The Department for Education has clarified the position of Irish trained teachers in relation to statutory induction in England.
The following has been agreed with the Teaching Council in Ireland:
- Teachers from Ireland who have full registration as they have completed an induction with the Teaching Council in Ireland (TCI) and who wish to apply to work in England can apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). They are exempt from completing an induction period.
- Teachers from Ireland who only have conditional registration with the TCI as they have not completed induction are not eligible for QTS. As they do not have QTS they are not eligible for statutory induction and therefore not eligible for the associated funding.
- This has always been the case, and ‘shadow’ inductions in the past have not been organised with the involvement of the Department for Education in England. With the introduction of the ECF the TCI has updated its procedures and going forward will only recognise induction processes that are formally recognised by relevant competent authorities.
- In April 2021, the TCI advised all final year student teachers to seek specific advice if they intend to work overseas with a view to completing a recognised induction process.
- Teachers from Ireland with conditional registration status can work as a teacher in England without QTS. They can teach without QTS for up to four years in a maintained school, and for an unlimited period in an academy, free school, or private school, although without QTS they will not be eligible for induction.
- To gain their full registration in Ireland, a teacher with conditional registration status can complete Droichead, the formal induction process in Ireland. The TCI will also recognise formal induction processes completed in other countries where they are recognised by the competent authority.
- If they do wish to gain QTS in the future, their main options would be to:
- once they have two years of experience, they can apply for QTS via the assessment only route to QTS
- gain their full registration in Ireland and then apply for QTS
Further guidance on the routes to QTS for non-UK teachers is available on Gov.uk