Is Qualified Tutor and Qualified Teacher Status the same?

Is Qualified Tutor and Qualified Teacher Status the same?
If yes or no can you explain why.

I'm a qualified music tutor but I'm not a qualified teacher.

QTS comes from doing a pgce.

Or a BEd, or a PGDE/Master of Teaching, or being overseas qualified.

though we have a degree which is essential is it a must to have a qts supposing we do a pgce or masters

No.

If you do a PGCE, BEd, or PGDE (subsequently a Master of Teaching) in England and Wales, you will get QTS (BEds right away, others after your NQT year). If you are doing a teacher-training course outside of England and Wales, be it in Scotland, in Hong Kong, in Canada, or in Australia, you will get the equivalent for those countries. You can get that professional qualification converted into a QTS if it's a country within the European Union or one of the recognised countries (eg Australia). If it's a country outside of either list, you will need to go for the assessment-only route to get QTS.

But QTS is not needed to teach in England and Wales or overseas. Overseas a QTS doesn't mean anything. In England and Wales, since the coalition government took over in 2010, independent/private schools and academies, which form the majority of schools in England and Wales, don't have to hire qualified teachers any more. So they can hire anyone. Someone with a QTS, someone with a doctorate, someone with just a BA, or the janitor.

Even in state-maintained schools, you don't need QTS to start your career. You can teach for four years without one. A master's degree doesn't substitute this requirement, however.

Master's degrees in the UK are not teacher-training courses (unlike those in the US) and they don't give you a teaching qualification whether it's a Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Studies, Master of Letters, Master of Research, Master of Philosophy, or a Master of Education. The only exception is a Master of Teaching which is a top-up master's from a PGDE. Essentially it's like the law degrees (LLB, LLM, BCL, JD, LLD, DCL etc), you can see them as qualifying degrees, but they don't get your qualified per se.

I'm yet to see any statistics on the number of people employed in UK schools without QTS. Regardless of the technicalities, the reality is that most schools still expect QTS.

If you don't have figures, you shouldn't comment.

It's idiotic to make a general comment on the 'reality':
1. if you absolutely must have QTS, as you suggest, are you saying PGCE/PGDE graduates will have no chance? School Direct, HMC Teacher Training, Teach First don't exist? None of these people start with QTS;
2. are you suggesting that people trained outside of England and Wales (be it in Scotland or France) will not be hired until they apply to convert their recognised qualification to QTS?

In state-maintained schools (read: not counting independent/private schools), 3.8% of all teachers are unqualified (read: this counts the PGCE/PGDE graduates who are doing their NQT year) last year. But this is 6% (8000 teachers) for academies and free schools, the only schools that are allowed to hire teachers without QTS; and 13% (1500) for free schools.

It's obviously true that the majority of teachers in state schools (read: we don't know anything about independent schools) are with QTS, but does this mean you need to have QTS to be able to be hired?

Consider these:
a. The rule has only been relaxed since 2012, three years ago. To be more precise, in 2012, schools may already have recruited for the school year 2013-2014, potentially with contracts lasting for more than one year. This means the figure here, which was published in 2014, represented at most one employment cycle, if there's even one full one. Academies and free schools didn't fire everyone in 2012 to hire everyone new. Three years is a very short time for a worker who can work for at least 25 years. Ever if all schools have started to hire only unqualified teachers from 2012, the percentage still cannot possibly be too high. And in fact, the number of unqualified teachers in the state sector has gone up drastically since. This means we cannot look at the 6% figure after all - we need to find a figure of newly joined teachers only.

b. Most teaching positions are filled by British teachers or England/Wales-trained teachers, which means naturally most applicants will have a QTS. This means even the figure for newly joined teachers only does not work - we need to also know how many applicants have already gotten QTS to begin with. That is, unless you want to make the claim that 'In reality, schools expect teachers to be white'.

Schools obviously expect qualified teachers. But what they mean is people who have been trained or have the academic qualifications for the job. This doesn't mean it's QTS or nothing.

Then what is the use of QTS?

I ask this because after seeing the percentage you've given above majority requires QTS and there will be a huge competition to get the positions seeking teachers without QTS.

What is my best option? Please help.

I am going to do Bachelor of Education awarded by Open Uni of Malaysia.
What can I do to qualify in the UK?

QTS alone isn't useful. What employers want is the academic qualification.

But as I've said, in state-maintained schools (which is minority of schools, but a bigger portion in the primary sector), you can only work for up to four years without QTS.



Just because the majority has a QTS doesn't mean the majority 'requires' a QTS. Those are not 'QTS-funded positions'. I already have explained why we cannot look at those figures alone and conclude that employers hire based on whether someone has QTS alone.



Well, if you can gain QTS, obviously that's better, but what I'm saying is it's not the end of the world if you don't have it.



In which case you will be seen as a qualified teacher by employers but not by the British government.

You may, of course, get qualified in the UK by working towards a qualification in the UK or be in one of the teacher-training programmes. If you want to get your qualification recognised by Her Majesty's government, you will need to work for four years in two different schools in the UK, then go for the assessment-only route offered by certain institutions (such as Oxford Brookes University) to pass the assessment to gain QTS.

