Overseas qualified teachers
Qualification requirements for teacher registration
To be registered as a teacher in Western Australia, you must hold a teaching qualification from an accredited initial teacher education (ITE) program or a qualification that the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia (TRBWA) recognises as equivalent.
If you completed your teaching qualification outside of Australia, the TRBWA will assess your qualification to determine whether it is equivalent to an accredited ITE program.
The TRBWA will generally recognise, as equivalent, a qualification (or combination of qualifications) where the qualification or qualifications:
a. include a program of initial teacher education at the Bachelor degree level or higher; and
b. total at least 4 years of (full-time or part-time equivalent) higher education study; and
c. include at least one year (full-time or part-time equivalent) of professional teacher education content; and
d. include at least 45 days of satisfactory supervised teaching practice undertaken at a primary or secondary school or early childhood education setting.
For more information, please refer to the Qualifications Policy.
Request for Qualification Advice
If you are unsure whether your teaching qualification meets the requirements for teacher registration, you may seek advice from the TRBWA before you apply for teacher registration.
The Request for Qualification Advice (online form) is available via Teacher Login. The fee for qualifications advice is $330.
Please note, the assessment undertaken for a qualification advice is only in relation to qualifications. All other registration requirements such as English language competency and fit and proper, will only be assessed when you submit an application for registration.
Provisional Registration (Returning Teacher)
If you believe your teaching qualification is equivalent to an accredited ITE program, you can apply for Provisional Registration (Returning Teacher) and your qualification will be assessed as part of your application.
The Application for Provisional Registration (Returning Teacher), (online form) is available via Teacher Login. For information regarding fees for Provisional Registration, please refer to the Schedule of Fees.
You will need to submit the following documents with your application for registration or request for qualification advice:
- degree parchment(s)/certificates(s);
- evidence of all units/subjects completed within the qualifications(s) (i.e. academic record, academic transcripts, Diploma supplement); and
- evidence of teaching practice completed within the program(s).
If your academic records or documents are in a language other than English, you must provide copies of the documents both in the original language and an official English translation.
English language requirements
If you did not complete your teaching qualification in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada or the Republic of Ireland, you will need to provide evidence of English language proficiency through the submission of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic) test.
You must have undertaken the test within 2 years of applying for registration and achieved an average of level 7.5 or more across the 4 components of listening, speaking, reading and writing, with no score below level 7 in any of those components and a score of level 8 or more in the components of speaking and listening.
For more information, please refer to the English Language Policy.
Overseas criminal history checks
If you have resided in a country other than Australia for a cumulative period of 12 months or more, from 18 years of age, during the 10 years prior to making your application, you will need to provide an overseas criminal history check from each country with your application for Provisional Registration.
While the Board will have regard to any evidence you provide with respect to your overseas criminal history, in order to provide reasonable assurance concerning the validity of the check, you must obtain a check from the Board’s preferred provider.
Australian (national) criminal history checks
You are required to provide consent for a national criminal history check when you apply for teacher registration with the TRBWA.
You will need to submit a completed ‘Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Application and Informed Consent Form’ along with four identity documents with your application for Provisional Registration.
If you are unable to provide the four identity documents required for the criminal history check, please provide as many documents as possible to confirm your identity. The TRBWA will assess the documents you have provided and will contact you for further evidence, if required.
For more information, please refer to the National criminal history checks page.
Processing times
Generally, most applications are finalised within 10 weeks.
Limited Registration
The category of Limited Registration enables a person to teach in Western Australia subject to an employer or school making an application for registration on their behalf.
The assessment for this category of registration revolves around whether or not the person has the required skills, expertise and/or qualifications(s) for the duties of the teaching position offered. In addition, English language requirements need to be met.
For more information, please refer to the Limited Registration Qualification and Skills Policy and Limited Registration English Language Policy.
Refer to the Publications page for the Overseas Qualified Teachers information sheet.