Home secretary James Cleverly has this week set out plans to curb legal immigration, including an increase to the amount “skilled workers” need to earn to move here from overseas.
The plans sparked intense speculation over whether the new rules could worsen the teacher recruitment “catastrophe” by making it harder for schools to recruit from abroad.
The Home Office then clarified that those on a “national pay scale”, such as teachers, would be exempt.
However, not all teachers are part of a national pay scale.
So, what do the changes mean for schools wishing to recruit teachers from abroad, or teachers looking to move to the UK? Here is what we know so far.
Are teachers covered by the earnings threshold rise?
To qualify for a skilled worker visa, individuals must currently have a job that is on a list of eligible occupations - which includes teaching - and earn above £26,200.
They must work for a UK employer approved by the Home Office and have a certificate of sponsorship from their employer.
But from spring, the earnings threshold for skilled workers is set to rise to £38,700. The same amount will apply for those wishing to bring partners and close relatives to the UK under a “family visa”, up from £18,600.
The Home Office has said that the move will encourage businesses to look to British workers first and invest in their workforce, while deterring employers from over-relying on migration.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Cleverly said that the package would equate to around 300,000 fewer people migrating to the UK.
Teacher starting salaries are now £30,000 in England, sparking concern that the earnings threshold rise will hinder recruitment from overseas.
However, a clarification by the Home Office suggested that workers on “national pay scales” - for example, teachers - would be exempt from the increase to the salary threshold for skilled worker visas.
This, in turn, led to questions over whether it would apply to teachers working for academies that are not part of the national pay scale.
Tes understands it is expected that teachers in academies, as well as in maintained schools, will be exempt from the increase to the salary threshold for skilled worker visas.
Will all teachers be exempt?
The Home Office is still waiting for further details to be agreed on which types of teachers will be included in its final list of exemptions.
For example, the list of occupations eligible for a skilled worker visa has separate codes for “primary and nursery” and “secondary” education teaching professionals.
The same is true for “further” and “special needs” education teaching professionals, as well as “senior professionals” (including primary headteachers).
This means that not all teachers across all phases will necessarily be exempt from the new earnings threshold as the details are still being ironed out.
What if you are a British teacher and want to bring a loved one to the UK?
Under the new rules, a “sponsoring partner” - who could be a British teacher - and/or the applicant, if the applicant is in the UK with permission to work, must have an income of £38,700 earned in the UK.
However, the government has said that this amount can include savings and, with permission to work in the UK, could be made up of the sponsor and applicant’s joint income.
The minimum income required for a migrant seeking to bring a spouse or dependant to the UK - for example, someone who has come from abroad to teach in the UK - on a family visa will also increase to £38,700, up from £18,600.
However, the government has made it clear that partners could apply for a skilled worker visa in their own right. And the prime minister said on Tuesday that foreign nationals are able to apply for student visas.
He added: “The family immigration rules contain a provision for exceptional circumstances where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child or another family member if their application were to be refused.”
International teacher trainee applications soar
The latest move follows a huge increase in the number of international candidates applying to initial teacher training (ITT) providers.
Figures from the Department for Education published at the end of last month revealed a 300 per cent rise in teacher training applicants from overseas year on year.
The rise followed the launch of a new pilot scheme this autumn to offer non-UK trainees and teachers of languages and physics £10,000 to relocate to England.
School leaders ‘relieved’ by teacher exemptions
Dan Moynihan, chief executive of Harris Federation, said it was a “relief” that teachers would be exempt from the government’s new immigration rules “in the face of a huge shortage of trained teachers in the UK”.
But Mr Moynihan said that recruiting teachers from abroad could “only be one part of the solution and more needs to be done to attract people from the UK into the teaching profession and encourage them to stay within the education sector”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was “obviously relieved that the Home Office has said that teachers will be exempted from this increase”.
“Schools and colleges are experiencing such severe pressures on recruitment and retention that it is vital to ensure that nothing is done to make that situation potentially more difficult,” he said.
And Vic Goddard, co-principal of Passmores Academy in Harlow, said that while “the devil is in the detail”, he was “relieved that the government has not made their catastrophe of recruiting teachers even harder”.
