Eligibility explained

The Education Training Foundation (ETF) is committed to driving professionalism and improving teaching and learning in the further education (FE) and skills sector.  The eligibility criteria have been designed in collaboration with the Department for Education (DfE) and the FE and skills sector and is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains fit for purpose and meets the needs of the sector. 

Please note that we can only confirm your eligibility once we have reviewed your completed application. Please ensure you have read and understood the criteria before applying.

 

Qualification certificates

You will be required to evidence all qualifications achieved by submitting relevant certificates. Certificates must be dated before the application portfolio submission deadline: 

If your qualification was awarded outside the UK, the UK ENIC statement of comparability  is required, in addition to the qualification certificate, transcript and certified translation.  

If you need to complete a missing qualification as part of your resubmission (should you be required to resubmit), it must be dated by the resubmission deadline.  

All qualifications must be fully accredited and Ofqual-regulated.  

Last updated May 2026.
The criteria on this page is applicable to the October 2026 and January 2027 cohort application window only.

 

eLIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be in a suitable position to apply, you need to:

Be a current member of the EDUCATION TRAINING FOUNDATION (ETF)

  • Your membership grade must be MSET (Member) or FSET (Fellow)
  • If you are not yet a member, find out more and join today.
  • Professional formation leading to QTLS is only open to individuals with ETF Membership.

 

Be employed in a salaried capacity in a FE and Skills setting teaching groups of post-14 learners

Eligible setting examples: 

  • General further education colleges 
  • Independent training providers 
  • Adult education providers 
  • Offender learning 
  • Sixth form colleges 
  • MoD/Armed Services training providers 
  • NHS training providers 


SEND settings (FE and skills and secondary schools):

  • All eligibility criteria also apply to SEND settings.
  • If you are teaching groups with fewer than five learners in any SEND setting, either in FE and skills or secondary schools, please refer to the exceptional circumstances for group size.  
  • If you are teaching in a SEND setting in a school you also need to meet the exceptional circumstances related to technical/vocational subjects taught. This means that the subject you are teaching must be on this list, you must be teaching learners of the specified age for that subject, and your teaching should be leading to a technical qualification in that subject.


Settings and roles not eligible: 

  • Primary schools – you should undertake QTS, as this is specifically designed for teachers in schools 
  • Secondary schools – you should undertake QTS, as this is specifically designed for teachers in schools **
  • Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) **
  • Voluntary teaching placements 
  • Higher Education Institutes  
  • Teaching assistant roles* 
  • Cover supervisor roles 
  • Private tutoring 

*If you are in the main role of classroom teacher, but are formally employed under a job title other than teacher, lecturer, or manager (eg: HLTA, TA, etc.), you can apply and will need to provide a signed letter from your organisation confirming that you are in the role of main classroom teacher to support your application.

**These settings may be eligible if you meet the entirety of the criteria plus the exceptional circumstances for teachers working in schools. 


Which setting?

  • When an organisation operates across multiple settings, the Standards and Status team will review the Ofsted report and the information provided on the organisation’s website to identify whether the setting falls within the FE and skills sector or under the school's remit. 


Exceptional circumstances: 

  • Secondary school settings where you teach one or more accepted technical subjects for a minimum of 230 hours across the 6-month professional formation period. This will need to be taught to post-14 or post-16 learners depending on the subject taught. Please refer to our list of eligible technical subjects for school settings.

 

Be teaching/training groups of five or more* post-14 learners for a minimum of 230 hours over 6 months  

  • You must be in regular teaching practice for the duration of the professional formation period.  
  • You need to be in the role of main classroom teacher/trainer with all the responsibilities of planning, delivery, assessment and classroom management.
  • Voluntary teaching hours and tutorial sessions, including group tutorial sessions, cannot be accepted as part of the 230 teaching hours.  
  • In exceptional circumstances applicants may be able to start professional formation leading to QTLS with groups that have fewer than five learners.

To do this the applicant must: 

  1. Meet and achieve all standard QTLS eligibility criteria.
  2. Provide an employer agreement signed by a senior leader in the organisation in the application portfolio. The employer agreement will evidence the following:
    • Your organisation's support for you to access teaching and learning with groups over five or more learners during your professional formation.
    • You may be teaching, co-teaching, or observing. This may be inside your own organisation, or in another organisation in FE and skills.
  3. Complete an additional reflective validation activity during your professional formation programme.

 

Have identified a suitable qualified supporter

Your supporter should be appropriately qualified to pass judgements on the evidence you collate, for example, a line manager or head of department. Your supporter should be a qualified and experienced teacher.

Ideally, your supporter should be a member of ETF, but this may not be possible in all cases. Find out more about who can be your supporter. 

 

Hold an accepted FE and Skills teaching qualification at Level 5 or above

  • View the list of accepted ITE qualifications. 
  • If you have not received your official teacher training certificate before the application submission deadline, we will accept your transcript/Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) report on the basis that you can provide the official certificate. We will review your application and will invite you to supply the certificate (and any other incomplete or missing evidence as part of the resubmission window). 
    • For the QTLS-Oct26 cohort, the resubmission deadline is 5pm, Thursday 15 October 2026.
    • For the QTLS-Jan27 cohort, the resubmission deadline is 5pm, Tuesday 5 January 2027.
  • The official teacher training certificate and all other certificates must be dated before 1 October 2026 for the QTLS-Oct26 cohort; and 1 January 2027 for the QTLS-Jan27 cohort.
  • If you need to complete a missing English, maths or subject specific qualification as part of your resubmission (should a resubmission be required), it must be dated by the resubmission deadline.
  • If your ITE qualification is a Diploma or a DET awarded in 2026, you will also need to provide either:
    • A transcript which confirms the start date of your ITE qualification
      OR
    • A letter from the ITE provider which confirms the start date of your DET.

 

Hold an accepted Level 2 maths qualification  

 

Hold an accepted Level 2 English qualification  

 

Hold a Level 3+ qualification in subjects that you teach for five or more hours per week

  • If you teach all your subjects for fewer than five hours per week, at least one Level 3 or above subject-specific qualification is required. This must be in one of the subjects you are teaching.  
  • If you are teaching in a technical/vocational subject in any setting, we may accept a Level 2 qualification if you have significant vocational experience in industry (five or more years) prior to teaching, evidenced via a current CV.   
  • If you deliver teacher training programmes for five or more hours per week, in addition to a subject specific qualification, you must also demonstrate that you have a minimum of five years' teaching experience within FE and skills, evidenced via a current CV.    
  • If you teach in a SEND setting within FE and skills, you must evidence a minimum of a Level 3 or above subject specific qualification in any subject. A regulated level 3+ SEND qualification may be acceptable. During professional formation, you will be required to develop Professional Standard 11 (PS11) as part of your professional development plan and CPD activities. 
  • If you teach in a SEND setting in an organisation formally designated as a "school", the exceptional circumstances for teachers working in schools apply.
  • All qualifications must be fully accredited and Ofqual-regulated.