The Department for Education has announced plans for a pilot of the iQTS teaching qualification to start next year, as it seeks to broaden the opportunity for initial teacher training (ITT) providers to operate overseas.
The international qualified teacher status (iQTS) qualification was first announced in February 2021 and, after feedback from industry on the proposals, the DfE announced in September plans to push ahead with the rollout.
Now it has outlined its plans to start the pilot in September 2022, in order to gauge how effectively it can be delivered on a global basis, prior to a possible complete rollout in September 2023.
The aim for the pilot is for five ITT providers to take part in delivering the training, which will be done through a mix of remote teaching, in-school placements with approved international schools and feedback from mentors and assessment.
Providers must already be accredited to deliver ITT leading to QTS in England, while applicants must meet minimum criteria to take part, such as having an equivalent bachelor’s degree and an equivalent grade 4 in GCSE maths.
Teacher training: Pilot scheme for new iQTS qualification
The DfE said it will not provide any funding to those wishing to take part in the pilot and that providers will be free to set their own application processes and course fees.
However, providers will have to adhere to the Teachers’ Standards when training teachers under iQTS and the ITT core content framework.
Those wishing to undertake the iQTS can either be UK citizens working abroad who wish to become a teacher or non-UK citizens who want to gain sufficient qualifications to work as a teacher in either an international school or move to the UK to work in education.
The government has also said that it will bring about a change in the law to allow the DfE to approve someone with iQTS to work in England as a teacher with QTS.
“iQTS will be recognised as equivalent to QTS by DfE, subject to the will of Parliament, via an amendment to regulations. This means that iQTS holders will be able to apply to gain QTS in order to teach in England,” the government’ stated.
Furthermore, anyone with iQTS who wishes to convert it to QTS to teach in England will need to complete an induction period in either a “DfE-accredited British School Overseas (BSO) or in a relevant school in England”.
The deadline to apply to take part in the pilot is 15 December, with the successful ITT providers due to be announced in January.
Schools minister Robin Walker said the pilot was a key step forward for the government’s aims of helping to spread England’s teaching standards across the world.
“We are proud to have some of the world’s finest teachers in this country, and we want more teachers from other countries to have the opportunity to benefit from that high-quality training,” he said.
“This exciting new international qualification offers our top teacher training providers lots of opportunities to expand across the world, and furthers our mission help all young people get a great start in life.”
The move will likely be welcomed by international schools, which have said such a qualification could help to meet the rising demand for qualified teachers in overseas schools as the sector continues to grow.
This would also help to broaden the diversity of teachers in international schools so they have a staff cohort that is more representative of the nation in which the school is based.
“iQTS [would] mean talented local graduates would be on an equal footing when applying for a job alongside a teacher from the UK,” Council of British International Schools CEO Colin Bell said earlier this year, when discussing iQTS.
