Equivalence of QTLS and QTS

From 1 April 2012 IfL members with Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status are recognised as qualified to teach in schools.

Statutory instrument 2012 No. 431, which was laid in parliament on 9 March 2012, amended the 2003 Regulations so that holders of QTLS who are IfL members have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and may be appointed to permanent positions as qualified teachers, without any further induction requirements.

Schools and local authorities will remain responsible for decisions on employing QTLS holders, and IfL will maintain the national register of QTLS holders, including those teaching in schools.

Toni Fazaeli, IfL chief executive said on the announcement:

"Teachers and trainers with the high-level professional status of QTLS will be able to teach flexibly across schools and colleges, and schools will be able to recruit specialists whose expertise and experience in their subject area is combined with expert teaching and a commitment to staying up to date through continuing professional development."

Further guidance on these changes can be found on the Department for Education (DfE) website.

IfL remains extremely concerned that Lord Lingfield's independent report about professionalism in further education recommends that teachers in the sector should not be required to have a teaching qualification.

IfL will continue to offer a national professional status in the future, as is usual for professional bodies. Find out more about QTLS status and how to apply.

Background

IfL have been working persistently since 2009 to raise awareness of the benefits of teachers with Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status being able to teach in schools, and making the strong case for the benefit of young people that government policies covering schools support this.

IfL announced to members on 12 May 2011 that the government response to the Wolf Review of Vocational Education confirmed the recommendation that QTLS holders should be able to teach in schools.

Following this announcement government consulted the public on their proposals to change the law to enable QTLS holders to teach in schools.

Discussions hosted by IfL and two IfL patrons, Baroness Margaret Sharp and Stella Mbubaegbu CBE, principal of Highbury College Portsmouth in November 2011, were positive about the potential that QTLS being recognised for teaching in schools gives for strategic partnerships and joint teaching between schools and further education.

IfL responded to the consultation, which closed in December 2011, in strong support of the proposals, based on feedback from IfL members. 

The government subsequently confirmed that they would proceed with the proposals to recognise as qualified to teach in schools:

• teachers in further education who have been awarded Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills status by the Institute for Learning and are members of the Institute for Learning

• teachers who are recognised as fully qualified teachers in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA 

The law needed to be changed enable this and the changes to the regulations were laid in parliament and came into force on 1 April 2012.

The Regulations laid also amend the Education (School Teachers' Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012 which are due to come into force in September 2012. The amendment will give schools greater flexibility to choose the standards against which they wish to assess the performance of QTLS holders. QTLS teachers, unlike other teachers, will not have to be assessed against the new Teachers' Standards.

IfL has been worked closely with the Department for Education (DfE) on recognition of QTLS for teaching in schools across subject areas, age groups and recognising the same pay and conditions as school teachers with QTS. IfL also worked in partnership with Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) on advising head teachers on recruiting teachers with QTLS and ASCL issued guidance to head teachers in August 2011.

The Wolf Review of Vocational Education

On 3 March 2011, a groundbreaking policy decision was taken by Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, to accept Professor Wolf’s recommendation, with immediate effect: 

'To allow qualified further education lecturers to teach in school classrooms on the same basis as qualified school teachers’

Government published their response to the Wolf Review of Vocational Education on 12 May 2011 stating:

“We believe that schools should be free to appoint the right teachers to deliver the appropriate curriculum for their pupils. For too long highly experienced Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) holders have been unable to teach the subjects in schools that they already teach in further education colleges. This means that head teachers and governing bodies have not always been able to appoint the right teachers for the delivery of high quality education across the full range of subjects taught in schools. That is why we are giving schools the freedom to select the teachers with the skills and experience that they require."