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Overseas Trained Teachers
Overseas trained teachers are playing an increasingly important role in our schools. OTSA aims to support current and prospective overseas trained teachers and their employing schools.
Teach in England if you trained outside the UK
If you are already a qualified teacher, you do not need to retrain to teach in England. However, you will need:
- to apply for for English 'Qualified Teacher Status' (QTS) or be able to demonstrate strong non-UK qualifications and experience
- a high standard of written and spoken English
- to pass criminal and professional safeguarding checks (these will be organised by your employer)
- a visa or immigrations status allowing you to work in the UK
Visit the Department for Education 'Get Into Teaching' website to find out everything you need to know before making an application.
OTSA Overseas Trained Teacher Applicant Pool
This page is for Overseas Trained Teachers who want to work in an OTSA partner school.
Our partner schools in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire use the Applicant Pool to recruit teachers to their schools.
Register for OTSA Applicant Pool
When creating your profile as an overseas trained teacher, you should include the following information in the 'short biography' section:
- Your nationality
- The country in which you qualified as a teacher
- The country you are currently living in
- Places you would like to work in our region (Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire)
- Confirm if you already have evidence of the 'equivalency' of your degree and teaching qualification
- Confirm if you already have a certificate of English language proficiency
- The date you could be available to begin working (assuming your visa application is approved)
You should also include a recent photograph of yourself - a clear professional head shot is recommended.
You may choose to upload a CV or complete the 'Employment History', 'Education' and 'Certifications' section. There is no need to do both.
To improve your chances of being contacted by a potential employer, we recommend you make a short video (max 2 minutes) to tell people about yourself and why you want to teach in England. You will need to record the video and upload it to a video hosting website, such as YouTube and then copy the link to the video into the 'video' field.
You must select 'Unhide Profile' to make your details visible to potential employers.
When your profile has been approved by OTSA, we will contact schools to let them know that you are looking for a teaching post. Schools who hold a visa sponsorship licence, with suitable vacancies, may then choose to contact you directly.
If you do not provide sufficient information in your profile within 48 hours of opening your account we will delete it. Should you still wish to create an applicant profile you will need to begin again.
This service is offered free of charge to potential applicants. In return, we would be grateful if you would let us know if you are contacted by a school.
Please note that OTSA does not employ teachers directly.
OTSA Overseas Trained Teacher Database
This page is for Overseas Trained Teachers who are already working in an OTSA partner school.
We are creating a database of overseas trained teachers to better understand how we can provide support to them and their schools. We aim to provide relevant professional development and networking opportunities.
Complete our registration form to tell us about yourself and we'll be in touch when opportunities arise.
