-levels and undergraduate degrees. 

If you qualified as a teacher in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, another country in the EEA or Switzerland, you may be eligible for QTS without further assessment. You will need to contact the General Teaching Council for England to have your qualifications assessed - contact details are available via the General Teaching Council website.

Any training delivered as part of the OTTP is tailored to the individual. As such, the length of the programme will depend on the extent of additional training you require. However, the longest you can spend on the programme is one year. 

If you feel your skills and experience are sufficient to meet all the QTS standards without further training, you may apply for QTS assessment only.

Changes to rules for Overseas Trained Teachers (OTTs)

With effect from 1 September 2008, there are some changes to the rules concerning OTTs teaching in England.

The rules apply if you qualified as a teacher in a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA) regardless of where you were born or your terms of entry to the UK.

To qualify to teach in a maintained school or non-maintained special school in England as an OTT, you must obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) within four years of the first day you taught in England in a state maintained or non-maintained special school. The provision to be employed after this limit, if you are on an employment-based route when your four-year limit ends, is withdrawn with effect from 1 September 2008. An extension is only possible if you have taken maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave allowed under employment law.

Schools may still employ OTTs as Instructors as long as they satisfy the statutory requirements for employing instructors (i.e. that there is no qualified teacher available to fill it. They cannot simply reclassify an OTT who has not obtained QTS as an instructor. This is a continuation of the existing provision.

If you qualified to teach in a country outside of the EEA, ATL advises you to check your qualifications with UK NARIC (tel. 0870 990 4088 or email info@naric.org.uk) and remember that it is your responsibility to arrange an employment-based training course leading to QTS in sufficient time.

For more information, please call the Training and Development Agency for Schools' Overseas Trained Teacher helpline on 0845 6000 998 or visit the Department for Children, Schools and Families teaching website.

To download a copy of the useful leaflet, “Overseas Trained Teachers - What you need to know”, click here.

Alternatively, call Prolog on 0845 6022260, quoting reference number 00898-2007LEF-EN.

Working in Scotland if you trained overseas

To be eligible to teach in Scotland, you should have a relevant degree and a recognised teaching qualification.You can obtain registration in either the primary (three to 12 years) or secondary (12-18 years) sectors. To find out more see the General Teaching Council Scotland website.

Working in Wales if you trained overseas

People who are recognised as qualified teachers in Scotland, Northern Ireland or another country within the EEA or people who have been recommended for QTS by the States of Guernsey Education Council can make an application for recognition of QTS in Wales.

For more details, or if you trained from outside the EEA, see the General Teaching Council Wales website. 

 Download ATL's free publication for students, Into the classroom, for further advice on how to get the most out of your studies.

Useful websites

• http://www.gtce.org.uk/

Resources

• Into the classroom, Pdf document, 511 KB