Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with the British Council on supporting the recruitment and retention of international teachers, including through improvements to visa sponsorship, induction and professional development.

Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child. While our focus is on increasing the number of high-quality domestic teachers, international teachers make a valuable contribution to the teacher workforce in many subjects, including modern foreign languages. This is reflected in visa arrangements, where international teachers can qualify for a skilled worker visa if they are paid in line with teachers’ national pay scales, rather than the higher salary threshold which applies to most occupations.

To support schools in recruiting the teachers they need, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Home Office and the British Council.

Guidance on recruiting and retaining international teachers is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recruit-teachers-from-overseas.