FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
June 2012
There have been changes recently to the qualifications and induction regulations which confer on teachers from the further education (FE) sector with Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, and some overseas trained teachers (OTTs), the right to be recognised as qualified teachers in English schools without first undertaking additional training or assessment.
This document seeks to address the issues most frequently raised by affected members. Any issues not addressed in this document should be referred to the appropriate regional/Wales office in the first instance.
When will the changes to the law come into effect?
Changes to the qualifications and induction regulations came into force on 1 April 2012.
Will these changes apply in Wales?
No, they will not. The changes to the law will affect only schools in England.
How do I qualify for QTS?
If you are a QTLS holder, you will be recognised as a qualified teacher without the need to apply to the Teaching Agency (the successor to the GTCE) for qualified teacher status (QTS). However, you will be required to maintain your membership of the Institute of Learning (IfL) and you must not be included in the Secretary of State’s ‘Barred List’.
If you are a qualified teacher from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, you will be able to apply to the Department for Education (DfE) for QTS, provided you can show that you:
- have successfully completed a programme of professional training for teachers recognised as such by a competent authority in the relevant country;
- have satisfied any additional requirements (including any period of professional experience comparable to statutory induction) which are necessary for a person in the relevant country to be eligible for employment as a qualified teacher on a permanent basis;
- are not restricted from teaching either by the Secretary of State or your home regulator; and
- did not fail, prior to 1 April 2012, to obtain UK QTS following assessment.
If you have an interest in applying for UK QTS you may contact the DfE’s Teacher Enquiries on 0370 496 8324 for more information, or send an email to:.
Will I have to undergo induction?
QTLS holders and qualified teachers from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand who satisfy the qualification requirements for UK QTS will be exempt from the requirements of statutory induction for school teachers.
What can I do if I don’t have QTLS status?
If you are a former FE teacher without QTLS status but with other qualifications, such as the Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Sector, Certificate in Further Education Teaching or the FE Postgraduate Certificate of Education, you will not be recognised as a qualified teacher in a maintained school. You may apply to the IfL for QTLS status which, once awarded, would allow you to be recognised as a qualified teacher in schools. Alternatively, you may undertake a course of initial teacher training or take up an in service route to QTS such as the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP).
Can I apply for UK QTS even if I didn’t qualify in the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand?
If you are an overseas trained teacher (OTT) from a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland (other than the countries listed above), you will not be able to apply for UK QTS without first undergoing the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (the OTTP) or some other recognised route to UK QTS.
You will continue to be able to work in maintained schools in England without UK QTS for up to four years, provided you remain on a course which will lead to QTS at the end of that time.
The Government has indicated that it hopes to extend exemption from the qualifications and induction regulations to other Commonwealth teachers from South Africa, Jamaica and Singapore at the earliest opportunity.
For further information about OTTs, please refer to the NUT guidance document Employing Overseas Trained Teachers Already in the UK – Advice to members.
I am currently on the unqualified teacher pay scale. Do the changes to the law require my employer to transfer me to the qualified teacher pay scale?
As a teacher holding QTS status by virtue of being a QTLS holder or qualifying OTT you are entitled to the same pay and conditions as other UK qualified school teachers. If you are teaching in a local authority maintained school, the STPCD provides that you should now be transferred to the qualified teacher pay scales. Para 37 of the 2011 STPCD requires that you are placed, at minimum, on the next point on the Main Scale in cash terms above the point you currently occupy of the unqualified teachers’ pay scale. You can, however, be placed on a higher point in recognition of your teaching experience in your home country or other countries or in UK schools and the NUT advises you to discuss this with your head teacher.
I am a QTLS holder with several years’teaching experience at my local secondary. Can I qualify for payment on the Upper Pay Scale?
You cannot be placed on the Upper Pay Scale (UPS) without going through the ‘threshold assessment’ process. Applicants must have QTS status and must be on point M6 of the Main Scale, so you should press to be placed on the Main Scale at the highest possible scale point in order to be able to apply for threshold assessment as soon as possible. When you do apply, consult the NUT guidance on threshold assessment at: The assessment will need to consider evidence relating to at least two years’ experience in teaching posts in schools (but not necessarily as a qualified teacher) in the five years prior to the application.
Will I be recognised as a qualified teacher if I apply to work in an academy?
Yes, you will continue to hold QTS status whatever your new school’s status. Academies and non-maintained schools must apply the same pay structure and conditions to all qualified teachers to avoid discrimination. Your pay and conditions should therefore be the same as they are for other qualified teachers at the school.
I teach in a sixth form college - does this change help me?
The national pay structure for sixth form colleges does not make specific reference to qualifications, and colleges should in any case regard QTS and QTLS as having equal validity for the sector. Any college which does, however, seek to pay QTLS teachers less than QTS teachers should now be pressed to treat QTS and QTLS teachers in the same way.
The new rules will of course benefit any sixth form college teacher who holds QTLS status and moves to a school teaching post at any point in the future.
Will I be subject to my school’s appraisal arrangements for teachers?
QTLS holders and qualifying OTTs teaching in maintained schools are included within the scope of the performance management arrangements for teachers. OTTs will be subject to the professional code set out in the revised Teacher Standards. With regard to QTLS holders, head teachers and local authorities may have regard to any professional standards they deem ‘appropriate’, including the IfL Code of Professional Practice and, depending on the QTLS holder’s subject specialism and professional background, the standards for other professions such as engineering and social care.
Will my conduct be regulated by the Teaching Agency or by some other body?
As a QTLS holder or OTT you will be subject to the same regulatory system for teachers as any other school teacher, regardless of whether you work in the maintained or non-maintained sector. This means that cases of misconduct involving a QTLS holder or OTT may be referred to the Teaching Agency.
CHANGES-QTS AFFECTING FE OTT-FAQs (JUNE 2012)_LS14 November 2018
Created: 4 July 2012/LS&SA