A Guide to the Assessment Only Route to QTS

After more than a decade of teaching internationally, I finally decided to formalise something I had already spent years doing professionally: becoming a licensed teacher through QTS.

For years, I’ve taught successfully without holding a formal government-issued teaching licence. I do hold a CELTA, but that is designed for ELT rather than mainstream school teaching. In many schools around the world, especially in the international sector, teachers can build strong careers without a formal licence. However, when it comes to many top-tier international schools, licensed status often becomes a requirement. So for me, getting QTS is not just another qualification—it’s a strategic career move.

What Is the Assessment Only Route to QTS?

Firstly, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is the professional recognition that allows teachers to teach in state schools in England, and it is also widely recognised by international schools around the world. There are several routes to obtaining QTS, and the route I chose is the Assessment Only Route (AOR).

The Assessment Only Route is designed for experienced teachers who are already teaching successfully. Rather than training you from scratch, it assesses whether you already meet the required teaching standards.

To be eligible, applicants generally need:

·      At least two years of teaching experience

·      Experience teaching whole classes

·      Experience in two schools

·      Teaching across two key stages

·      A university degree

·      Current employment in a recognised curriculum school (such as British, IB, or Cambridge)

·      Appropriate safeguarding/background checks

·      Professional references from school leaders

Like many international teachers, I considered other routes to becoming certified, including US certification pathways but in the end, I chose the Assessment Only Route for a few key reasons.

1. Time: Many certification routes can take a long time. However, this Assessment Only Route can usually be completed in 6–12 weeks.

2. Cost: Compared with many longer certification routes, I found the AOR route far more efficient in both time and cost. For me, the total cost was around £2,500.

3. Experience-Based: Most importantly, what appealed most to me was that the Assessment Only Route recognises the fact that I already have substantial classroom experience. This is not a training programme where you spend months completing modules and learning from scratch. Instead, it is a professional assessment process where you demonstrate that you already meet the Teachers’ Standards.

How Are You Assessed?

The entire process is built around proving that you meet the Teachers’ Standards in England. These standards cover areas such as setting high expectations, promoting student progress, strong subject knowledge, effective lesson planning, adaptive teaching, assessment and feedback, behaviour management and professional conduct. You can find details of the standards here.

What the Process Actually Looks Like

Interview and Audit

Before the formal assessment period begins, there is an initial interview with the university/provider. At this stage, you need to present a portfolio of evidence showing how you already meet the standards. This might include lesson observations, planning documents, assessments, feedback examples, CPD records, safeguarding training, student progress data and professional reflections to name a few.

After the interview, the provider reviews your evidence and identifies any gaps. They then give you an audit outlining what additional evidence must be collected during the assessment period.

Assessment Period (6–12 Weeks)

This is where the real work happens. During this time you continue teaching as normal and gather additional evidence. There is a lot of documentation that must be compiled too, such as attendance forms, meetings and lesson observation documents and meetings that must be completed  carefully. For this, you work closely with a school mentor whom you nominate at the beginning of the AOR process. Their role includes observing at least 6 lessons and providing feedback , holding at least 3 formal meetings with you and recording notes and progress updates.

During the assessment period your assessor from the university typically observes lesson of yours at the midpoint of the assessment period and holds a progress meeting with you to check on documentation.

Then, your assessor, on the final day of the assessment period, observes a final lesson, has a meeting with the Head of School, your mentor and then a  1-to-1 professional discussion with you. After that, they decide whether to recommend you to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) for QTS.

What Did I Think?

I’ll have a more detailed blog post on my own thoughts on the process, but here are a few for the time being. The process is straightforward—but not easy. It’s clear, structured, and fair. But it requires organisation, reflection, professionalism, and a lot of admin. You need to be proactive. You need evidence. You need systems. You need patience. But if you already know how to teach well, the route makes sense.

After ten years in education, this feels less like “getting qualified” and more like formally recognising the work I’ve already been doing.

For international teachers, there can sometimes be a strange gap between experience and paperwork. You may have years of successful teaching behind you, leadership responsibilities, great outcomes, and strong references—but still be blocked from certain opportunities because of licence status. QTS helps close that gap. And for me, that makes it worth doing.

If you are an experienced international teacher wondering whether the Assessment Only Route is worth considering, my view is yes—especially if you already have the classroom experience and want a recognised licence efficiently.