Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are offering to people from Hong Kong who have come to the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) visa to help them take up teaching positions.

From 1 February 2023, teachers who are already qualified and recognised as teachers in Hong Kong are able to apply to have their qualification recognised with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England, without additional training. This means that they can apply for teaching roles that require QTS.

For those looking to train to teach in physics and languages, bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 are available, including to those with a British National (Overseas) visa.

For those who are considering coming to England, we have introduced an international relocation payment worth up to £10,000 to help overseas physics and language teachers and trainees, including those from Hong Kong, to relocate.

Schools looking to complete safeguarding checks in order to employ teachers from Hong Kong can currently provide assistance to these individuals with a letter which can be used to apply for a Certificate of No Criminal Conviction from the Hong Kong authorities. Our statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, also sets out alternative safeguarding processes that schools can follow. This can be found attached.