GovWire

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.

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

• are Irish citizens
• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

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.

Graduate visa

International students in the UK can apply for a graduate visa on successful completion of their degree.

To apply, theyll need to have been sponsored by an eligible Home Office licensed student sponsor over the course of their studies.

The graduate visa allows holders to work, or look for work, in the UK for up to 2 years after completing their studies (3 years for PhD students) without a sponsor.

This includes:

• working as a teacher
• training to teach on a salaried course or through a teaching apprenticeship

They can switch from a graduate visa to another visa (such as the skilled worker visa) without having to leave the UK if they meet the requirements for their new visa.

High potential individual visa

To be eligible for a high potential individual visa, teachers must:

• have a Bachelors degree, Masters degree or PhD from a university listed in the global universities list
• have been awarded their qualification no more than 5 years before they apply
• have English language skills to B1 intermediate level
• have personal funds of 1,270
• pass a security and criminality check

They do not need an offer of a teaching job to apply for this visa and theyll be able to stay in the UK for 2 years with a Bachelors or Masters degree, and 3 years with a PhD.

Youth mobility scheme visa

The youth mobility scheme allows young people from certain countries to come to the UK each year to study or work without a sponsoring educational institution or sponsoring employer. This includes working as a teacher.

A youth mobility scheme visa lasts up to 2 years. Holders can switch from the youth mobility scheme visa to another visa (such as the skilled worker visa) without having to leave the UK if they meet the requirements for their new visa.

Family, UK Ancestry and British National (Overseas) visas

Applicants with the following types of visa will not need to be sponsored:

• Family visas

• UK Ancestry visa

• British National (Overseas) visa

Dependents

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

2. Check visa and immigration charges

The cost of international recruitment 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 is paid every 4 years. It covers all teachers recruited in that period.

Certificate of sponsorship fee

This is a one-off payment of 199 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 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 is likely to incur a one-off payment of 735 (536 + 199) plus an annual fee of 364.

Multi academy trusts are charged a single fee (not a fee per school within the trust).

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

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 that teacher prior to their visa application

3. Advertise your teaching job

You can use Teaching Vacancies service 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 and education support staff from overseas for any subject or age range, as well as SEND practitioners.

To attract high-quality overseas applicants, you should be clear 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
• soft and communication skills
• willingness to participate in the extra-curricular life of the school

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 