Recognising Overseas Qualifications

Overview

Recognising Overseas Qualifications for Initial Teacher Training is a process of the valuing of, and award of, English ITT (Initial Teaching Training) equivalence on the basis of demonstrated professional practice in the classroom.The scheme is designed for those teachers, currently employed in England, who already hold an overseas ITT qualification and are able to evidence their current teaching practice against the requirements established by the FE Teachers' Qualifications (England) Regulations 2007. 

Who?

The scheme is open to teachers who:

  • already hold an overseas ITT qualification from a country other than England;
  • are currently employed in a teaching role by an English FE and skills sector provider;
  • are able to provide evidence that they have met the learning outcomes commensurate with the requirements established by the FE Teachers' Qualifications (England) Regulations 2007;
  • are a current member of the Institute for Learning.

How?

  1. Applicants making a claim must understand that it is the outcomes of any learning gained via experience that might be recognised and not just the activity of learning itself
  2. Therefore reflection on their learning is required as part of the application process. All applicants will be expected to use IfL’s online learning tool REfLECT to complete the Professional Formation process.
  3. Applicants may only start work on a claim if this has been agreed with the IfL, and once they have had their Expression of Intent made by an IfL advisor
  4. Applicants must be aware that the production of a portfolio, or completion of the Professional Formation Webfolio, does not guarantee that equivalence or QTLS/ ATLS will be awarded.
  5. Further enquiries should be emailed to pf@ifl.ac.uk

Approval of recognition

The Institute for Learning is concerned to ensure that all applicants meet the required standard to obtain either ATLS or QTLS as appropriate, and that all applications are treated equitably. Therefore a holistic review and moderation approach has been developed to make certain that the learning derived from classroom experience in the UK is equivalent to that of the learning that might otherwise have been achieved by following the full programme of study to obtain either a Level 4 or Level 5 ITT.

Consequently it must be satisfied that the evidence submitted in support of a claim meets the following criteria:

Sufficiency: The applicant must provide enough evidence to demonstrate fully the achievement of the learning being claimed.

Authenticity: The evidence should be clearly related to the applicant’s own efforts and able to be verified as such.

Relevance: The portfolio provided should be relevant to the teacher’s current practice within the FE and skills sector.

Limitations

The process as defined in this document does not apply to the assessment of an individual’s prior learning and/or experience for any purpose other than entry to Professional Formation. It should not be considered as an alternative to ITT or to national schemes such as GPRLS.

Finally, it is important for candidates, employers and stakeholders to understand that it is the achievement of learning, or the outcomes of that learning, that is being recognised by the scheme rather than the activity of learning itself. Therefore, the key questions are:

  • What has been learnt?
  • How has it been applied to practice?