5. Looking for a teaching job?

Please, mind the gap…

Let’s assume you now have got the National Insurance Number and the Qualified Teacher Status and you’ve received NARIC’s letter stating that the qualifications you obtained in your country are comparable to qualifications obtainable in the UK, that is your university diploma is equivalent to a full BA, and you can teach in secondary schools in England and Wales.

(We need to insist a bit on this because, in many cases, although you may have a university diploma, based on the number of university years, the subjects you studied and the transcript, NARIC may not grant its equivalence to a full BA, which might mean you won’t be allowed to teach in secondary schools.

A special little note here for the Romanians: the ‘degrees’ we work so hard to obtain are translated as ‘grades’ here and are not comparable to any UK qualification, so basically they don’t count. Yet, the Definitive Grade can be taken into account as proof of the Induction any teacher here must go through.)

Back to our main track: so you have the above-mentioned documents and you can now work. In theory. In practice, you still have a long way to go…

The first step is to Google for jobs. As I said before, this search returns millions of results, so be prepared to spend long hours in front of the computer, checking the sites of recruitment agencies and the ads, registering on these sites with your CV and a covering letter and applying for specific jobs. Irrespective of how impressive your CV might be, only if you’re really lucky will you get a call from an agency and be invited for an interview. If you’re convincing enough, they’ll photocopy your documents, ask you to do a CRB check (Criminal Record Bureau check stating you can work with children) and, in the next four to six weeks, they’ll take up your references.

95% of the ads you will find on the internet are posted by recruitment agencies and sound pretty much the same. Here’s an example (sic):

“** January 2012 start
** 1050 Students
** Based in…
** Key Stage 3 and 4
** Potential to teach to A level

We are looking to appoint an innovative and enthusiastic teacher of English who has a proven and successful experience of teaching A level as well as GCSE. The school is an 11-19 day high school with a growing sixth form. It has a maximum annual intake of 215 boys and girls and is over-subscribed. Courses of study are provided according to individual needs for GCSE or BTEC and at GCE A Level, A/S Level and BTEC leading to admission to universities or specialist professional training. (I will leave you the pleasure to discover what all the capital letters mean…)

The ideal candidate will have strong classroom presence (meaning you should be well accustomed to dealing with students with a… ‘challenging behaviour’) and excellent classroom teaching. They will be supportive of their colleagues and be prepared to make a contribution to the success of the department. 

We are looking for someone who is fully qualified to teach in the UK, has QTS, at least 2 years of solid experience of teaching in a UK classroom and good, up-to-date knowledge of the current UK national curriculum.

If you would like to be considered for this position then please contact…“

You can start ticking boxes:

• “fully qualified” – checked
• “QTS” – checked
• “2 years of solid experience in a UK classroom” – ummm… nope, nobody hires you because you don’t have previous experience in teaching in the UK. That’s a Catch 22.
• but… “solid” is essential, ’cause it means you’ve dealt with really naughty and rude students (oops, sorry, they’re referred to as ‘challenging’ here) – hmmm… nope
• “good, up-to-date knowledge of the current UK national curriculum” – well, yeah… you’ve read all about it on the internet, does that count?

So, with two pros, two cons and one ‘pending’, you take a deep breath and ask yourself: “To apply or not to apply?“

P.S. How does this relate to the motto? Come on, you’ve figured it out already, I don’t need to explain this any more, do I?

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4. NARIC, QTS and NINo

Please, mind the gap between… you know…

If you’ve ever dreamed of teaching English in the UK and you’ve been curious to check if there’s a need for English teachers in the UK, a simple Google search returns millions of responses, raising everyone’s hopes to unprecedented heights. Yes, there’s a huge need for English teachers all over the UK, London included. Yaaaay! You have already built a career in teaching, you are confident that you could start your UK career tomorrow but…

If you got your teaching qualifications anywhere else but in the UK, you will need to have these qualifications compared by NARIC.

Register on their site – it’s free, complete the form about which documents you want compared, pay the fee for the service (around £50) and then send them a letter containing photocopies of the original documents (diplomas, certificates etc – don’t forget to include the school/uni/course transcript) and, to make their task easier and your costs lower, include photocopies of translations of your documents. You will get their response in at least 15 days.  The agency compares qualifications obtained in about 180 countries and you can send them your photocopies from your home country, you don’t need to be in the UK.

Another document you’ll need to have is the QTS – Qualified Teacher Status, a certificate which used to be awarded by the General Teaching Council for England and Wales. Nowadays this GTC is in the process of merging with other national educational bodies and agencies, but basic information about obtaining the QTS can be found here. Already being a qualified teacher in your home country, it is advisable to include photocopies of all the qualifications, diplomas or certificates you have obtained so far – transcripts included. Thoroughly read the information on their site and decide what applies to your specific case. Then make photocopies of the documents and write explanations as to what each document means in your country. It usually takes them four months to answer and you need to be in the UK when applying for this certificate. It also helps a lot to already have the NINo – National Insurance Number, but it doesn’t guarantee in any way that you will obtain the QTS.

You will need the National Insurance Number if you’re going to work in the UK. To apply for it, you’ll need to be in the UK and go to a Job Centre Plus. There will be people there to help you with information on what steps you must take but, just to make an idea, let me ‘unveil’ some of this to you.

The process of obtaining the NINo consists of two phases: an interview over the phone and an in-person interview at one of the centres. At the end of the phone interview, the operator will tell you the booking ID number assigned to you and when and where the next interview will take place. They will send you a letter with all this information (so be prepared to give them a valid address), as well as a list of original documents you need to have with you on that day. At the second interview, they will make photocopies of your original documents and you will be asked a number of predefined questions. Your answers will be written down on a form. At the end, after reading all the information contained in that form, you will sign it and… that’s it. In up to six weeks you will receive a letter informing you if you have been assigned a NINo or not.

If you are lucky enough to obtain all of the above in the first 5 months after arriving in the UK, you are three steps closer to start teaching, but you’re not there yet.

There’s more to follow…

P.S. In case you’re wondering how all this relates to the motto, let me be a bit more specific: you may have  a lot of experience in teaching in your country, you may have been a teacher trainer, you may have obtained the highest grades (yes, they’re called grades, not degrees) possible in your country, but if you decide to go to the UK and pursue a teaching career there, be prepared to find yourself at the bottom of the ladder again… And that’s a gap that’s very difficult to deal with.

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