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School Workforce Development Team Tel: 01438 844871
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Useful Links
Teachernet /teachingin england Training & Development Agency
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Overseas Trained Teachers (OTTs)

From EU and EFTA

If you have a teaching qualification gained in the EU (European Union) or EFTA (European Free Trade Area) and you are a national of one of these countries, you usually have automatic Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). You need to contact the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for a form to complete and they will then return a letter confirming QTS. Phone 01325 392120. You will then be able to apply for teaching posts in local schools.

From non-EU countries

If you have teaching qualifications gained outside of the European Union, you do not have automatic QTS.

You can be appointed without QTS as a "temporary teacher" for up to four years, either in one school or in a number of schools. During this time you will be paid on the "unqualified teacher scale". After this you would have to gain QTS in order to continue teaching in a maintained school in the UK. If you intend to follow a teaching career in the UK it is important to gain QTS so that you gain access to the professional pay scale for teachers, including Threshold and management responsibilities. QTS will also confer some security of tenure, which as a temporary teacher you do not have.

The Overseas Trained Teacher programme (OTT) is an employment based route to QTS. The assessment period is 3 months but you should allow additional time for the application to be completed and after your assessment, for the General Teaching Council (GTC) to complete the certification. Six months in total, is a realistic time scale. Therefore it is really important to begin the process at the start of your contract with a school.

Overseas Trained Teachers with at least two years full time teaching experience either in the UK or overseas have the opportunity to be assessed against the induction standards at the same time as their assessment for QTS. For all other routes into teaching, a full induction year has to be completed after gaining QTS.

It saves a great deal of time if you can collect all the documentation together before you begin the application process. In order to qualify for the OTT programme you must have the following qualifications:

1. GCSE at grade C or above in English and Mathematics, or equivalent, (and if you are to gain initial qualification as a Primary School teacher and were born after 1st September 1979, Science)

2. A university degree (If you are to gain initial qualification as a Secondary School teacher, the majority of your degree course must be in the National Curriculum subject which you will be teaching)

3. A teaching qualification from the country where you trained. (It is generally sufficient if your degree contained some study of education theory and practice.) If you qualified as a teacher in your own country purely as a result of having a degree that is not accepted in the UK. If this applies to you, the options for you will be to either take a one year PGCE course or to find a place on the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP).

You will need to have your original certificates for these qualifications. You will also need to have these verified as being equivalent to the relevant UK qualification.

Send copies of ALL your certificates to:

UK NARIC,
Oriel House,
Oriel Road,
Cheltenham,
GL50 IXP

Telephone: 01242 260010.

A fee is charged for this service, so it is an advantage to get all the qualifications checked at the same time. If you discover that one of your qualifications is not equivalent, (often this is at GCSE) there are equivalency tests available to you.

During the term of the OTT programme you will need to collect evidence that you meet all the standards for QTS (and for Induction as well, if you are including this). The final assessment takes between one and includes observations of your teaching. You must be assessed across two consecutive Key Stages.

Full details of the application and assessment procedures can be found on the University of Hertfordshire website:

• University of Hertfordshire

The TTA Teaching Information Line can give details of courses - 0845 6000 991. The telephone number for admissions at the University of Hertfordshire is 01707 286161.

Please note:

Most foreign nationals outside of the EU need a work permit in order to work for a continuous period in the UK. The employer applies for the work permit.

For further information, log on t:

• www.workingintheuk.gov.uk

Link to teachernet website:

• www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachinginengland/

Teachernet Web Site

The Teachernet Teaching in England website has been developed to support teachers from overseas who have decided to work in England. It contains information about living and teaching in England and guidance that will aid your preparation before leaving home and support material that will help your transition to working in an English school.  The purpose of this site is to raise your awareness of the issues you need to consider and to guide you to the appropriate websites that will deal in depth with your queries.

• www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachinginengland/