If you are a qualified teacher planning to migrate to Australia, one of the first and most important steps may be obtaining a positive skills assessment.
For most school-teaching occupations, the assessing authority is the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). AITSL assesses whether your qualifications, English-language ability and supervised teaching practice meet the requirements for Australia’s skilled migration programme.
It is important to remember that an AITSL skills assessment is for migration purposes. It is separate from teacher registration, which is required before you can teach in a particular Australian state or territory.
You can find AITSL’s official migration information here.
The two parts of an AITSL assessment
1. Skills Assessment: Document Evidence
This is the compulsory first stage. The current AITSL fee is AUD $1,154.
Your application will generally include:
Qualifications and academic transcripts
Evidence of your initial teacher education qualification
Proof of identity documents
Evidence of supervised teaching practice
Evidence that you meet AITSL’s English-language requirement, where applicable
A positive skills assessment confirms that your education and training are suitable for your nominated teaching occupation.
2. Skilled Employment Statement (SES)
The Skilled Employment Statement is optional and currently costs AUD $255.
It becomes important if you want to claim skilled employment points for teaching experience in an Australian skilled migration application. AITSL can assess relevant post-qualification teaching employment and issue a statement confirming the periods that can be recognised.
To begin claiming overseas skilled employment points under the Points Test, applicants generally need at least three years of relevant skilled work experience.
Your employment evidence must be carefully prepared. AITSL relies on formal statements of employment from the relevant school or employing authority. These should be on official letterhead, signed and dated, and confirm the role, dates of employment, hours worked, school setting and age range of the students taught.
Teaching experience must be relevant to the occupation being assessed. For example, experience teaching an age group outside the range of your nominated occupation may not be accepted for that occupation.
Qualification requirements
AITSL requires at least four years of full-time equivalent higher-education study. This must include a recognised initial teacher education qualification.
For many South African teachers, this is commonly met through either:
A Bachelor of Education degree; or
A bachelor’s degree in another field followed by a recognised postgraduate teaching qualification, such as a PGCE.
The teaching component of the qualification must be at least one year of full-time equivalent study and be comparable to an Australian bachelor’s degree or higher. The other qualifications making up the four years of study must also meet AITSL’s minimum higher-education level.
Short courses, professional-development programmes and incomplete qualifications are not counted towards the requirement.
Supervised teaching practice: the crucial 45-day requirement
Applicants must normally show that they completed at least 45 days of supervised teaching practice as a compulsory part of their initial teacher education qualification.
This must have taken place in a school setting, under supervision, and must be confirmed by the university that awarded the qualification. AITSL generally requires an official university letter that sets out the dates, number of days, setting and age range of the learners taught.
The age group completed during supervised teaching practice is particularly important, as it helps determine the occupation for which you can be assessed.
Applicants whose studies were affected by COVID-19 should obtain detailed supporting confirmation from their university. Each case needs to be considered against the evidence available and AITSL’s current requirements.
Which teaching occupation applies to you?
Primary School Teacher
Primary School Teachers are qualified to teach learners aged 5 to 12 years in a primary-school setting.
To be assessed as a Primary School Teacher, the required supervised teaching practice must be within the 5 to 12 age range.
Middle School Teacher
Middle School Teachers are qualified to teach learners aged 10 to 15 years.
The 45 days of supervised teaching practice must cover this age range. Where teaching practice was split between upper primary and lower secondary school, AITSL requires at least 10 days with learners aged 10 to 12 and at least 10 days with learners aged 13 to 15.
Secondary School Teacher
Secondary School Teachers are qualified to teach learners aged 13 to 18 years in a secondary-school setting.
The supervised teaching practice must be relevant to this age range.
Special Needs Teacher
AITSL can also assess Special Needs Teacher applications where the applicant’s qualifications include the required specialist study and relevant supervised teaching experience. This pathway requires a closer review of the qualification structure and supporting evidence.
English-language requirement
Many applicants must provide an Academic IELTS result. AITSL’s standard requirement is:
At least 7.0 in Reading and Writing; and
At least 8.0 in Listening and Speaking.
The scores must generally be achieved in one test sitting and be valid when the AITSL application is submitted. Some applicants may be able to meet the English requirement through qualifying higher-education study in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States.
English requirements are often one of the biggest planning points in a teacher migration case, so it is best to deal with this early.
Early Childhood Teachers: assessed by ACECQA, not AITSL
Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers are no longer assessed by AITSL. Since December 2024, the assessing authority for this occupation has been ACECQA, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.
For this pathway, supervised professional experience remains highly important. Applicants generally need 45 days of supervised experience, including at least 10 days with children from birth to under three years old, as well as substantial experience with children aged three years to before formal schooling.
If an applicant does not meet the early-childhood requirements, it may be worth assessing whether their qualification and teaching practice instead align with the Primary School Teacher occupation.
Final thoughts
A teacher’s AITSL application is not simply about having a teaching qualification. The structure of the qualification, total years of study, supervised teaching days, learner age groups, English test results and post-qualification work experience can all affect the outcome.
Before lodging an application, it is essential to review the university documents closely and make sure the nominated occupation matches the evidence.
If you are a teacher considering Australia, our team can assess your qualifications, supervised teaching practice and work history, explain the correct pathway, and help you prepare a complete application.