Teachers and salaried trainees who started their job or course in September 2023 can now apply for an international relocation payment(opens in new window).You must apply by 31 October 2023.
If you are a trainee on a fee-paying course, you do not need to apply. Learn more about the process for fee paying courses.
The information on this page is for:
- non-UK teachers of languages, physics and general or combined science when it includes physics
- non-UK trainee teachers of languages and physics
If you are considering coming to England to teach or train to teach languages or physics, you could be eligible for financial help from the UK government worth £10,000.
The international relocation payment (IRP) is designed to cover some of the costs of moving to England, including:
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the costs of visas
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the immigration health surcharge
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other relocation expenses
All eligible applicants will receive a single payment of £10,000 from the Department for Education (DfE) around the end of their first term training or working in England. The IRP is a grant – you will not have to pay this money back. You can only receive the IRP once.
Criteria for teachers
To be eligible for the international relocation payment (IRP), you must meet all 3 of the following requirements.
1. Teaching subject for teachers
You must be employed by and in an English state secondary school on a contract beginning in the 2023 to 2024 academic year (which runs from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024). Your contract must last at least one year and you must be working as:
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a physics teacher
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a general or combined science teacher – you must teach the physics element of these subjects
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a language teacher – any language is eligible except English
If you are employed to teach more than one subject, physics, general or combined science or a language or languages must make up at least 50% of your time in the classroom. The Department for Education will validate this with the school as part of the application process. Check with your school if you’re not sure whether you are eligible.
Examples of eligible teaching jobs include:
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50% modern foreign languages (for example, French, Spanish or German) and 50% another subject (for example, history)
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50% modern foreign languages (for example, French, Spanish or German) and 50% English language
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50% physics and 50% maths
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50% general or combined science (must include the physics element) and 50% maths
State schools are schools funded by the UK government. Secondary schools teach children aged 11 to 16 or 11 to 18. You will not be eligible if you teach in a school for pupils aged 16 to 18 only.
Ongoing or permanent contracts lasting longer than 1 year are also eligible.
Check the type and age range of the school(opens in new window) where you’ll be teaching. You can also find out about the different types of state school in England(opens in new window).
2. Type of visa for teachers
You must come to England on one of the visas listed here.
For the following visas, you must have applied for your visa from outside the UK:
For the following Ukrainian and Afghan visas, you can apply for your visa from within or from outside the UK:
3. Date of arrival for teachers
You must move to England no more than 3 months before the start of your job.
Non-eligibility for teachers
You will not be eligible for the international relocation payment if you are:
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a UK citizen, including citizens of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
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an Irish citizen
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a non-UK citizen who moved to England to live permanently more than 3 months before the start of your job
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in England on a dependant partner visa linked to your partner’s skilled worker or student visa
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teaching only English language
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employed on a contract lasting less than one year
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employed by a recruitment agency – an agency can find and place you in a school, but your contract must be with the school and your salary must be paid directly to you by the school, not by the recruitment agency
How teachers can apply for the international relocation payment
Teachers who have started their teaching jobs can now apply for the international relocation payment (IRP)(opens in new window). Applications are open from 4 September to 31 October 2023. If you are eligible, you should receive the money by 31 January 2024.
If you miss this deadline, to remain eligible for the IRP you must apply at the next opportunity after the start of your job. Applications for teachers will re-open between January 2024 and February 2024.
You will need a teaching job to apply for the IRP. Learn more about finding a job and applying for your visa.
If you are starting a teaching job after the end of October 2023, or have missed the 2023 deadline, you can express your interest in the IRP by emailing us at IRP.ExpressInterest@education.gov.uk. We will email you when applications open in 2024.
Criteria for trainee teachers (fee-paying and salaried)
As a trainee teacher, to be eligible for the international relocation payment (IRP), you must meet all 3 of the following requirements. The eligibility requirements are the same whether you pay a fee for your training course, or are paid a salary to work while you train. However, the application process for the IRP is different for salaried trainees.
1. Teaching subject for trainees
You must have taken up a place on a teacher training course in England leading to qualified teacher status (QTS)(opens in new window) for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. Your teacher training provider must be accredited by the UK government, and you must be training to teach one of the following subjects at secondary level (teaching children aged 11 to 16 or 11 to 18):
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any language(s) except English language, including courses combining language(s) with another subject, as long as language(s) make up at least 50% of the course content
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any language(s), including courses combining language(s) with English language, as long as the non-English language(s) make up at least 50% of the course content
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physics, including Engineers teach physics, and courses with content which is at least 50% physics
You can search for postgraduate teacher training courses(opens in new window) accredited by the UK government leading to the award of QTS. You will still be eligible for the international relocation payment if your course leads to PGCE and QTS or PGDE and QTS.
You can contact your teacher training provider to check:
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the course you have chosen is eligible for the international relocation payment
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the content of your teacher training course meets the 50% requirement
2. Type of visa for trainees
You must come to England on one of the visas listed here.
For the following visas, you must have applied for your visa from outside the UK:
For the following Ukrainian and Afghan visas, you can apply for your visa from within or from outside the UK:
3. Date of arrival for trainees
You must move to England no more than 3 months before the start of your course.
