Assessment Only Route to Qualified Teacher Status

EducatorsAbroad (EA) and the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) have entered into a partnership to offer experienced teachers, who are employed in schools around the world, opportunity to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through the UK Assessment Only Route to QTS.

Acceptance on the EA support programme leads to enrolment on the UoG Assessment Only (AO) scheme, including the final assessment by a UoG assessor. To achieve the award of QTS candidates must:

• fulfil prerequisite requirements.
• compile and submit a portfolio of evidence of their abilities as a classroom teacher showing that they have met the QTS standards.
  
• have their teaching assessed through direct observation by a UoG assessor.

An EA advisor/mentor is assigned to each candidate offering support through the portfolio preparation phase, including clarifying the standards and monitoring evidence being accumulated, before the candidate is formally interviewed by the UoG for enrolment on their AO scheme.

Once accepted onto the UoG AO scheme, the candidate is assessed in their school. This assessment includes a review of the evidence in the portfolio and observation of the candidate teaching.  Following the assessment the UoG recommends successful candidates for the award of QTS.

The QTS award enables educators to teach in state-maintained and special schools in England and Wales and, under international agreements on equivalence of professional status, across the European Union and many other parts of the world.

Note: Teachers in England must have a recognised degree and have achieved QTS. The award of QTS leads to registration as a newly qualified teacher. Some initial training courses also lead to an academic award, such as a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), but a PGCE is not essential for the award of QTS.

The Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) induction process is an additional component for employment in the UK that is undertaken during the first year of employment following achievement of QTS. The UK Department for Education is currently, November 2011, carrying out a public consultation about the induction process.