I recently qualified as a maths teacher in the UK. While I gained qualified teacher status, I didn’t complete my induction as I had to return home for family reasons. Can I still apply for registration in Ireland?
Your timing is good for a number of reasons. Firstly, many schools are crying out for teachers, especially in key subject areas such as maths at second level.
One principal recently told me that she advertised a maths teaching post four times, for one position, but couldn’t fill. Many schools are falling back on “out of field” teachers or trainee teachers who are undertaking the two-year Postgraduate Master’s in Education (PME) in their schools to fill the gaps where qualified teachers are not available.
For that reason you will have no difficulty securing a full 22-hour contract once you sort out your registration issue, particularly if you are prepared to accept an offer of a position in an urban area where the problem of teacher supply is particularly acute.
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Secondly, the Teaching Council, in response to the acute crisis in teacher supply at all levels and in a wide range of subjects, recently announced some changes to the registration process for teachers who qualified outside Ireland.
Usually, a teacher who qualified abroad has to obtain the status of being “fully qualified” before being eligible to apply for registration. This usually means a teacher education qualification, plus a period of induction.
However, until February 1st, 2024, primary and post-primary teachers who have qualified outside Ireland are eligible to apply for registration and complete their induction over here.
Please note that specific eligibility and qualification requirements apply. You can find more details at the Teaching Council website (teachingcouncil.ie).
For this time-bound period, teachers who meet the specific requirements can apply for registration without having this period of induction completed.
These teachers will be required to provide specific documentation including evidence of qualified teacher status from the authority in the country where they completed their qualification.
The Teaching Council has carried out assessments of various types of qualifications to determine if they meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for registration under this time-bound measure.
On the basis of applications assessed to date, a spokesperson for the council stated that they found that traditional faculty-based programmes – for example, postgraduate certificates in education, also known as PGCEs – are the most closely aligned with initial teacher education qualifications in Ireland. They are the most likely to meet requirements for registration under the regulation.
International variations of faculty-based programmes on the other hand are less likely to meet the eligibility requirements and are more likely to be considered outside the scope of the regulation.
If an application from a prospective teacher does not meet the eligibility requirements, they can apply to register as a primary or post-primary teacher once they have completed their teacher education qualification and programme of induction.
