The iPGCE: qualifying overseas

With the development of the new iPGCE and iQTS qualifications, there has never been a better time for international music teachers to certify their practice, opening doors in the UK and beyond. Dr James Ingham of the National Institute of Teaching and Education hears from Kenya-based music teacher Namara Ruth Karatsi about her own experience.

Namara Ruth Karatsi teaching at Woodland Star International School, Nairobi - Jeff Hennessy

At the start of the academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) introduced the new International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) and updated the requirements for the International Post Graduate Certificate for Education (iPGCE). Both are equivalent to the domestic qualifications following the same structure, content and approach, allowing teachers all over the world the opportunity to train to British teaching standards and access British curriculum schools, both in the UK and further afield. While the iQTS is new for 2023/24, the iPGCE has been available to teachers for a few years.

Namara Ruth Karatsi completed her iPGCE in 2018 while working at GEMS Cambridge International School in Kampala, Uganda, where we worked together. A Ugandan national, she is currently a music and performing arts teacher at Woodland Star International School in Nairobi, Kenya, for primary and middle years. Before moving to Kenya, she taught music and drama at Braeburn International School in Arusha, Tanzania.