Overseas Trained Teachers – Supply Teaching in England

by Sharon Wood

Overseas trained teachers can work in England as supply teachers. This article tries to clarify the process, and point you in the direction of further information. SupplyBag.co.uk has a wealth of information and resources for supply teachers.

There are different rules applicable depending on whether you qualified within the European Union or not. If you qualified as a teacher inside the EU, then you can apply for and gain a teaching contract in England in much the same way as a teacher who qualified in England. Obviously your fluency in English will be taken into consideration at interview.

If you qualified outside the European Economic Area, you can only work as an unqualified teacher, and then only for up to four years. Working as an unqualified teacher means considerably less income! As of 2007, the pay is roughly half of a qualified teacher’s pay. Starting at a little over £14,000 at the low end of the pay scale throughout England and Wales, it rises to just over £27,000 at the top of the pay scale in Inner London.

Overseas Trained Teachers - Supply Teaching

Teachers trained overseas can work in the UK… eventually!

However, once you have found a position as an unqualified teacher, you can join the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP) which will help you gain qualified status in England.

The OTTP lasts for up to a year, depending on your needs, and provides you with training and assessment opportunities to ensure you meet the requirements to gain qualified teacher status (QTS) and therefore the ability to teach in England with full pay.

For further information, visit The Training and Development Agency for Schools and TeacherNet.