Guidance

Apply to provide international qualified teacher status

Information for English initial teacher training (ITT) providers about the Department for Education (DfE) international qualified teacher status roll-out.

Applies to England

International qualified teacher status (iQTS) is a new, UK government-backed international teaching qualification which will be recognised by DfE as equivalent to English qualified teacher status (QTS) (via an amendment to regulations).

Read our policy paper, for more information about iQTS.

How the wider roll-out phase will work

iQTS will run in pilot from September 2022 to summer 2023. Six providers have been approved to deliver the pilot. DfE is now ready to approve additional providers for the first year of wider roll-out of iQTS, from September 2023. We aim to approve around 10 providers. There will be no cap on trainee numbers for wider roll-out, but providers must seek additional permission from DfE if they wish to recruit more than 200 trainees.

iQTS providers must deliver a training programme which meets:

  • the needs of candidates and providers
  • quality control standards set by English initial teacher training (ITT) providers and DfE
  • the practical, logistical and financial requirements to scale the training

Timelines for wider roll-out training provider applications

Event Dates
Applications open 11 July 2022
Last day to submit questions to DfE 31 August 2022 (noon)
Deadline for applications 5 September 2022 (noon)
DfE evaluation of submissions September 2022/October 2022
DfE announcement of new iQTS providers October/November 2022

Eligibility

To apply to join the wider roll-out of iQTS, you must already be a provider accredited by DfE to deliver initial teacher training leading to QTS in England. Approval to deliver iQTS is an extension of your ITT accreditation.

If you are an existing accredited ITT provider and have submitted an application for round 2 of accreditation as part of the ITT Market Reform, you can still apply for iQTS approval for delivery in 2023 to 2024.

We will only accept applications from accredited providers who have an inspection rating of 1 (outstanding) or 2 (good) for their primary and/or secondary QTS provision.

We are unable to accept applications from recently accredited ITT providers who have not been inspected.

iQTS providers who are taking part in the pilot year will not need to apply again for approval for wider roll-out. If these providers are not successful in the domestic re-accreditation process, they will no longer be able to deliver iQTS from academic year 2024 to 2025.

Apply to join the wider roll-out of iQTS

  1. Read this guidance in full.
  2. Download and complete an application form (available from 11 July).
  3. Return the form by email to iqts.policy@education.gov.uk using the subject line ‘iQTS wider roll-out application’ by 5 September 2022.

How we will select iQTS training providers

Your application to become an iQTS training provider needs to demonstrate that you have:

  • a successful domestic ITT offer
  • sufficient capacity to design and deliver a high quality iQTS programme in a limited time period (that is, in time to recruit candidates for courses beginning in September 2023)
  • existing international relationships and/or partnerships to assist in the delivery of iQTS, or detail on how you propose to develop these

What you will need to provide

Approved iQTS providers must:

  • create an iQTS programme incorporating the iQTS version of the Core Content Framework (CCF) which meets the requirements in the iQTS criteria and allows trainees to meet the iQTS Teachers’ Standards
  • produce a vision or mission statement for your iQTS programme
  • develop mentor training for in-school mentors to support trainees
  • ensure trainees can feed back on the programme to raise any concerns, and share this information on successes and challenges with DfE
  • award iQTS to all trainees who have met the iQTS Teachers’ Standards at the end of the course, and submit data accordingly to DfE

You can find more information about DfE’s criteria for successful iQTS training providers in the application form (to be published on 11 July 2022).

Application marking scheme

Any part of your answer which exceeds the word limit for a particular question will not be considered.

If you score 2 or less on any question, your submission will automatically be removed from the process and will not be considered for approval for iQTS wider roll-out.

Question 2 is double weighted. This means we will double the score for this question, for example, if we score you 3 we will double that to 6.

The total potential score available is 35.

How applications will be scored

We’ll score your application using these assessment criteria.

