What is QTLS?

In short

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) is the professional status for teachers in further education and skills. It is awarded by the Society for Education and Training through a process called professional formation – and, with conditions, it can allow an experienced FE teacher to work as a qualified teacher in a school.

What it is, and who awards it

QTLS is the FE sector’s equivalent of QTS. It is not awarded by the Department for Education but by the Society for Education and Training (SET), the membership body that sits within the Education and Training Foundation.

You do not get QTLS simply by passing a course. You first complete an eligible initial teacher education qualification – typically the Level 5 Diploma in Teaching (FE and Skills) – and then go through professional formation: a period of evidencing your practice against the sector’s professional standards while working as a teacher.

QTLS and teaching in schools

This is the part most people want to know about. Government guidance states that “if you are an experienced post-14 teacher and have QTLS status and membership of the Society for Education and Training, you may be eligible to work as a qualified teacher in schools in England”.

Read that carefully, because three conditions sit inside it:

You must be an experienced post-14 teacher.
You must hold QTLS.
You must hold current membership of SET.

The condition people miss: recognition is tied to maintaining your SET membership, not just to having gained QTLS once. Unlike QTS, which you hold permanently, this is a status you keep up. If school teaching is part of your plan, treat membership as part of the qualification rather than an optional extra.

Government guidance points readers to SET for the detail, including guidance for headteachers on how QTLS equivalence works in practice. It does not set out induction arrangements, so if you are moving into a school, confirm what your employer expects before you accept a post.

QTLS and QTS compared

	QTS	QTLS
Sector	Schools	Further education and skills
Awarded by	Department for Education, via an approved ITT provider	Society for Education and Training
How it is earned	Completing ITT and meeting the Teachers’ Standards	An eligible ITE qualification, then professional formation
Ongoing membership needed?	No	Yes, for recognition in schools
Lets you teach in a state school?	Yes	Potentially, subject to the conditions above

There is also Advanced Teacher Status (ATS), a higher-level status offered by SET for experienced practitioners. Like QTS, EYTS and QTLS, holding it means you already count as qualified for the purposes of teacher training funding.

Check before you commit. Recognition arrangements between the two statuses have changed before and are set by government and by SET, not by us. Confirm the current position with SET and GOV.UK before making a career decision.

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