GovWire

Guidance: Recruit teachers from overseas

Department For Education

December 20
14:43 2023

1. Check the rules on visas and immigration

Applicants for teaching jobs from overseas need a visa or other immigration status allowing them to work in the UK. This includes those from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Non-UK citizens who have completed initial teacher training in England will also need a visa or other immigration status giving them the right to work.

Applicants already have the right to work in the UK if they:

Most other applicants will need a skilled worker visa, which their employer must sponsor. The sponsor can be the school where they work, the local authority, or an academy trust. Sponsors must have a worker licence, sometimes referred to as an employer licence.

Your school or organisation may already be a licensed worker sponsor. Check the register of licensed sponsors: workers.

If youre not already a sponsor, you can either apply to become a sponsor, or recruit applicants who dont need to be sponsored.

Apply to become a licensed worker sponsor

You can refer to UK visa sponsorship for employers to learn more about how to become a licensed worker sponsor.

To become a licensed worker sponsor, you will need to:

  • show youre suitable to be a sponsor
  • appoint a member of staff to manage the sponsorship process
  • supply supporting documents
  • pay your licence fees
  • meet your responsibilities as a sponsor

Recruit applicants who dont need to be sponsored

Applicants with the following visa or immigration status will not need to be sponsored.

Dependents

People who have permission to live in the UK as a dependent (usually partner) of someone on a visa will not need to be sponsored. They can work without a sponsor for the duration of their partners visa.

2. Check visa and immigration charges

You will not pay any fees to recruit someone with a visa or immigration status who does not require sponsorship.

The cost of international recruitment that involves sponsorship depends on the size of your school and is made up of the following charges.

Skilled worker licence

This costs from 536 to 1,476, depending on the size of your school and whether it is a registered charity, and is paid every 4 years. It covers all teachers recruited in that period.

Certificate of sponsorship fee

This is a one-off payment of 239 for each teacher sponsored and is only paid again if the visa needs to be renewed.

Immigration skills charge (ISC)

This costs from 364 to 1,000, depending on the size of your school and whether it is a registered charity. It is paid upfront for each year of a teachers visa (unless they are switching from a student visa).

Total costs

For example, a small school employing their first overseas teacher on a 2-year visa would need to pay 1,503, consisting of:

  • 536 sponsor licence
  • 239 certificate of sponsorship
  • 2 amounts of the 364 immigration skills charges

Multi-academy trusts are charged a single fee for each skilled worker licence (not a fee per school within the trust).

Visa fees are paid to the Home Office. You will pay:

  • the licence fee when you make your sponsorship application
  • the certificate of sponsorship fee and ISC when you assign a certificate of sponsorship to each teacher prior to their visa application

For more information about costs, visit UK visa sponsorship for employers.

You can use Teaching Vacancies to advertise teaching jobs and other school roles to applicants from all over the world. It is free to use for schools and applicants.

You can recruit teaching staff from overseas for any subject or age range, as well as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioners.

To attract high-quality overseas applicants, you should be clear that English schools require teachers with qualities beyond academic excellence and subject knowledge, for example:

  • the ability to offer pastoral care
  • an appreciation of the ethos of your school
  • communication skills
  • willingness to participate in the extra-curricular life of the school

You can use Teaching Vacancies to show if visa sponsorship is available for the role you are advertising. If you dont hold a sponsorship licence, you can indicate if you would be willing to apply for one to sponsor the right candidate.

International relocation payments

The international relocation payment (IRP) incentivises non-UK teachers of languages or physics to come to the UK by helping with relocation expenses. It can therefore be used as a marketing tool for schools recruiting in those subjects overseas.

The IRP is a single payment of 10,000 from the Department for Education (DfE) which does not need to be paid back. Teachers apply to DfE for the IRP once they have secured a job and arrived in the UK. DfE then contacts the relevant school to check their employment status.

Learn more about international relocation payments.

4. Shortlist and interview

Many schools now shortlist overseas candidates for potential employment using remote working technology.

You can:

  • set written tasks for candidates
  • ask to see lesson plans
  • request a video portfolio of applicants teaching practice
  • talk to referees over a video conferencing service like Zoom

Qualification requirements for teachers from overseas

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement in maintained schools in England. The majority of teachers in academies and free schools also have QTS.

The 4-year rule exemption

Overseas applicants do not need QTS to teach in maintained schools in England for the first 4 years of their stay in the UK, an exemption known as the 4-year rule.

In academies and free schools, there is no legal requirement for teachers to hold QTS, at any point in their employment.

To be eligible for the 4-year rule, the applicant will need to have:

  • qualified as a teacher in a country outside the UK
  • successfully completed a course of teacher training recognised by the organisation that regulates teachers in the country where they qualified

If you are employing a teacher without QTS, including under the 4-year rule, note their salary will have to meet the minimum requirement for a skilled worker visa, which is slightly higher than an unqualified teachers minimum pay outside London.

The 4-year rule exemption does not apply to:

  • pupil referral units (PRUs)
  • alternative provision academies
  • alternative provision free schools, where QTS is required from the beginn

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