The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has raised this and other concerns in its 24th Report after considering the Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications and Induction Arrangements) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1256).
The Regulations revise the way teachers with overseas qualifications can obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England by introducing a single set of criteria from February 2023 by which applicants can be assessed. QTS is a legal requirement to be able to teach in maintained schools and non-maintained special schools in England and any overseas teacher who meets the criteria will be able to teach in maintained schools without further training or assessment. The Department for Education (DfE) told the Committee that the aim of the changes is to create a fair and consistent approach to ensure teachers with equivalent skills and experience can be assessed for QTS regardless of their country of origin. In addition, the Regulations make changes to training and induction periods and accredited teacher training providers.
