Check you’re eligible to apply for qualified teacher status (QTS)

About QTS

QTS is a legal requirement to teach in many schools in England. It is a status that most schools prefer their teachers to have. Find out more about QTS.

It does not guarantee you a job or give you the right to work in England. You’ll still need to apply for a teaching job separately and have the correct visa or status.

Warning The Department for Education (DfE) does not employ teachers directly. To find a teaching job, you must apply to individual schools in England.

How this service works

  1. You need to check if you’re eligible to apply for QTS.
  2. If you’re eligible, you’ll be able to make an application.
  3. Once you submit your application, we’ll assess your qualifications and teaching experience to decide if we can award you with QTS.

Decisions are based on whether you meet our assessment criteria.

The DfE does not charge for assessing your application or awarding QTS.

Who is eligible

To apply, you must be a qualified teacher who trained to teach outside of England in one of the eligible countries. You must also meet all the following assessment criteria.

You must have:

  • an undergraduate degree equal to a UK bachelor’s degree
  • completed teacher training equal to a level 6 qualification
  • completed all mandatory induction processes to gain full teacher registration in the country where you qualified
  • been recognised as a professional teacher in the country where you qualified, and have no conditions or restrictions on your teaching practice
  • qualifications to show you can teach children aged anywhere between 5 and 16 years old
  • at least one school year (9 months) of experience employed as a teacher in any country, but must be from after you first became qualified to teach

Depending on the country that you trained to teach in, you may be required to have:

  • qualifications to show you can teach children aged anywhere between 11 and 16 years old
  • a teaching specialism in one of the following subjects: maths, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, or Spanish

If you trained in England or Wales, or have not yet qualified, learn more about other routes to getting QTS.

If you’ve already started your application using this service, you can sign in to continue working on it.