Apply to provide international qualified teacher status

Overview

International qualified teacher status (iQTS) is a new international teaching qualification. It willis be recognised by the Department for Education (DfE) as equivalent to English qualified teacher status (QTS) (via an amendment to regulations).).

Introducing iQTS has more information.

How the wider roll-out phase will work

iQTS willis runcurrently in pilot from September 2022 to summer 2023.

The Departmentfirst foryear Education:of wider roll-out will start from September 2024.

DfE:

• approved 6 providers to deliver the pilot
• approved an additional 8 providers join the first year of wider roll-out
• will approve additional providers for the firstsecond year of wider roll-out of iQTS, from September 20232024

There will be no cap on trainee numbers forfrom wider roll-out,roll-out onwards, 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 wideracademic roll-outyear training2024 providerto applications2025

Event	Dates
DfE evaluation of additional provider submissions	September/OctoberJune/July 20222023
DfE announcement of newadditional iQTS providers	October/NovemberAugust/September 20222023

Eligibility

To apply to join the second year of wider roll-out of iQTS, providers hadhave to already be accredited by DfE to deliver initial teacher training leading to QTS in England. ApprovalProviders need to deliverhave iQTSbeen issuccessful anin extensionthe ofreaccreditation ITTprocess accreditation.

Existingthat accreditedtook ITTplace providers who submitted an application for round 2 of accreditation, as part of the ITT Market Reform,Reforms. wereApproval able to applydeliver for iQTS approvalis foran deliveryextension inof 2023ITT to 2024.accreditation.

We will only acceptedaccept 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 or the first year of wider roll-out do not need to apply again for approval for wider roll-out.roll-out year 2.

How we selectedwill select iQTS training providers

Successful applications demonstrated:must demonstrate:

• 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)2024)
• existing international relationships and/or partnerships to assist in the delivery of iQTS, or detail on how these would be developed

What approved iQTS providers need to do

Approved iQTS training providers must:

• create an iQTS programme incorporating the iQTS version of the Core Content Framework (PDF, 519KB) (CCF) which meets the requirements in the iQTS criteria and allows trainees to meet the iQTS Teachers’ Standards . This includes the new requirements that will come into place from 2024 as a result of the ITT Market Reforms
• produce a vision or mission statement for their 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 meet the iQTS Teachers’ Standards at the end of the course, and submit data accordingly to DfE

Application marking scheme

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

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

Question 2 wasis double weighted. This means we doubleddouble the score for this question, for example if we scoredscore you 3 we doubledwill double that to 6.

The total potential score available wasis 35.

How applications werewill be scored

We scoredwill 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

We are aiming to announce the providers we have decided to take forward into the firstsecond year of wider roll-out in OctoberAugust and2023. November 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, 103 KB, 4 pages).