Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) Recognition in Wales
If you are qualified to teach outside the UK and want to work as a school teacher in Wales, you may be able to apply for recognition of your teaching qualifications.
Who can apply?
To be recognised as a qualified teacher in Wales, you must:
- Have a degree or an equivalent qualification.
- Have successfully completed a recognised teacher training programme.
- Be recognised as a fully qualified teacher by the relevant authority in the country where you qualified.
- Have completed any additional requirements needed to teach permanently in state schools in that country.
- Be seeking employment as a qualified teacher in Wales and provide evidence of this.
Both recognition as a qualified teacher and registration with the Education Workforce Council (EWC) are legal requirements for teaching in schools in Wales. You can only apply to register with the EWC as a qualified teacher if your application for recognition is successful.
How long will it take?
We will normally consider your application within 21 working days of receiving all the required information and documents. We will email you with the outcome of your application unless you ask us to contact you another way.
Provisional registration
Teachers qualified in Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who do not fully meet all recognition requirements may be eligible for provisional registration. If provisional registration is granted, you will be given one or more conditions that you must meet. We will tell you:
- What the conditions are.
- What you need to do to meet them.
- How long you have to complete them.
These conditions will appear on the EWC Register and in your conditional registration letter.
If you do not meet the conditions within the required timescale, and no extension is granted, your registration will lapse.
Important information
- Any QTS awarded through this process is only recognized in Wales.
- It does not automatically allow you to teach in England or any other country.
- All required documents must be provided. We cannot accept alternative evidence.
- Applications with missing documents will not be assessed and will be rejected.
Documents you must provide
Before starting your application, make sure you have scanned copies of the following documents:
- Your qualification and teacher training certificates.
- The official transcript for your teaching qualification showing all modules or courses completed.
- A Statement of Comparability from UK ENIC.
- A letter from the relevant teaching authority in the country where you qualified, confirming:
- You successfully completed an initial teacher training programme, including the subject and age range you are qualified to teach.
- You have completed any required induction, professional experience or other conditions needed for permanent employment in state schools.
- You are not prohibited or restricted from teaching in that country.
- A reference from your most recent school employer confirming your teaching ability and length of service.
- Evidence that you are seeking work in Wales. This must be provided directly by a prospective employer or supply agency. Screenshots of job applications cannot be accepted.
- Proof of identity and nationality, such as a passport, birth certificate, identity card or driving licence.
- Evidence of any change of name, where applicable.
- Overseas criminal record checks where required. You will need these if:
- You were born outside the UK and lived there until adulthood; or
- You have lived outside the UK for three months or more during the last 10 years.
Translations
If any of your documents are not in English, you must provide an official English translation. This does not apply to identity or name change documents.
Fees
The EWC does not charge a fee to assess your application.
However, you will need to pay any associated costs yourself, such as:
- UK ENIC fees for a Statement of Comparability.
- Overseas criminal record checks.
- Translation costs.
Before you apply
Please do not begin the application process unless you have all the required documents ready to upload. Applications that are incomplete will be rejected.