iQTS information

iQTS is an online, internationally focused teaching qualification. It allows you to train to teach in English through an international school setting.

When you successfully complete the course, the Department for Education (DfE) in England awards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This qualifies you to teach in schools in England.

This is a full-time, practice-based course with a significant amount of teaching practice. You will need to be working in a school that can support you. We do not offer the iQTS as a part-time course. 

If you are interested in the iPGCE, find out about the differences between iQTS and iPGCE.

iQTS PGCE

You don’t need prior experience to apply. You will need to have paid or voluntary work in a school that can support your studies.  

iQTS CPD

You must have two years of full-time teaching experience in a school setting as a main class teacher planning and delivering full lessons. Intervention work, teaching assistant, language school work with adults, one-to-one tutoring or class sizes under eight pupils, nannying, online tutoring or IELTS tutoring are not sufficient. 

Your placement school

To enrol on the iQTS course you must:

• be working in a school that can support your training, including allowing some of your teaching to be video recorded for assessment and feedback
• have the required safeguarding checks for your country
• be able to complete at least 140 days of teaching practice, including 20 days of Intensive Training and Practice (ITaP) during the course

Read more about the school’s role.

Mentor

To ensure each trainee is fully supported and co-evaluated with UWE Bristol, you will need a mentor in your placement school.

Your mentor must be:

• a named mentor at your placement school
• assigned to you before your course starts
• able to support your progress on the course. 
• available to undertake mentor training from UWE Bristol.

Read more about the mentor’s role.

The iQTS courses includes:

• live teaching - including the course induction, seminar sessions and tutor meetings.
• online content via PebblePad.

iQTS with PGCE 

As a Level 7 master’s qualification you must take: 

• Professional Studies module (30 credits)
• Curriculum Inquiry module (30 credits)
• International Practice practical component

International practice practical component assessment

You will be assessed via:

• an online portfolio 
• meetings with your school mentor and UWE Bristol tutor
• lesson observations
• paperwork and evidence
• professional conversation at the end of your course.

You will be judged at pass or fail against the iQTS Teacher’s Standards. 

You will need to work full-time in a school to meet your required teaching hours. Teaching hours includes time to observe lessons and teach part or all of lessons. We expect you to teach more full lessons as you progress through the course.

• Blocks 1-3: 15 hours of contact time per week (average of three lessons per day). 
• Block 4: teaching 80% of a full-time teacher workload, usually around 16-18 lessons per week). You are assessed during these last six weeks.  

Your school plays a key role in the course. The school’s head teacher or a delegate must be able to sign a partnership agreement with UWE Bristol that agrees to the following: 

• You have the appropriate safeguarding checks for the country.
• There are no national policy barriers to you undertaking a teacher education course in that country.
• You can engage in teaching practice of at least 140 days. We expect dedicated contact time during the course to progress your skills, building up to the last six weeks of assessed practice. Class sizes must include no fewer than eight pupils.
• Organise a second teaching placement for you of at least two weeks so that you have experience of a different school context. If it is not possible to organise a second placement, the school needs to liaise with UWE Bristol about an alternative.
• Arrange for an appropriate mentor to work with you for the duration of the course. This will need to be agreed with UWE Bristol in advance of the start of the course.
• Permission for you to record some examples of you teaching via a secure online platform such as IRIS. Recordings take place throughout the year to self-evaluate, share and discuss with your mentor and UWE Bristol tutor.
• Allow you to explore teaching strategies.
• Liaise with UWE Bristol in a timely manner if any problems emerge during the course.

How we support you

We provide a flexible approach to support you with being able to achieve your teaching requirement.  

We will:

• Liaise with the school and provide full information.
• Provide a contract of engagement detailing specific features and requirements of the course. 
• Undertake checks to ensure there are no barriers to undertaking an international teacher training course in the country or region the school is located in if needed.

Find out more about support and advice.

Each school needs to provide you with a school mentor.

• Mentors should have at least three years of teaching experience.
• Mentors should have a teaching licence or education qualification but this does not need to be Qualified Teacher Status.
• In secondary school settings, the mentor should work in the same subject area as you, but we can offer support if this is not possible.

The mentor needs to have the capacity be able to do the following roles:

• Observe you once a week - in person and provide verbal and written feedback on an observation form. This form is added to an online portfolio.
• Meet once every two weeks - to discuss progress and targets moving forward. These targets are entered into the online portfolio.
• Attend an online triangulation meeting during each of the four learning blocks. You will discuss a lesson and any points regarding your progress and development on the course.
• Complete short review reports at the end of each of the four learning blocks.
• Support you while completing the course.

Mentor training

Mentors don't need previous experience of mentoring as we provide full training. Training takes place during the induction weeks and lasts for approximately fours hours. We will provide ongoing support for the mentor throughout the course.

You will need access to the following software and equipment: 

• Computer with Windows 10 /11 or Mac OSX 8.1 (or later)
• Headset or speakers and a microphone
• Internet speeds for video conferencing (i.e. 10Mbps/2Mbps)

You will need to install the IRIS Connect Record App on your device to record your teaching. We will give you access to this and other software, such as Microsoft Office, during the course.  Find out more about choosing IT equipment for university.

Please contact us directly if you have accessibility requirements.

For support you with any technical issues relating to course materials email the Education Tech Digital Team: edutech@uwe.ac.uk.

English proficiency/IELTS

You must have IELTS certificate at 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each component, dated within the past two years.

Find details of courses that may exempt you from IELTS at English language requirements.

• If you need to obtain IELTS, you can take a free UWE Bristol English test.
• You can still apply, complete the interview process, obtain and accept an offer. Completion of IELTS can be a condition of your offer and you need to obtain the IELTS certificate two weeks before your course start date. 

GCSEs 

You need to hold a GCSE in Maths to grade C/4 or equivalent. 

• If you are applying to a Primary education course, you also need a science GCSE to the same level.
• A-levels or part of a degree in the subject will not be able to be taken as equivalent due to the breadth and level of study.
• If you have lost your certificate you need to contact the exam boards for a replacement copy. 

GCSE equivalency tests

GCSE equivalency tests incur charges and we are unable to provide any funding. Dates for testing can be sporadic, and it can take some time for you to learn the content, so book in as soon as you can. 

If you cannot pass an equivalency test before the course start date, your offer may be deferred to the next available intake date.

Equivalency test providers: 

• A star equivalency
• Equivalency Testing

If you're not sure that you meet the entry requirements

If you are unsure if your qualifications meets the requirements, we recommend that you apply, including any qualifications documentation you have. The Admissions team will let you know if you need to do an equivalency or IELTS test. 

You will need a UK DBS and the equivalent Overseas Criminal Record certificate from your current country of residence. If you have lived and worked in your current location for less than five months, you will also need to obtain a police check from your previous location. 

Read more about professional checks 

If you are not currently living in the UK but you are a UK National or a non-UK national and you have previously lived or worked in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, you will need to obtain an International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC). 

You should use your school as the requesting organisation rather than UWE Bristol, as ACRO will not issue ICPCs to organisations based in the UK.

Apply for ICPC

Providing proof of your professional checks

When you have your ICPC and Overseas Criminal Record, send them to us by:

• Emailing Aid.Processing@uwe.ac.uk
• Uploading them to your UWE Welcome portal.

All checks should be dated within five months of the course start date. Checks have varying lead times so make sure you action them as early as possible.