Recruiting international teachers guide

Information for employers

1. Check the rules on visas and immigration

International applicants for teaching jobs will likely need a visa or other immigration status allowing them to work in the UK. This includes those from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Non-UK citizens who have completed initial teacher training in England will also need a visa or other immigration status giving them the right to work.

Applicants already have the right to work in the UK if they:

are Irish citizens
have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

International applicants who do not need to be sponsored

Applicants with the following visa or immigration status will not need to be sponsored, at least initially:

British National (Overseas) visa (Individuals and their families, who are from Hong Kong and are a British national (overseas))
Family visa(Applies to dependants - individuals who have permission to live in the UK as a dependent (usually partner) of someone on a visa will not need to be sponsored. They can work without a sponsor for the duration of their partner's visa.
High Potential Individual visa(similar rules to the graduate visa route below but the individual's qualification will have been awarded outside of the UK. There is a list of eligible non-UK HE providers that apply to this visa)
India Young Professionals Scheme visa(time limited to 2 years)
UK Ancestry visa(time limited to 5 years, but can extend another 5 years or apply for indefinite leave to remain)
Youth Mobility Scheme visa(time limited and niche eligibility requirements)

All other applicants will need a visa to work as a teacher. The two most common routes (other less common routes are listed above) are detailed below:

Graduate visa, international teacher trainees can apply for a graduate visa, immediately following the end of their studies and student visa. This allows the individual to work in the UK for up to 2 years following the end of their studies. The graduate visa must be funded by the trainee themselves and there is no need to have a job offer or employer sponsor.

Less admin burden on you as the employer
More time for you to apply for the skilled worker visa, whilst the individual works for you under their graduate visa (up to 2 years - no opportunity to extend)
No initial visa cost to you as an employer
PGCE students should be able to meet the criteria for gaining a graduate visa as long as they have achieved their PGCE in the UK with a Home Office recognised HE provider.
It is not indefinite leave to remain, the visa only enables the individual to work for 2 years maximum (3 years if they have a PhD) a skilled worker visa must be obtained before the graduate visa runs out if the individual is to continue working in the job role and remain in the UK.
You will still need to become a skilled worker route sponsor in time for a skilled worker visa to take over at the point the graduate visa ends.
The graduate has to foot the bill for the visa plus an annual health surcharge fee (currently £1,035 per year - Feb 2025). This may not be an affordable route for your candidate.

In essence this route buys you time to work through the admin processes and collate the funds for a skilled worker visa.

Skilled worker visa, which you as their employer must sponsor. Sponsors must have a 'worker licence', sometimes referred to as an 'employer licence'.

Your school or organisation may already be a licensed worker sponsor. Check the register of licensed sponsors: workers.

If you're not already a sponsor, you can either apply to become a sponsor, or recruit applicants who don't need to be sponsored. You can refer to UK visa sponsorship for employers to learn more about how to become a licensed worker sponsor.

To become a licensed worker sponsor, you will need to:

show you're suitable to be a sponsor
appoint a member of staff to manage the sponsorship process
supply supporting documents
pay your licence fees
meet your responsibilities as a sponsor

2. Check visa and immigration charges

The cost of international recruitment that involves sponsorship depends on the size of your school and is made up of the following charges:

Skilled worker licenceThis costs from £536 to £1,476, depending on the size of your school and whether it is a registered charity, and is paid every 4 years. It covers all teachers recruited in that period.

Certificate of sponsorship feeThis is a one-off payment of £239 for each teacher sponsored and is only paid again if the visa needs to be renewed.

Immigration skills charge (ISC)This costs from £364 to £1,000, depending on the size of your school and whether it is a registered charity. It is paid upfront for each year of a teacher's visa (unless they are switching from a student visa).

Total costsFor example, a small school employing their first international teacher on a 2-year visa would need to pay £1,503, consisting of:

£536 sponsor licence
£239 certificate of sponsorship
2 amounts of the £364 immigration skills charges

Multi-academy trusts are charged a single fee for each skilled worker licence (not a fee per school within the trust).

Visa fees are paid to the Home Office. You will pay:

the licence fee when you make your sponsorship application
the certificate of sponsorship fee and ISC when you assign a certificate of sponsorship to each teacher prior to their visa application

For more information about costs, visit UK visa sponsorship for employers.

