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orpheus7876
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Posts posted by orpheus7876
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Yes that's a good point.
I was mainly thinking about this idea I've often heard from people, that "one must do two years in the UK because only then will you get QTS, and henceforth be able to get a job in an international school" - this idea is true to the extent that international school employers will want to see 2 years UK curriculum experience, however there is no necessity that one must do two years in the UK. What I'm sayin is, an international school that only recruited qualified teachers, could in theory hire someone with only one year's UK curriculum experience - that person doesn't need to have done an NQT induction. It's just a case of the improbability of it as a result of the int schools wanting more experienced candidates.
I'm guessing you can't really take short cuts though, because it will come back to bite you! But then again, I met someone who went off to teach in an international school after completing his pgce, though he had done a year as an unqualified teacher in the UK too.
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Hi, some useful information given here.
I just wanted to clarify a couple of things about what you said Claffey:
Did you spend in total two years in the UK (one doing your PGCE and one doing your NQT year)? Or did you just spend the one PGCE year there?
Also, you said that you are given QTS after you have completed your NQT year (this is what I had thought for a while) but I'm pretty sure that your PGCE year gives you Qualified Teacher Status and then the NQT year is the induction period you must complete by law if you are to work in a state-maintained school in England. Hence why it is called "newly qualifed teacher" (you are already qualified). I've heard you are given "a recommendation for QTS" upon completion of the PGCE year, but I think this still means that you are then qualified, not that you will only become qualified at the end of the NQT induction.
Have a look at the wording in the following government legislation, found at:
It does not say anything about becoming qualified after the induction period:
Requirement to complete an induction period
1.6
Subject to the exemptions listed in Annex B (see Schedule 1 of the Regulations), a qualified teacher cannot be employed as a teacher in a relevant school in England unless they have satisfactorily completed an induction period in accordance with the Regulations and this guidance. While NQTs are encouraged to start their
induction as soon as possible after gaining qualified teacher status (QTS), there is no set time limit for starting or completing an induction period.
1.7
There is no legal requirement to satisfactorily complete an induction period if an NQT intends to work solely in the independent sector, including an academy, a free school, a BSO, an independent nursery school or an FE institution. However, it may be possible for an NQT to serve a statutory induction period in such settings
as set out in this guidance.
Did you actually recieve a certificate of some kinf at the end of your PGCE that states you have a PGCE and QTS? If not, then perhaps I'm wrong.
The reason I ask is that the above legislation also seems to suggest that you don't have to do an NQT year in England if you had plans to work in an international school abroad (since all international schools are private and not state-run, I'm assuming). I'm in a similar situation as you were but I'm hoping to only spend a year completing my PGCE year and then find employment in an international school abroad. However, I suppose most international schools wouldn't be interested in someone with one year's UK curriculum experience right?
And that's another question: do international schools care whether the UK curriculum experience is gained in a UK school, or can it be in any school including international schools?
Cheers
Applying for Non B Visa at Thai Embassy in London
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted · Edited by orpheus7876
Introduction
Whilst this process did involve a lot of confusion, stress, time and expense, it didn't go drastically wrong, which I guess is a plus.
As per the new arrangements for obtaining the non b visa, one is required to fill in an online application form, pay online, and then book an appointment at the embassy. You are then required to pick up the visa the following working day (see http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7495/81753-How-to-Apply-for-a-Visa-in-Person.html)
Type of non b visa and cost
I applied for a single entry non b visa which is only valid for 3 months. If you do the same, ensure you factor in enough time when you get to Thailand to apply for a work permit, i.e. if you’re due to start your new job at the beginning of August, don’t go and get the visa at the beginning of May or June, because your non b visa may expire before your work permit is ready, and then you’ll have to re-apply for a non b again (sometimes employers can be slow to sort out the work permit).
The cost of the single entry non b is 60 pounds.
As far as I can remember, I wasn’t actually given the option to apply for a multiple entry non b visa.
Police check from previous countries worked in
The first round of confusion occurred when I was told by my new employer in Thailand that in order to obtain the visa I was required to take my police clearance letter not only from the UK, but also from the country I had previously worked in to the embassy (amongst all the other necessary documents). Due to a delay in obtaining the latter, I was worried that I would not be able to secure an appointment at the Thai embassy in time before I left the UK (I had made travel plans). However, I found out that once the online visa application (on the Thai embassy's website) is completed, you can pretty much book an appointment for the next day (at least in my case). Furthermore, I eventually found out that I also didn't need to bring any police check other than the UK one.
