Are you a Physics teacher looking to move to England to teach? Have you heard of the IRP but unsure of what it is exactly? Did you miss the October 2023 application deadline?
The International Relocation Payment (IRP) is a one-off payment of £10,000 that the UK Government are offering to financially support Languages and Physics teachers from outside of the UK to teach in English schools.
And applications re-open in January 2024!
The payment is intended to cover the following:
- Visa costs
- The immigration health surcharge
- Other relocation expenses
The IRP is being piloted during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years for Languages or Physics teachers coming to train or work within these time periods. The payment will be made towards the end of the teacher’s first term, and does not need to be repaid. Eligible trainee teachers may receive a bursary or scholarship as well as the IRP.
Overseas Languages and Physics teachers have been chosen to apply for this payment as there is a shortage of teachers from these subject areas in the UK.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to qualify for the IRP, Language and Physics teachers will need to meet the following conditions:
- Must be coming to England to work or train in either the 2023-2024, or 2024-2025 academic year on a contract which lasts at least a year
- Must have moved to the UK no more than 3 months before the start of their job or course
- You may combine one subject with another, but Languages or Physics must make up at least 50% of your classroom time
- You can be a General or Combined Science Teacher, but you must teach the Physics element of these subjects
- You must come to England on one of the following visas:
- Skilled Worker visa, Youth Mobility Scheme, India Young Professionals Scheme visa, Family visa, UK Ancestry visa, British National (Overseas) visa, High Potential Individual visa. Most teachers will require the Skilled Worker visa.
Non-Eligibility
The following criteria would make you ineligible for the IRP:
- Being a UK citizen, including a citizen of Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
- Being an Irish citizen
- Being a non-UK citizen who moved to England to live permanently more than 3 months before the start of your job or course
- Being in England on a dependent partner visa linked to your partner’s Skilled Worker or Student visa
- Only teaching English language
- Having an employment contract lasting less than a year
- Being employed by a recruitment agency – Please note that an agency can find you a place in a school, but the contract must be with the school itself. Your salary must also be paid directly by the school, not the agency
How the IRP Works
The IRP scheme is different depending on whether you are a fee-paying trainee, or a salaried teacher or trainee:
- Trainees on fee-paying courses: Do not need to apply for the IRP, as their training providers will pay the IRP directly to them, alongside bursaries the trainee is able to receive
- These fee-paying trainees should receive their IRP around the end of their first term
- Salaried Teachers and salaried trainees: Should apply for the IRP from the Get into Teaching website
Next Steps
If you are interested in applying for the IRP but have seen that the 31st October deadline has now passed, do not worry!
Applications for the IRP will re-open between 2nd January 2024 and 29th February 2024.
Physics and Language teachers are encouraged to express their interest in the IRP by emailing irp.expressinterest@education.gov.uk. You will receive a reminder email when applications open in January 2024.
If you have any further questions about the IRP, you can email teach.inengland@education.gov.uk
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