3. Advertise your teaching job

(if you have already advertised your job and have selected an international candidate then go straight to section 6).

You can use Education Job Finder and Teaching Vacancies to advertise teaching jobs and other school roles to applicants from all over the world.

When you create a job listing, make it clear that you:

are offering skilled worker visa sponsorship for the role or;
would be willing to apply for a sponsorship licence to sponsor a candidate

You can recruit international teaching staff for any subject and most age ranges, as well as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioners. If you are struggling to recruit and/or want to increase the diversity of your teaching staff, it can be another good source of talent for shortage subject, or any, teaching positions. Additionally, ITT providers have international teacher trainees on their cohorts, so you could consider an international ECT.

To attract high-quality international applicants, you should be clear that English schools require teachers with qualities beyond academic excellence and subject knowledge, for example:

the ability to offer pastoral care
an appreciation of the ethos of your school
communication skills
willingness to participate in the extra-curricular life of the school

4. International relocation payments

The international relocation payment (IRP) incentivises non-UK teachers of Languages and Physics to come to the UK by helping with relocation expenses. It can therefore be used as a marketing tool to recruit to those subjects internationally.

The IRP is made up of two £5,000 payments from the Department for Education (DfE) which do not need to be paid back. Teachers can apply to DfE for the first payment once they have secured a job and arrived in the UK. They can apply for the second payment at the start of their second year of employment, if they are still eligible. DfE then contacts the relevant school to check their employment status.

Learn more about international relocation payments.

5. Shortlist and interview

Many schools now shortlist international candidates for potential employment using remote working technology (where the applicant isn't currently in the UK e.g. on a student visa).

You can:

set written tasks for candidates
ask to see lesson plans
request a video portfolio of applicants' teaching practice
talk to referees over a video conferencing service like Zoom

6. Make a conditional offer and check suitability

Any applicant you wish to employ will need a job offer from you before they apply for their skilled worker visa. All skilled workers need a minimum of 70 points to gain permission to enter and remain. Primary and secondary teaching roles are categorised as skilled occupations and are eligible for salary points under Option K 'Eligible health or education occupation code'. This provides 20 points towards the total of 70. The total points are made up of the individual having the following:

Applicants can apply up to 3 months before they start work in the UK as long as:

Mandatory:

you as their employer are a licensed worker sponsor and you have offered them a job and provided them with a valid certificate of sponsorship (CoS) (20 points) and;
the job must be in aneligible occupation, assigned an occupation code (20 points). Primary teachers (2314) secondary teachers (2313)
they have met the English language requirements for a skilled worker visa(10 points) and;

Tradeable:

their role pays at least £23,200, or the relevant minimum rate for teachers in England, whichever is higher. For primary and secondary teacher roles thisis option Kunder the salary part of the points requirements. (20 points) or;
any part-time role pays at least £23,200 when the relevant minimum rate for teachers in England is pro-rated. For primary and secondary teacher roles this isoption Kunder the salary part of the points requirements (20 points) and;
They genuinely intend and be able to do the role and not intend to take employment other than in the role for which they are being sponsored ('the genuineness requirement') and the role meets the National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Regulations and;
They have enough funds to support themselves and their family members in the UK ('the financial requirement').

7. Safeguarding checks

Individuals who have lived or worked outside the UK must undergo the same checks as all other staff in schools. They should also undergo additional checks related to international recruitment and training.

Follow the statutory guidance in part 3 of keeping children safe in education.
EducationHR's model recruitment and selection policy tells you what additional checks international recruits should undergo.

Qualification requirements for international teachers

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement in maintained schools in England. The majority of teachers in academies and free schools also have QTS*

NB. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill may require all new teachers entering the classroom to have QTS or be working towards it and have completed a statutory induction period. Please keep an eye on these potential changes.

*The 4-year rule exemption

International applicants do not need QTS to teach in maintained schools in England for the first 4 years of their stay in the UK, an exemption known as the '4-year rule'.

In academies and free schools, there is no legal requirement for teachers to hold QTS, at any point in their employment.

Click here for further information regarding the 4-year rule

If you are employing a teacher without QTS, including under the 4-year rule, note their salary will have to meet the minimum requirement for a skilled worker visa, which is slightly higher than an unqualified teacher's minimum pay (outside London).

Click here to find out more about how a non-UK teacher can be awarded QTS