Qualified Teacher Status

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is an award governed by regulations made to teachers who have demonstrated that they have met the required professional standards to be considered qualified to teach in maintained schools or non-maintained special schools. Without QTS a teacher cannot register with the General Teaching Council for England and therefore cannot be employed as a qualified teacher in the above schools.

The process for determination of QTS status is covered by Statutory Instrument 2003 No 1662, The Education (School Teachers' Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003.

The GTC can check to see if you have been awarded QTS - contact the Teachers' Qualifications (TQ) Helpdesk using the form below, by e-mailing tqanswer@gtce.org.uk or by calling 0121 345 0140. The TQ Section's postal/fax contact details are also included here for reference:

Teachers’ Qualifications Section
General Teaching Council
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4AJ

Fax: 0121 345 0100

The GTC can provide official letters confirming your QTS. To obtain a letter please contact the Teachers' Qualifications Helpdesk using the form below, by e-mailing tqanswer@gtce.org.uk or by calling 0121 345 0140.

No, QTS is a permanent award.

No, the award of QTS allows teachers to teach any age range and any subject.

Under the terms of Council Directive 89/48 EEC a person who is a national of a European Economic Area member state and who is fully qualified to teach in an EEA country has the right to work as a qualified teacher in any other member state. If you wish to apply to have your qualifications recognised in another EEA member state you will need to contact the education authorities of that state.

If you wish to teach outside of the EEA you would need to contact the educational authority of the country you wish to work in to see if your qualifications are satisfactory.

You cannot be employed as a qualified teacher. However, Schedule 2 of Statutory Instrument 2003 No 1663 The Education (Specified Work and Registration) (England) Regulations 2003 states that an unqualified teacher may be employed as an Instructor if “no suitable qualified teacher, graduate teacher or registered teacher is available for appointment to give instruction”.  However the decision to employ unqualified teachers is at the sole discretion of the school.

For teachers from Scotland and Northern Ireland typical turnaround times, for fully completed forms, are between two and four weeks (dependent on the number of applications received at our offices).

For teachers from the European Economic Authority applying for QTS in England under the terms of Council Directive 89/48/EEC, Article 8 of the directive allows the competent authority - in this case the GTC - 4 months from the date of receipt of all supporting documentation to consider individual cases.

If QTS is awarded we will allocate a Teacher reference (DfES) number to you (if you do not already hold one) and write to you enclosing your QTS certificate and an application to register with the GTCE. If QTS is declined we will write to you confirming that fact, requesting additional information if relevant.

No. However, please contact the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) who will provide you with information on the various other routes that are available leading to the award of QTS in England.

You will be unable to register with the GTC until you obtain QTS. Once QTS is awarded a registration application will be issued to you.

If you have been awarded QTS by the GTC, then you will automatically receive the forms to register, along with details of how and when to pay the membership fee. Otherwise please contact the GTC to request a registration information pack using the form below, by e-mailing tqanswer@gtce.org.uk or by calling 0121 345 0140.

Yes, for details about work permits you will need to contact Work Permits UK - visit their website or telephone +44 (0) 114 259 4074.

The GTC itself does not employ teachers in a teaching capacity, nor does the GTC advertise teacher vacancies or recommend any particular institution as a suitable employer.

To be considered for employment you will need to write to individual employers, for example boards of school governors who recruit and employ teachers, or respond direct to specific job advertisements in the press. The Times Educational Supplement, published every Friday, carries advertisements for teaching posts.

You may be asked to attend an interview conducted by the governors of the school where the vacancy exists. The governing body will make the decision about who should be appointed. In all cases you will be in direct competition with other applicants for the particular post.

EEA member states are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Swiss nationals are also eligible for assessment without the need for further training under Council Directive 89/48/EEC.

Providing an EEA member state recognized your qualifications and you have 3 years professional experience as a schoolteacher in that state, you may still be eligible to apply for QTS under the EEA route.

No. This route to QTS is available to EEA nationals only. You will need to contact the Overseas Trained Teacher section of the Teacher Training Agency about gaining QTS in England. You can contact them by telephoning +44 (0) 1245 454 321 or by e-mailing ott@tdainfo.co.uk 

No, you must not translate supporting documents yourself. All translations should be done by an independent competent translator e.g. a translation agency or a University Language Department.

One of the purposes of The National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC) is to provide information and advise on the comparability of overseas qualifications with those from the UK.