The online application
Completing the online visa application is pretty stressful because it crashes several times as you attempt to complete it. Fortunately, the site is able to retain most of the data you enter so it's a case of going back to the beginning and clicking next over and over again. I think you have to make sure you click 'save' on every page.
Uploading documents
In the online application you finally get to the page where you need to upload relevant documents. This stage is pretty confusing.
Below is a list of the documents as it is stated that you need to upload on the site:
Unfortunately, my employer sent me a bunch of documents which were in Thai so I was unable to determine which documents corresponded to those that needed uploading. Additionally, the site only lets you upload one file per document type, and this file must be below 0.5Mb in size. Because of this file size limit, you most probably will not be able to upload more than about 2 pages for each document type required (as a pdf). So you may need to use an online pdf splitting tool. Ultimately, you have to use your best guess as to which documents correspond to which required document type, and you will have to upload those documents you think are most relevant/ important, because you will not be able to upload more than about eight pages in total (including your police check letter), due to the file size limit.
Booking appointment and receiving confirmation.
When you have uploaded the documents, you pay and book your appointment. As I have mentioned, I was able to book an appointment for the following day (which was a relief). However, a new problem then emerged in the online application process. I was given the option to print the confirmation of my application which included a bar code, but I was unable to print this document. I simply clicked and nothing happened. The only option I had was to ‘print screen’ and save the screen capture. The current screen had a small bar-code displayed so I thought that this might suffice – AND THANK GOODNESS I DID THAT! It turned out that this was essential for obtaining the visa: when I later went to the embassy, others I spoke to said that they had received a confirmation email of their application, and they had printed this out. However, I didn’t receive anything! I checked my email thoroughly including junk box. I also know that I gave the correct email because I had initially received an email when I created an account on the site. The lady working at the desk in the embassy told me that she specifically needed the print-out of this confirmation in order to process the visa application. I explained my situation and how I did not receive the email, and then provided her with the print-out of my screen capture and fortunately she accepted this. She then said that I needed to bring in another copy of this screen capture the following day when picking up the visa otherwise the visa would be rejected! So, if anyone encounters the same problem I had, I would strongly recommend doing a screen capture of the final stage of the online application (that displays the bar code) and printing this out and bringing two copies with you. Please note: because I was somewhat doubtful that this screen shot of the bar code was of high enough quality so as to be readable by a bar-code scanner, I used image-editing software to increase both the bar-code’s size and sharpness. Perhaps this was unnecessary, but I didn’t feel like taking any chances. It was the uncertainty over the clarity of this bar code which caused me to worry for 24 hours!
Going to the embassy and documents to bring
Surprisingly, there was not much of a queue when I got there and didn’t have to wait long. You will see that there is a supposed ticket system, but I think that can be ignored, because nobody ever announces any numbers. The appointment system seems to be pointless – I think you could probably turn up any time during their working hours (9-12), so don’t worry if you are early or late.
Regarding documents to bring, I spent hours preparing all the necessary documents to bring along with copies. In the end the only documents I needed were my passport and UK police check (as well as the screen capture of the bar-code discussed earlier - which scanned fine).
Nonetheless, for your information below are the documents that my employer stated I needed to take to the embassy. Note that this list doesn’t include the documents that my employer had already sent me and which I had already uploaded during the online application process.
Again, the only documents that I ultimately needed to take to the embassy were the UK police check, passport and confirmation page with bar-code. However, I would advise taking all these things (as well as employer’s documents) just in case.
Collecting the visa
The following working day you can collect the visa. This is a bit of a joke since it requires one to stay in a hotel for the night, or travel back in. I did the latter and it costed me about one hundred pounds in total in train fares.
It says on the embassy’s website that you should collect between 11-12; however, I was told I can come from 9-12. It’s common sense, but when you get the visa just check it’s actually in your passport and has the correct information before you leave and someone else is seen to.
Conclusion
Though the process was confusing and caused me to worry for a whole day whether my visa would be accepted or not, it was fine in the end. I have experienced the same visa application process for another country, namely Kuwait; the latter was a LOT more arduous as it involved various medical tests, attestation of documents, etc.