State funded secondary schools and academies in England can get help from the International Teacher Recruitment Programme to recruit international teachers.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The International Teacher Recruitment Programme will continue to recruit international teachers for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

We’re focusing on recruiting international teachers to start in January 2021 rather than September 2020, in case travel restrictions and the closure of visa application centres continue. Register your interest below.

If you’ve already agreed a placement

If you have an international teacher starting in September 2020, you can defer the start date to January 2021 if you need to. If you wish to continue with a September start date, contact the appropriate recruitment agency for further details.

What schools can get

State funded secondary schools and academies in England can get help from the International Teacher Recruitment Programme to recruit maths, physics, computer science, general science and modern foreign languages teachers from:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • France
  • Germany
  • Jamaica
  • New Zealand
  • USA
  • South Africa
  • Spain

All teachers recruited through the programme will:

  • be experienced teachers qualified in their country
  • have been screened to meet safeguarding and quality requirements to teach in England
  • receive a free acclimatisation package to help with settling into life and teaching in England, including a residential acclimatisation event paid for by the Department for Education (DfE)
  • receive a free continuous professional development (CPD) programme, covering key topics such as behaviour management, safeguarding and the mastery curriculum

Register

Register your interest with one of our 4 recruitment agencies. They all offer the same high level of support but may vary in where they place teachers in England. The 4 agencies are:

The recruitment process

After you register with an agency, they will:

  • contact you within 2 working days to give further information on the programme
  • provide a consultation to understand your recruitment needs
  • give you access to candidates who match your requirements
  • help you arrange interviews with your shortlisted candidates via Skype or similar software
  • help you manage the contract signing process
  • provide support and advice with visa processes
  • link you with an acclimatisation provider

Costs

DfE will fund:

  • recruitment costs, including a DfE appointed recruitment agency
  • acclimatisation package and an ongoing CPD programme during the teacher’s first year, delivered by a DfE appointed acclimatisation provider

Schools will need to fund:

  • the teacher’s salary
  • supply cover costs to support CPD days (at least 1 day per term) and mentor training
  • visa or sponsorship costs
  • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

Schools must appoint an experienced in-school mentor to support their overseas teacher.

Programme evaluation

Schools involved may be asked to participate in our evaluation to support ongoing development of the programme.

Contact

Email: [email protected]

Privacy Policy

Read our privacy policies for schools and candidates.

Published 26 April 2019
Last updated 27 April 2020 + show all updates

  1. Updated the guidance to include coronavirus (COVID-19) advice, and updates to the number of countries and subjects covered by the programme.

  2. First published.

Contents