If you are a fully qualified primary teacher who has qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland, you can apply to register as a primary teacher with the Teaching Council.
You are deemed to be a fully qualified teacher if you:
- Completed a recognised teacher education qualification and programme of induction, and
- Can provide an official letter confirming you are fully qualified primary teacher from the relevant teacher registration body or Competent Authority or Ministry of Education in that country. A list of competent authorities can be found by clicking here.
We assess your qualification to ensure it is of a comparable standard to those achieved by graduates of accredited programmes in the Republic of Ireland.
If there are significant differences, conditions (qualification shortfalls) will be applied to your registration.
In line with EU Directive 2005/36/EC, all applications from teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland are processed individually and in the same manner, regardless of whether they qualified within or outside the EU.
There are three stages to the assessment process:
- Application
- Assessment
- Registration
1. Application
- You must apply online (see below).
- Save the required documents you need as electronic files using relevant filenames, e.g., degree transcript.
- Submit the online application form, uploading the documentation and pay the assessment and registration fees.
- You can save your application and return to it later. You have three months from the date you start your application to complete and submit it.
- If your application is not completed after three months, it will be deleted.
- You will receive an acknowledgement email when your application has been submitted.
- If any documentation is missing, we will contact you by email.
- Your application can take up to 12 weeks to process from the date we receive all documents needed.
- Application guidelines for registering as a primary teacher (PDF)
- Apply online using My Registration and select the PRQA-01 option.
2. Assessment
The application is decided by the Qualifications Panel which is made up of Teaching Council members or in certain circumstances, the Director of the Teaching Council.
Registering with conditions
If there are significant differences between your qualifications and the registration requirements in the Republic of Ireland, we will apply conditions (qualification shortfalls) to your registration.
If you are registered with one or more conditions, or your application is refused, we will write to you by email with this decision. You can request a review of the decision by the Registration Review Group, within 21 days of the Panel’s decision.
You can complete these conditions on your registration by:
- Doing an aptitude test (module/course of study), or
- Teaching in the area of the shortfall (adaptation period)
You normally have three years to do this but the time period may be extended in certain situations.
All applicants applying for registration as a primary teacher will have the condition of Irish Language Requirement applied to their registration.
3. Registration
Your registration will be finalised providing that all other requirements have been met relating to:
- Character reference
- Vetting
- English language requirement.