Routes into QTS

[RedRedRose]

I have been subject teaching overseas in China for going on six years. I have been fortunate for the last two years to be teaching a British curriculum at a bilingual school here. I have put together a teaching programme and kids are getting favourable results on an externally-assessed course.

The minimum requirements to teach were: a degree, and a TEFL programme. So, I started on a low-rung, however, along the way, I have done a PGCE-equivalent course and a shed-load of stuff for different assessment bodies. Yet, none of this bestowed QTS.

I am caught now between either moving to another Asian country or returning home to the UK to consider teaching there, however, I am greatly hindered by not having QTS.

Does anyone know of any ESL teachers who took up teaching upon return to the UK? How were they integrated? How was their past experience taken into account?
Does anyone have any experience of the Assessment only Route into QTS? Or, alternative routes into obtaining it?
Are there any major hurdles I should be considering before teaching in the UK?

 

[RedRedRose]

Nobody?

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Sorry only know the route for adult education.

For FE it is QTLS

QTLS - Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills | Society for Education and Training

QTLS helps advance your career and demonstrates your commitment to excellence in Further Education and training.

set.et-foundation.co.uk

I believe QTLS is meant to be considered equivalent but I don't know if schools really accept is as such.


Also I never actually got it as it was a mess when it started out and I've basically been at the same job since it got improved.

I am now considering going directly to getting ATS but that cost something like £700 and would give me additional workload

 

[RedRedRose]

Useful all the same, thanks SS

This caught my eye, but it was a case of whether it was worth doing in the UK

Assessment only route to QTS | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK

Find out about the assessment only route to qualified teacher status (QTS) for unqualified teachers who have worked in a classroom.

getintoteaching.education.gov.uk

 

[Nikkormat]

I am caught now between either moving to another Asian country or returning home to the UK to consider teaching there, however, I am greatly hindered by not having QTS.

Are these the desired options, or would you consider countries outside Asia and other than the UK?

I teach in a British international school (with similar qualifications to Shippou-Sensei) and have several colleagues with PGCE international equivalents, without QTS. I get the impression it depends very much on the particular school. As you know though, the UK is another matter.

 

[May Kasahara]

AO is decent, plenty of providers to choose from. No personal experience but the schools in my trust put staff through it every year with good results.

QTLS has legal parity of status with QTS, following recommendations set out by the Wolf report. Unfortunately SET (the awarding body) are absolutely awful. I can't recommend QTLS as a robust professional formation process, because I don't think it is in any way robust or professional. It also isn't recognised internationally, and it isn't a lifetime award like QTS - you have to maintain your SET membership (with annual paid dues) in order to retain the letters, if you stop paying you lose your QTLS.

 

[RedRedRose]

would you consider countries outside Asia and other than the UK?

I am married with a child. Asia is possibly the easiest to negotiate. There is also the fact that some British schools in Malaysia / Singapore / Thailand are considered the golden ticket for international teachers.

 

[chilango]

Worth bearing in mind that Independent Schools (and iirc Academies) can employ "unqualified" teachers as they wish.

The lack of QTS might not bother them if you are the right fit otherwise...and - of course - they can pay you less. There are pay scales for unqualified teachers, but there's no obligation to follow them (again iirc).

 

[Nikkormat]

I am married with a child. Asia is possibly the easiest to negotiate. There is also the fact that some British schools in Malaysia / Singapore / Thailand are considered the golden ticket for international teachers.

That makes sense. Asia is way ahead on pay and conditions.

 

[zedr]

Worth bearing in mind that Independent Schools (and iirc Academies) can employ "unqualified" teachers as they wish.

The lack of QTS might not bother them if you are the right fit otherwise...and - of course - they can pay you less. There are pay scales for unqualified teachers, but there's no obligation to follow them (again iirc).

Academies and Free Schools in England (not sure about Wales) can hire unqualified teachers but many do not. However with the current recruitment crisis (anecdotally) more and more are hiring ppl without qts. RedRedRose, it sounds like you'd be in a good position as one of the things stopping these schools hiring ppl without qts is the extra workload mentoring and training someone comes with, which would likely be much reduced with yr experience.

