Overseas Trained Teacher Programme

Once you have found a teaching position in a school, the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP) will provide you with your own individual training and assessment programme which will ultimately lead to your qualification to teach in England permanently.

Read more about overseas trained teachers

What qualifications do you need?

You must first be qualified as a teacher overseas and working as an unqualified teacher in a school in England.

In addition, if you qualified outside the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need:

• a qualification equivalent to a UK bachelors degree
• a qualification equivalent to GCSE grade C or above in mathematics and English, and
• if you intend to teach primary or key stage 2/3 (ages 7-14), you must also have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C in a GCSE science subject.

Visit the National Academic Recognition Centre (NARIC) website to find out whether your qualifications are of an equivalent level to UK GCSEs, A-levels and an undergraduate degree.

If you qualified as a teacher in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, another country in the EEA or Switzerland, you may be eligible for qualified teacher status (QTS) without further assessment. You will need to contact the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) to have your qualifications assessed.

How long does the OTTP take?

The length of the programme will depend on the extent of additional training you need. However, the longest you can spend on the programme is one year full-time.

If you feel you skills and experience are sufficient to meet all the QTS standards with minimal further training, you may apply for the assessment-based OTTP.

Is there any additional funding available?

If you need to undertake a programme of additional training the TDA will cover the costs (up to a value of £1,250) as well as for your final assessment against the QTS standards. Your school will continue to pay your salary.

How do you apply?

Once you have a teaching post and you have established that you have all the necessary qualifications, you should apply directly to an EBITT provider in your area. They will assess and approve your application, discussing your training needs with you as necessary. If resident in Wales, you may be eligible to join an employment-based route towards QTS. For more information call the Teaching Information Line.

When should you apply?

There are no deadlines for the OTTP although it is up to EBITT providers to establish start dates for programmes. 

OTTP four-year rule

The four-year rule for overseas trained teachers (OTTs) states that you can teach for up to four years before you have to be awarded QTS. The four years starts from the first day that you teach in a mainstream school in England, and includes any time out of service.

Currently the four-year rule states that as long as an OTT is on a programme leading to the award of QTS they can be awarded QTS, even if they have been teaching in England for four years or more as an unqualified teacher. Such programmes have to be completed by the end of August 2008.

If the school is unable to fill a vacancy, it is possible to advertise it as an instructor role. Overseas trained teachers employed as instructors are able to access the OTTP, as long as their programme is completed by the end of August 2008.

From August 2007, it will no longer be possible for OTTs without QTS to continue teaching after four years under any other circumstances.

Those teachers for whom this rule applies will need to complete a programme such as a flexible PGCE to gain QTS, or gain employment in an independent school to continue teaching.

Find out more about the OTTP four-year rule