Assessment Marks Criteria
Excellent 5 (pass) A comprehensive response that answers the question in full, addresses the key points and provides evidence to demonstrate that the ITT provider has the knowledge, experience, capability, resources and capacity to meet or exceed the requirement. Demonstrates an excellent understanding and high level of confidence with no concerns or omissions identified.
Good 4 (pass) A good response that answers the question, addresses the key points and provides evidence to demonstrate that the ITT provider has the knowledge, experience, capability, resources and capacity to meet the requirement. Demonstrates a good understanding and level of confidence. The response may include some minor concerns or omissions but are not considered to present a risk or have an impact on service delivery.
Minor Omissions 3 (pass) The response answers the question but may not have fully addressed the key points or provided enough evidence to fully demonstrate that the ITT provider has the knowledge, experience, capability, resources or capacity to meet the requirement. Demonstrates a satisfactory understanding and level of confidence. The response may include some concerns or omissions that are considered to present an element of risk or may have an impact on service delivery, but can be reasonably managed or resolved.
Major Omissions 2 (fail) The response does not answer the question in full and fails to address all the key points or provide relevant evidence to demonstrate that the ITT provider has the knowledge, experience, capability, resources or capacity to meet the requirement. Demonstrates a lack of understanding or confidence. The response includes concerns or omissions that are considered to present a risk or would have an impact on service delivery that would require significant intervention to manage or resolve.
Unacceptable 1 (fail) The response fails to answer the question, does not address the key points or provide evidence to demonstrate that the ITT provider has the required knowledge, experience, capability, resources or capacity and the requirement is unlikely to be met. Demonstrates a lack of understanding or confidence. The response includes significant concerns or omissions that are considered to represent an unacceptable level of risk and/or would have a detrimental impact on service delivery.
No Answer Provided 0 (fail) No answer provided.

Support from DfE

DfE will support successful providers in the initial years of wider roll-out and will:

  • appoint a relationship manager for each provider to ensure that providers have a named individual from the iQTS programme team to discuss general queries and any concerns
  • schedule regular workshops to highlight progress, successes and any potential blockers iQTS providers may have
  • survey iQTS providers, trainees, mentors and schools on the delivery of iQTS
  • provide support from sector expert quality associates to help new iQTS providers establish their programmes

DfE will host a start-up meeting shortly after we notify successful providers.

Security of data

DfE expects you to treat and protect the iQTS DfE and personal data in the same way as your ITT data in line with UK GDPR requirements. You will need to provide a copy of your security plan if requested. It is agreed that statutory and other constraints on the exchange of information will be fully respected, including the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the Human Rights Act 1998, and any successor or amended legislation to the same.

Providers will be required to submit candidate data to DfE through the Register a trainee teacher service.

Next steps

By submitting an application, providers commit to:

  • meeting the deadlines set out in our timeline
  • adhering to our Terms and conditions (PDF, 91.9 KB, 1 page)

All submissions must be signed off by the person in your organisation who has overall responsibility for your ITT provision.

We are aiming to announce the providers we have decided to take forward into the first year of wider roll-out in October 2022. We’ll then ask participating providers to sign an agreement covering mutual expectations.

No DfE funding is available for the wider roll-out of the iQTS qualification. You will be participating at your own risk.

We’ll invite you to set course fees, with the expectation that the prices you set will be affordable in a number of global settings, so that iQTS is an attainable qualification worldwide. Read the approvals process section for more detail.

Withdrawal of iQTS provider approval

Approved iQTS pilot providers must comply with the iQTS criteria and supporting information.

In all but the most serious cases of non-compliance, DfE will give providers the opportunity to address the problem before we start the formal process of Withdrawing iQTS provider approval (PDF, 102 KB, 4 pages).

Published 15 November 2021
Last updated 10 June 2022 + show all updates
  1. Updated the main page and the documents 'Withdrawing approval' and 'Terms and conditions' to provide information for the wider roll-out of iQTS. Updates confirm how the roll-out will work, the timetable for it and the requirement on providers to submit candidate data to DfE.

  2. Updated to reflect that applications to become pilot providers have now closed.

  3. First published.