Written question WQ96626

Since 2021 any teacher who has qualified in any country outside of Wales has been able to apply to register with the Education Workforce Council (EWC) to teach in Wales. This is subject to their meeting the required standards and holding the relevant qualifications.

Welsh Government funds the EWC to develop and run the Educators Wales website which holds all the relevant information for anyone who is interested in working in the education workforce in Wales. The website also includes a free job portal for employers of teachers in Wales to advertise vacancies and access to this is available to anyone registering with the website.

Welsh Government also funds EWC to promote teaching as a career. The team attend careers fairs and other events both inside and outside Wales to promote teaching in Wales as a career as well as providing advice and support for anyone considering a career in Wales. EWC also offer support to help individuals with application processes and interview preparation.

Our marketing and communications teams run campaigns to attract more entrants into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) including activity on a UK wide basis.

From September, the new national professional learning and leadership body will be responsible for developing a range of professional learning to support my key priorities of improving literacy, numeracy and wellbeing and programmes to enable teachers progress along their career pathways. This professional learning will be available to all practitioners in Wales, including those who have trained outside Wales.

Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol also run Cadw Cyswllt to keep in touch with students from Wales, including student teachers, studying outside of Wales. The Coleg provide information on careers and opportunities, including teaching, to encourage undergraduates to return to Wales on completion of their studies.

In January I announced that we’ll be working with local authorities, Unions, Estyn and a range of other stakeholders to develop a Strategic Education Workforce Plan. The plan will embed our vision and values for leaders, teachers and support staff for the future, recognising that there are a range of important roles across the school workforce. Ensuring that teaching, leadership and supporting teaching remains an attractive career pathway will be a key consideration in the plan.