One of Starmer's education pledges (lol) is to stop this being possible, but obviously that's not gonna happen for a while (or ever).

 

[RedRedRose]

I reached out to some of the QTS training providers and a few said they would do face-to-face observations overseas, but I would need to pay for flights and accommodation on top of the training fees. Which would cost me an arm and a leg.

I have also put my name down on a UK recruitment website and started to get interest. I think at this stage, talking to a school and getting interview experience would be great. Especially, if they can give feedback on career progression etc.

 

[shambler]

For the UK:

I think, if you chose an academy which also trains teachers through SCITT - which many of them do now - you might be able to negotiate pay based on your experience. You would then still need to undergo the usual SCITT assessment, but, assuming a supportive department and good SLT (possibly a big assumption) this mightn't be too difficult. You may find that many of the usual trainee problems, planning, assessment, behavior etc are much less of a problem or no problem at all. So as long as you can bear the paperwork, some boring and possibly substandard training and a fair bit of observation, you would have QTS. Sadly, I think the full period is three years now. Potentially you might be able to negotiate that too. Either way, you would still be able to move schools easily after the first year, and apply for jobs with newly qualified status.

 

[RedRedRose]

SCITT sounds like beginning from ground zero. I mean it's called 'initial', furthermore, I have a PGCE, its just mine was specifically tailored towards the international education setting and giving support to speakers of other languages.

At the minute, its looking like I could literally pay around 6k plus and spend 12 weeks working through a QTS programme overseas.

So as long as you can bare the paperwork, some boring and possibly substandard training and a fair bit of observation, you would have QTS. Sadly, I think the full period is three years now.

Also, what element is three years?

 

[chilango]

1 year training plus 2 years as NQT (or ECT or whatever they call it now) prior to QTS being awarded.

 

[shambler]

SCITT sounds like beginning from ground zero. I mean it's called 'initial', furthermore, I have a PGCE, its just mine was specifically tailored towards the international education setting and giving support to speakers of other languages.

At the minute, its looking like I could literally pay around 6k plus and spend 12 weeks working through a QTS programme overseas.


Also, what element is three years?

Yeah, it does sound like ground zero. But if you negotiated pay so that you were on higher than starting (which has gone up a fair bit recently too), and if you negotiated the assessment period from three years to two (by demonstrating that you have a PGCE equivalent qualification), then it wouldn't be so bad.

I'm just trying to suggest a route that I know about. There may well be a better one, and I may well be showing the kind of rigidity of thinking typified by English academies.

 

[maomao]

I was at the very top of the unqualified teachers' pay scale at a large academy chain while I finished off the written work on my PGCE and it paid less than the bottom of the qualified teachers payscale.

 

[Thora]

Would you be prepared to come back to the UK for a year and find a job as an unqualified teacher (in a private or academy school) and do the QTS assessment only route?
I don't know if schools with lots of international or EAL students sometimes employ TEFL teachers.

 

[RedRedRose]

Would you be prepared to come back to the UK for a year and find a job as an unqualified teacher (in a private or academy school) and do the QTS assessment only route?

This is one possibility open to me, but my daughter has just turned nursery age, so I wouldn't want to disrupt her too much. Yet, I am thinking a move to England is more than likely on the cards in the next two years, but that needs my wife's serious input.

 

[SpookyFrank]

1 year training plus 2 years as NQT (or ECT or whatever they call it now) prior to QTS being awarded.

If you do a PGCE you get the QTS before your two ECT years.

 

[RedRedRose]

School Direct (salaried)

This route allows you to learn ‘on the job’ and earn a salary while you train towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). It’s an employment-based route for high quality graduates, typically with at least three years’ transferable work history. While the majority of School Direct training programmes...

www.ucas.com

Anyone encountered this before?

 

[May Kasahara]

Anyone encountered this before?

I work with a few people who've qualified this way.

 

[RedRedRose]

Do divulge...

 

[May Kasahara]

Not much to say really - good teachers, no issues reported with it (although we haven't had deliberate discussion about it iyswim, I'm just aware that that's the route they took).