Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills status applications open for new cohort

Applications are now open for the next Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) cohort. QTLS is a recognised professional status, gained after successfully completing a six-month period of Professional Formation and maintained through membership of the Society for Education and Training (SET). 

Applications for this QTLS cohort are open until the 30 November, with the programme starting in January for successful applicants. The Professional Formation programme enables practitioners to show progression and commitment to excellence within the Further Education and Training sector. Practitioners who achieve QTLS status are added to the professional register, where future employers can check their status.  

Since its introduction in 2008, more than 26,000 professionals have achieved QTLS. This year, a new application process has been introduced, giving applicants the opportunity to demonstrate their suitability to undertake Professional Formation. Applications will cost £50, and successful applicants will then pay an additional £475 programme fee to undertake Professional Formation. There will also now only be one Professional Formation cohort per year and the award of QTLS status for each cohort will happen in August. Read our recent news item with more detail about the changes to QTLS, including updated eligibility criteria. 

Lucy May, Lecturer in Access to HE and T Levels Healthcare at Basingstoke College of Technology, explains how QTLS directly impacted her practice in our recent QTLS story: “My teaching approach and style is much more evidence-based. I have a lot more tools to manage difficult situations in the classroom and feel more prepared for anything that can pop up unexpectedly. My assessment methods are better. I undertook some research on increasing the homework completion rate and now the completion rate is much higher than it has been in previous years.”  

Andrew Dowell, Head of Professional Status and Standards at SET, said: “QTLS provides an opportunity to take that next progression step in your career. It’s an opportunity to thoroughly examine your practice against the sector’s Professional Standards and identify your strengths and areas for development so you can hone your practice and directly benefit your learners.”