Applying for qualified teacher status (QTS) from 1 January 2021
How to get qualified teacher status to teach in England if you’re from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
New rules for January 2021
The UK has left the EU, and the transition period after Brexit comes to an end this year.
This page tells you what you’ll need to do from 1 January 2021. It will be updated if anything changes.
For current information, read: Qualified teacher status (QTS): qualify to teach in England
You can also read about the transition period.
Recognition of teaching qualifications from 1 January 2021
You will still be able to apply for qualified teacher status (QTS) in England if you qualified as a teacher in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, but the process is changing.
From 1 January 2021, teachers who qualified in any of these countries applying for QTS will need to provide a letter of professional standing. The letter will need to be from the organisation responsible for regulating teachers in the country in which you qualified. This will allow DfE to validate your qualification.
The letter should:
- confirm that you are recognised as a qualified teacher in any EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland
- show you are not subject to any restrictions in that country
- be dated within the 3 months prior to your application
Partial QTS
From 1 January 2021 we will not consider applications for partial QTS from teachers qualified in EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
Instead you will need to apply for full QTS in order to take up a qualified teacher post in a special school or to teach pupils in a specialist unit in mainstream schools.
Last updated 2 October 2020 + show all updates