I cannot advise further based on such limited information. I need to know at least the following:
1. do you require a visa to work in the UK?
2. What are you going to be trained to teach? Subject and year level.
3. What is your level of proficiency in English?
4. Do you hold any other qualifications?

If you require a visa to work in the UK, I don't see why you would be considered for a position, regardless of what you actually teach. I'm not sure if employers see Open University highly, let alone the one in Malaysia.

I live in Sri Lanka so,

I don't get what you mean by the part I bolded in your quote.

Well, I am currently working as an Associate tutor, a British company where Maths Lead Practitioners from the UK are mentoring and evaluating us.

I am training to teach Maths and it is for the early years stage.

I have GCSE English Language - C

I have a Diplma in Airline and ACCA Management Accounting certificate. Will these help?

So you will need a visa to work in the UK?

State schools cannot sponsor a visa, and other schools need to be on the register to be able to sponsor a visa. They also need to fulfil certain visa requirements, you will need to fulfil certain visa requirements, the position itself will need to fulfil certain visa requirements. Both parties will need to pay some money and go through paperwork to make this happen, if all eligibility requirements are met.



I mean you have little chance of getting hired by anyone if you need a visa. There's no reason why an Open University degree in Malaysia will make you a better candidate than one they can find within the European Union.



Sounds good.



Mathematics is in shortage but not sure about early years, As far as I know early years teachers teach everything so this means you are not qualified for most early years position by your degree itself.



So you meet the minimum requirement to teach in England, but not even in the other nations of the United Kingdom.



No.

I might sometimes fly to the UK to train to do the UK.

This will help me enter the UK and then help me. I can also get advice from experts who would guide me.

Will tutor experience help me gain the teaching experience?

You will need to first be accepted on to a teacher-training course. I'm not entirely sure if teacher-training courses can sponsor a visa, but ever if they could, they are less likely going to accept you because of this.



Just because you have entered the UK doesn't mean you can stay and work legally there. It's a different process, and you will even be asked to leave the UK first to apply for it.

I can tell you that I have an Oxford master's degree and was trained to be teacher at the world's No 6 institution in education in EAL (ie a subject the UK doesn't properly train teachers to do) with other qualifications, professional memberships, and lots of freelance experiences. I couldn't get a job in the UK despite being from somewhere a lot more economically developed than Sri Lanka is.

Many emailed me saying they simply couldn't sponsor a visa, some offers simply didn't meet the visa requirement, one cancelled an interview upon hearing that I'd need a visa.

You will have a degree from a university they have never heard of and would probably be objectively not good, from a country that isn't anything special, and with yourself coming from a country where the British government may not particularly like. You won't have a postgraduate qualification and will not be considered qualified by the British government. Your subject is readily available in the UK and you're doing the wrong year level, meaning you will not be properly qualified for either maths teaching or early years teaching in the UK. On top of that, you don't speak English very well and you don't have any special professional experience.

I'd say if visa isn't an issue then you may always have some chance, but if you do require a visa to work in the UK...What do you think? Employers will need to prove that they cannot find a more suitable candidate within the European Union. Do you honestly think you will be a more suitable candidate than anyone they can find within the EU for their school?



Yes but they could only get you into a teacher-training course, not to land you a job.

Thanks for all your time and reply.
I will have to think and do stuffs then.
I will have to live in the UK to be accepted into any UK job then.
It's unfair for international applicants

Snip

If you don't have figures, you shouldn't comment.

It's idiotic to make a general comment on the 'reality':

1. if you absolutely must have QTS, as you suggest, are you saying PGCE/PGDE graduates will have no chance? School Direct, HMC Teacher Training, Teach First don't exist? None of these people start with QTS;

In state-maintained schools (read: not counting independent/private schools), 3.8% of all teachers are unqualified (read: this counts the PGCE/PGDE graduates who are doing their NQT year) last year. But this is 6% (8000 teachers) for academies and free schools, the only schools that are allowed to hire teachers without QTS; and 13% (1500) for free schools.

It's obviously true that the majority of teachers in state schools (read: we don't know anything about independent schools) are with QTS, but does this mean you need to have QTS to be able to be hired?

Consider these:
a. The rule has only been relaxed since 2012, three years ago. To be more precise, in 2012, schools may already have recruited for the school year 2013-2014, potentially with contracts lasting for more than one year. This means the figure here, which was published in 2014, represented at most one employment cycle, if there's even one full one. Academies and free schools didn't fire everyone in 2012 to hire everyone new. Three years is a very short time for a worker who can work for at least 25 years. Ever if all schools have started to hire only unqualified teachers from 2012, the percentage still cannot possibly be too high. And in fact, the number of unqualified teachers in the state sector has gone up drastically since. This means we cannot look at the 6% figure after all - we need to find a figure of newly joined teachers only.

Schools obviously expect qualified teachers. But what they mean is people who have been trained or have the academic qualifications for the job. This doesn't mean it's QTS or nothing.

I'm a qualified music tutor but I'm not a qualified teacher.

QTS comes from doing a pgce.