Teacher in a staff room talking to two colleagues sat on a sofa.

Teach in England if you trained outside the UK

If you're a non-UK citizen interested in teaching languages or physics in England, you could be eligible for an international relocation payment worth £10,000.

Teach in England and you’ll benefit from working in a world-class education system.

You’ll earn a competitive salary, get supported in your professional development and have varied job opportunities.

You could also consider teaching in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Not qualified as a teacher yet? Find out how to train to teach in England as a non-UK citizen. If you don’t want to come to England to train, you should consider international qualified teacher status (iQTS), which leads to the automatic award of English qualified teacher status.

What you’ll need to teach in England

If you are already a qualified teacher, you do not need to retrain to teach in England. However, you will need:

  • to apply for English ‘qualified teacher status’, or be able to demonstrate strong non-UK qualifications and experience
  • a high standard of written and spoken English
  • to pass criminal and professional safeguarding checks (these will be organised by your employer)
  • a visa or immigration status allowing you to work in the UK

Get an international relocation payment (IRP) worth £10,000

If you are interested in moving to England to teach languages or physics in an English secondary school, you could be eligible for a single payment of £10,000 from the UK government. Learn more about the international relocation payment.

Apply for qualified teacher status (QTS)

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is the professional status teachers in England gain at the end of their teacher training. Schools use QTS as a measure of teaching skills and experience, so you will find it much easier to get a teaching job in England if you have QTS.

However, if you’re a qualified teacher from outside the UK, you can work as a teacher in England for up to 4 years without QTS.

After that, you will need QTS to teach in many schools in England, although it is not a legal requirement in some types of school (for example, academy schools, free schools and private schools).

It’s important to note that, even if you decide to apply for QTS, you will have to apply for your teaching job and your visa separately.

How to apply for QTS

If you have a teaching qualification from the following countries and regions, you can check if you meet the requirements for QTS and apply:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • the EEA
  • Guernsey
  • Gibraltar
  • Hong Kong
  • Jersey
  • New Zealand
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • the USA

In addition, if you have a subject specialism in languages, mathematics or science and a teaching qualification to teach to teach 11 to 16 year olds from the following countries, you will be able to use the service to check if you meet the requirements for QTS:

  • Ghana
  • India
  • Jamaica
  • Nigeria
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • Zimbabwe

You will not have to pay a fee or undergo further training. However, to be awarded QTS you will need to meet certain criteria. Learn more about the qualifications and experience you’ll need to get QTS.

Apply for QTS in England

If you’re not eligible to use the new service, you may be able to:

Find a teaching job

Once you’ve obtained QTS, you will need to find a teaching job in England. To do this, you must apply to individual schools (not the Department for Education).

Check the school you apply to can sponsor your visa

Before you apply for a teaching job, contact the school to make sure it is a Home Office licensed visa sponsor. If the school is a sponsor, it can help you apply for your visa. Schools can also become sponsors to employ you. Submit your application, and if you are offered the job, you’ll then be able to apply for your visa.

Your professional qualifications

If you haven’t got QTS, schools you apply to will want to see alternative evidence of your teaching and academic qualifications. You can get a statement of comparability from the UK information centre for international qualifications and skills showing how your qualifications compare to English ones.

Tips on applying

You can search and apply for jobs by region, subject specialism and age group. Most teaching vacancies are advertised in March, April or the first half of May, with jobs usually starting at the beginning of the school year in September.

You can set up a job alert to be updated about opportunities throughout the year.

As part of your application, schools will usually ask for your:

  • educational and professional qualifications
  • employment history
  • personal statement
  • references

Your personal statement needs to cover your teaching approach, your experience and how you would contribute to the life of the school. Get tips on writing a personal statement.

If you’re shortlisted, you’ll be invited for interview and asked to demonstrate your teaching skills.

Prepare for your interview

You may be asked about your knowledge of English education in interviews for teaching jobs. To prepare, you can read other teachers’ stories and research the English national curriculum and teachers’ standards.

Safeguarding checks

If the school makes you a conditional offer, you’ll then have to pass safeguarding and criminal records checks. These confirm you are a safe and suitable person to work with children.

You can prepare for these checks by getting a letter from the organisation which regulates teachers in the country where you qualified, confirming your professional status as a teacher.

Search for teaching jobs in England

Apply for your visa

To teach in England, you will need a visa or immigration status allowing you to work in the UK.

You can apply for a skilled worker visa once you have been offered a teaching job at a school which can sponsor them.

If you’re an Irish citizen you do not need a visa.

If you’re not sure about your immigration status, you can check if you need a UK visa or contact UK Visas and Immigration for help.

Already living in the UK?

You may have a pre-existing right to work in the UK, such as settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

How to apply

Find out how to apply for a skilled worker visa, what salary you will need to earn and other types of visa you may be eligible for.

Life as a teacher in England

Many teachers who qualified outside the UK settle in England long-term and develop rewarding careers in teaching.

Career progression

If you’ve successfully applied for QTS in England, and have less than 2 years’ teaching experience, you can get valuable support and mentoring through the early career framework.

You’ll also be able to develop your career through the national professional qualifications framework.

Financial help

You may be eligible for the levelling up premium payment or the early career payment.

You can only receive the international relocation payment (IRP) once, and you cannot receive both the levelling up premium payment and the early career payment in the same year.

Plan your move to England

Once you have been offered a teaching job and successfully applied for your visa, you can start planning your move to England.

The following suggestions and resources may be useful:

Contact

The Department for Education (DfE) does not employ teachers directly. Do not send us your CV, as we will not be able to help you find a teaching job.

Please do not email to ask when a country or subject will be added to Apply for QTS in England. We’ll publish updates about eligiblity for the service at ‘A fairer approach to awarding QTS to overseas teachers’.

If you have general questions about the information on this page, you can email us at teach.inengland@education.gov.uk.