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 and will never make job offers for teaching roles. To find a teaching job, you must apply to individual schools in England (opens in new tab).

How to apply for QTS

  1. Use this service to check if you’re eligible to apply for QTS.
  2. If you’re eligible, you’ll be able to submit an application.
  3. Each application will be assessed by a trained assessor.
  4. They will check all the information submitted.
  5. Some information may need verification by third parties.
  6. Once the assessment and all verifications have been completed, you’ll be told if you have been awarded QTS.

Your teaching qualifications and experience will be assessed against strict requirements. These requirements are mandatory and must be met in full. The process is designed to ensure we only award QTS to the highest quality teachers. This means it can take time.

We assess 90 per cent of applications within 12 months.

Information correct as of July 2024. Timelines are based on total applications completed since February 2023.

It may take longer if we need to ask for further information or if external factors, or third parties, cause delays. This includes waiting for references, or verification of qualifications or professional standing. The time it takes to assess applications is regularly reviewed and subject to change.

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.