Employment provisions - Requirement for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

 

New teachers in academies must have or be working towards qualified teacher status and undertake a statutory induction period. Currently there is no requirement for academies to engage qualified teachers or require teachers to undertake induction. It is understood that it will still be possible to employ unqualified teachers in certain circumstances – as is currently the case in the maintained sector. Additionally, the Bill seeks to extend the statutory induction requirement Early Career Teachers (ECTs) working in specified primary and secondary academy setting.

The requirement will come into effect from 1 September 2026. Schools will have to review and potentially amend their recruitment process to ensure potential candidates have QTS or will be actively working towards QTS before being classroom duties.

The above analysis relates to Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which has not yet become law and may be subject to change as it passes through Parliament. We will be posting updates to this page if there are any key developments but the above may not reflect the latest changes to the legislation.  Please contact our School Support (schoolsupport@wslaw.co.uk)  or Schools HR (schoolshr@wslaw.co.uk) teams if you require an update on the latest status of the Bill.