The United Kingdom through the Department of Education is offering teaching opportunities to teachers in Nigeria and other countries abroad. This is part of the United Kingdom education department's effort to develop a better approach to awarding qualified teacher status (QTS) to teachers from overseas.
What is QTS?
Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement for teachers who are trained to teach outside of England and who want to apply to teach in English schools.
The qualified teacher status gives the Teaching Regulations Agency (TRA) in the UK access to the teacher training and experience you gained outside of England which helps them to decide whether you’re qualified to teach in English schools.
However, you are not guaranteed a job because you have QTS and it doesn't give you the right to work in England. You’ll still need to apply for a teaching job separately and acquire the correct visa to be able to work in the UK.
Eligibility for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
In other to apply for the qualified teacher status there are a few criteria you have to meet:
1 You must have a teaching qualification that was completed in your home country.
2. You must have a university (undergraduate) degree: could include your teaching qualification or could be a degree in another subject.
3. You must be qualified to teach children between the ages of 11 to 16 years.
4. You must have a teaching or degree qualification that enables you to teach one of the following subjects:
Math
Science
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Mandarin
Russian
Spanish
5. You must have teaching experience of one-year (a minimum of nine months).
6. You must have teaching records with no sanctions, restrictions, penalties, or instances of misconduct.
Documents you need to prepare for the QTS application:
* Proof of identity
* Proof of qualification
* Proof of English proficiency
* Proof that you're recognized as a teacher
* Proof of work history
Proof of identity
You must provide one of the following:
Valid passport
*:Birth certificate
* Valid national identity card with your date of birth and nationality
If you have different names on your proof of identity and any other documents, you need to provide evidence of your name change (a marriage certificate or name change deed).
Proof of qualifications
You must hold a teaching qualification that’s equivalent to a UK ‘level 6’ or higher.
What is UK ‘Level 6’?
Level 6 qualifications are:
* Degree apprenticeship
* Degree with honors [bachelor of the arts (BA) Hons, bachelor of science (BSc) hons]
* Graduate certificate
* Graduate Diploma
* Level 6 award
* Level 6 certificate
* Level 6 Diploma
* Level 6 NVQ
* Ordinary degree without honors
To prove that you have these qualifications, you will have to provide:
* A certificate
* A transcript (or diploma supplement)
What is a transcript?
A transcript is a document from the institution where you studied with the list of all the subjects you studied each year, and the grades you acquired.
National Certificate in Education (NCE) or the Teachers Certificate Grade II from Nigeria do not meet the required level and therefore will not be accepted.
You must be qualified to teach children aged 11 - 16 in one of these subjects:
Maths, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish.
You’ll need to provide evidence that you have one of the following:
* Bachelor of Education or Postgraduate Diploma that specifically qualifies you to teach one of the subjects listed.
* A degree that at least 50% of your major covers at least one of the subjects listed.
Proof of English proficiency
There are ways to prove your English language ability.
Provide an approved English language certificate. You will need a B2 level Secure English Language Test (SELT) from one of these approved providers:
* IELTS SELT Consortium
* LanguageCert
* Pearson
* PSI Services (UK) Ltd
* Trinity College London
The test must be awarded within the last 2 years before the date of your application.
Find an approved provider if you need to get an English language certificate.
Proof that you’re recognized as a teacher
This involves providing a Letter of Professional Standing from the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
You can request this letter by sending an email to LoPs@trcn.gov.ng. They, the TRCN will send the documents for you to the Teaching Regulations Agency as you cannot send them yourself. This must be dated within 3 months of your applying for QTS.
Proof of work history
You will have to provide evidence of employment as a teacher in a school for 1 school year (9 months of active teaching time) or more. You will submit the name and email address of a referee who can confirm that during your period of employment, you worked unsupervised with children aged between 5 and 16 years, and you were responsible for planning, preparing, and delivering lessons to at least 4 students at a time and you were responsible for assessing and reporting on the progress of those students.
If you are a teacher with more than 1 year of experience but less than 2 years, you have to complete a 2-year ‘statutory induction’ period as a newly qualified teacher.