Employing teachers from overseas: what you need to know

Last reviewed on 16 September 2021
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 37039

Find out how Brexit has changed your requirements when hiring teachers from overseas. See how these teachers can get qualified teacher status (QTS), and understand how to recruit them – by becoming a visa sponsor or by other routes.

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Contents

  1. Brexit: a new immigration system began on 1 January 2021  
  2. Required pre-recruitment and safeguarding checks 
  3. Recruit by becoming a visa sponsor: the Skilled Worker visa  
  4. How to recruit without becoming a visa sponsor 
  5. How teachers from overseas can get qualified teacher status (QTS) 
  6. Employing teachers without QTS: the ‘4-year rule’  
  7. Design a supportive induction to help them acclimatise 

This article is based on the DfE’s guidance on how schools can hire teachers from overseas. For guidance on hiring non-teaching staff from overseas, see this guidance.

Brexit: a new immigration system began on 1 January 2021  

The UK introduced this points-based system in January 2021.

All overseas nationals, including those from the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, come under it. Irish citizens can still freely enter, live and work in the UK. 

Successful applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme can bypass this

Any citizen of the EU, EEA or Switzerland who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020 could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. The deadline for most applications was 30 June 2021.

can show 'reasonable grounds' (such as medical reasons, or being the victim of domestic abuse) for not applying before the June 2021 deadline is joining a

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