Non-eligibility for trainee teachers
You will not be eligible for the international relocation payment if you are:
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a UK citizen, including citizens of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
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an Irish citizen
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a non-UK citizen who moved to England to live permanently more than 3 months before the start of your course
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in England on a dependant partner visa linked to your partner’s student or skilled worker visa
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doing an assessment only QTS
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training to teach only English language
How trainee teachers can get the international relocation payment
Fee-paying trainees
If you have a place on a teacher training course where you pay a fee, you do not need to apply for the international relocation payment (IRP). Your training provider will email you if your choice of course makes you eligible for the IRP. Your visa status and date of arrival will be checked by the Department for Education. If you are eligible, you’ll get the IRP around the end of your first term.
If you believe you meet the eligibility requirements, but have not been informed by your teacher training provider that you may be awarded the IRP, please contact your training provider directly first. If your training provider cannot help you, you can email us at teach.inengland@education.gov.uk.
Salaried trainees
Salaried trainees who have started their training courses can now apply for the international relocation payment (IRP)(opens in new window). Applications are open between 4 September 2023 and 31 October 2023. If you are eligible, you should receive the money by 31 January 2024.
If you miss this deadline, to remain eligible for the IRP you must apply at the next opportunity after the start of your training course. Applications for salaried trainees will re-open between January 2024 and February 2024.
If you are starting a salaried course after the end of October 2023, or have missed the 2023 deadline, you can express your interest in the IRP by emailing us at IRP.ExpressInterest@education.gov.uk. We will email you when applications open in 2024.
General information about the international relocation payment
Protect yourself from fraud
Teachers and salaried trainee teachers will not need to pay an agent or any other third party to complete their application. Any agency or person contacting you offering to apply for the IRP on your behalf is likely to be fraudulent. Avoid and report internet scams and phishing(opens in new window).
Visiting England more than 3 months before the start of your course or job
Your eligibility for the international relocation payment (IRP) will not be affected if you spend short periods in England at a time more than 3 months before the start of your course or job.
Example 1: You attend a job interview in England under a Standard Visitor visa in May 2023. You return home, and learn you have been given the job, which starts in September 2023. You apply for a Skilled worker visa in June 2023, 3 months before the start of your job. You move to England in July 2023. You will still be eligible for the IRP.
Example 2: You have a UK Ancestry visa and use it to visit relations in England in February 2023. You return home and successfully apply for a place on a teacher training course starting in September 2023. You move to England in June 2023. You will still be eligible for the IRP.
You will also still be eligible for the IRP if you live in another part of the UK (for example, Scotland or Wales) as long as you are employed in a school in England.
If you are in any doubt about meeting the 3-month requirement, please email us for advice before planning your move.
Using the international relocation payment to support your visa application
You will not be able to use eligibility for the international relocation payment in your visa application as proof that you have enough money to support yourself.
Subject eligibility
The international relocation payment (IRP) has been limited to languages and physics because non-UK teachers play an important part in teaching these priority subjects. The Department for Education is piloting the IRP to encourage more non-UK teachers and trainees in these subjects to bring their skills, experience and potential to English schools.
Payment
The international relocation payment (IRP) cannot be paid to you in advance, before you take up your teacher training place or teaching job. This is because eligibility requirement checks can only be completed after you’ve arrived in England.
In order to be paid the IRP, you must have a UK bank account in your name (this can be digital). The IRP cannot be paid into a building society account (building societies are financial institutions owned by members that offer banking services).
If you are a teacher or a salaried teacher trainee, you must also have a UK National Insurance number(opens in new window). You can apply for this once you arrive in England, as long as your visa gives you the right to work and you have a confirmed job.
Teachers and salaried trainees should receive a single payment from the Department for Education at the end of January 2024. Fee-paying trainees will receive a single payment from their provider around the end of their first term of training. You will be paid as and when your eligibility requirements have been checked – we cannot guarantee an exact payment date.
You will not have to justify any expenses or give us receipts or any other evidence of the relocation costs you have incurred.
If your details, such as your address, change after you have applied, please inform us as soon as possible to avoid any delay to your payment.
The Department for Education reserves the right to withhold payment if you are no longer studying on an eligible course or employed in an eligible job on the payment date.
If you were eligible for and have received the international relocation payment, you will not be asked to pay it back, even if you leave England, your training course or your job as a teacher.
Tax
If you are on a fee-paying teacher training course, you will not have to pay tax on the international relocation payment.
If you are a teacher, or a trainee on a salaried course, the Department for Education will pay the UK tax owed on the international relocation payment to ensure you receive the full £10,000, as long as your overall earnings do not exceed £50,270 a year in 2023/24. You may have to pay higher rate UK Income Tax(opens in new window) and UK National Insurance(opens in new window) on any earnings which take you over £50,270.
Part-time teachers and trainees
Part-time teachers and trainees will receive the international relocation payment in full, as long as they meet all the eligibility criteria.
Other types of financial support from the UK government
Teachers and recently qualified trainees who meet the eligibility requirements can also apply for the following payments in addition to the international relocation payment (IRP):
However, you should be aware that you can only receive the IRP once, and you cannot receive both the levelling up premium payment and the early career payment in the same year.
This means that teachers in their first year of employment in England could receive either the IRP and the levelling up premium payment, or the IRP and the early career payment.
Trainee teachers could receive the IRP in their training year in England, and either the levelling up premium payment, or the early career payment in their first year of work as a teacher.
Contact us
For general enquiries about the IRP, please email us at teach.inengland@education.gov.uk.
Please do not send us your CV or enquiries about training places or teaching jobs, as the Department for Education does not directly run training courses or employ teachers.
Find out more about training to teach or working as a teacher in England.