What is qualified teacher status (QTS)?

You need English qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in maintained primary, secondary and special schools in England. These are schools funded by local authorities.

Some schools can employ teachers without QTS (for example, private schools and academy schools) but most still prefer teachers to have it.

You do not need QTS to teach in further education or work in early years education.

Non-UK citizens: if you qualified as a teacher outside the UK

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If you qualified as a teacher outside the UK, you can teach in England for up to 4 years without QTS. However, having QTS may improve your chances of getting a teaching job in England.

After 4 years, you'll need QTS to teach in many schools in England.

Find out how to teach in England if you trained outside the UK.

What are the benefits of QTS?

If your teacher training course leads to QTS:

• your course will be regulated by the Department for Education (DfE), ensuring high quality training
• you could be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help you train

As a teacher with QTS:

• you’ll receive a package of support for early career teachers, including a reduced timetable
• you’ll be on the qualified teacher pay range and receive a higher salary than teachers without QTS

You can also get other academic awards through teacher training such as a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) or Bachelor of Education (BEd).

But if your course does not lead to QTS, you will not be a qualified teacher.

Get QTS through teacher training

You can get QTS through undergraduate or postgraduate initial teacher training. This mostly involves school placements with some theoretical learning.

You can apply for either a primary or secondary teacher training course awarding QTS. Find out more about the age groups you could teach.

You can also get a postgraduate qualification through teacher training such as QTS with a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).

Find out how to get QTS through teacher training.

Non-UK citizens: get QTS through teacher training

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If you live outside the UK, you can either get qualified teacher status (QTS) or international qualified teacher status (iQTS).

With iQTS, you train to teach where you live or work, with no need to visit the UK. If you get iQTS, you automatically get QTS.

Get QTS through an assessment only programme

You could get QTS through an assessment only programme. This means you can show that you already meet the standards for QTS without having to do any more training.

You can usually do this if you’ve worked as an unqualified teacher:

• for a significant amount of time (for example, 2 years)
• in more than one school

Find out how to get QTS through assessment only.

Get QTS if you qualified as a teacher in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland

If you trained to teach in Wales, your QTS will be automatically recognised in England and awarded by the Education Workforce Council (EWC).

If you trained to teach in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can apply for QTS in England without any further fees or training.

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