Hiring and Sponsoring Teachers of english as a foreign language (SOC Code 2317)

SOC code 2317 covers Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) on the UK's Skilled Worker occupation list — language schools, further education colleges, and private training providers can sponsor a genuine TEFL teaching vacancy against this code, provided the role and salary meet Home Office thresholds.

‍

What counts as a 2317 role

‍

The code sits within the wider teaching and educational professionals group and is meant for staff whose main duty is classroom instruction in English to non-native speakers — lesson planning, assessment, and curriculum delivery — not general administrative or recruitment-support roles inside a language school. A job title alone will not satisfy a Home Office caseworker; the actual duties, reporting line, and proportion of teaching hours need to match the SOC description on GOV.UK's eligible occupations and codes list. A director of studies who spends most of the week timetabling and observing other teachers, rather than teaching classes themselves, sits closer to a management role than 2317 — the split between contact teaching hours and administrative duties is often the first thing a caseworker checks.

‍

Salary: floor versus going rate

‍

Two figures apply together on every Certificate of Sponsorship: the general Skilled Worker salary floor and the specific going rate published for code 2317. Whichever is higher becomes the minimum you must pay, and a part-time timetable (common for TEFL) still has to pro-rate to that annual figure once hours are converted. Check current thresholds directly rather than relying on a remembered number — see our breakdown of the going-rate rules for Skilled Worker roles and the wider salary floor guide before issuing a CoS.

‍

Qualifications and English-language evidence

‍

Because the job itself is teaching English, caseworkers expect stronger-than-usual evidence that the sponsored teacher can actually do the work: a recognised TEFL/TESOL certificate (commonly CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL or equivalent), degree transcripts where the role requires one, and — if the sponsored worker is not from a majority English-speaking country — proof they meet the visa's separate English language requirement. Keep copies of certificates and any references checked at the point of hire; these sit alongside the standard sponsor record-keeping obligations set out in the Home Office's Appendix D record-keeping duties.

‍

A qualification gap that comes up often: a teacher trained overseas holds a general teaching diploma but no TEFL-specific certificate. That doesn't automatically rule out sponsorship, but you should be prepared to show why the person's combined training and experience meet the RQF3-equivalent skill threshold the code assumes — a bare assertion that someone is 'an experienced teacher' won't do the work a CELTA certificate does on paper.

‍

Safeguarding and DBS checks for junior and teen programmes

‍

Many language schools run junior or teen summer courses alongside their main adult provision, and sponsoring a teacher who will work with under-18 learners brings a safeguarding layer that sits outside the immigration rules but is just as likely to surface at inspection. A Disclosure and Barring Service check appropriate to the role, safer-recruitment references, and evidence the school followed its own safeguarding policy at the point of hire should all sit in the same file as the sponsorship paperwork. A sponsor licence isn't suspended for a missing DBS check on its own, but a school that can't produce basic safeguarding evidence for a teacher working with minors will struggle to convince a caseworker or an inspector that its overall compliance systems are sound — and that doubt tends to spread to the sponsorship file itself. Where a teacher's timetable moves between adult and junior classes across the year, keep a simple log of which cohorts they've taught and when the safeguarding checks were last renewed; our smart alerts and reminders guide covers building that kind of recurring-check habit into a compliance calendar rather than relying on memory.

‍

Genuine vacancy risk points specific to language schools

‍

Language schools often run seasonal or fluctuating enrolment, which raises a genuine-vacancy question a caseworker may probe at renewal or audit: is there enough sustained teaching demand to justify a full sponsored post year-round? Document actual student numbers, timetabled hours, and how the role differs from any resident-worker teaching staff. Right to work checks on any existing casual or hourly-paid tutors should also be current — our share code checking guide covers how to verify status correctly, and our enforcement visit overview explains what sponsors should expect without notice.

‍

Where a school's enrolment genuinely does drop off outside peak season, a fixed-term contract tied to an academic term or summer intake can be a legitimate way to sponsor the role rather than overstating a full-year vacancy that doesn't really exist. If you go this route, the Certificate of Sponsorship, the contract end date, and the reported end of employment on the Sponsor Management System all need to line up — a teacher who quietly carries on working past the contract's stated end date, even informally, creates a mismatch that's easy for an inspector to spot and hard for the sponsor to explain afterwards.

‍

Sponsoring a TEFL teacher who is already in the UK

‍

A common route into a 2317 role is a teacher who trained for their CELTA while already in the UK on a Student or Graduate visa, then looks to switch into sponsored employment once qualified. Switching from most in-country visa categories into Skilled Worker sponsorship is generally permitted, but the standard eligibility checks still apply in full — the role, salary and genuine-vacancy tests aren't relaxed just because the worker is already known to the school from casual or trial teaching. Treat an in-country switch application with the same rigour as sponsoring someone from overseas, and don't assume that prior informal teaching hours count as evidence of the qualifying skill level unless they were properly contracted and paid.

‍

FAQs

‍

Does a TEFL certificate alone qualify someone for sponsorship under 2317? A recognised certificate helps evidence genuine competence, but sponsorship depends on the role, salary, and Certificate of Sponsorship meeting Skilled Worker rules — the certificate supports the case, it doesn't substitute for meeting the going rate or genuine-vacancy test.

‍

Can a language school sponsor a part-time TEFL teacher? Yes, but the salary must still be pro-rated correctly against the full-time going rate for code 2317, and the sponsor should be able to show the part-time arrangement reflects genuine timetable need rather than an attempt to reduce the qualifying salary.

‍

Do I need a DBS check before assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship to a teacher who will work with under-18 students? The immigration process itself doesn't require a DBS check as a condition of the CoS, but safeguarding law and most schools' own policies do — get it done as part of onboarding rather than treating it as a separate, optional step, since a gap here undermines confidence in the sponsor's wider compliance record.

‍

What happens if a sponsored TEFL teacher's summer contract ends and they aren't reappointed for the next term? Report the end of employment on the Sponsor Management System within the required timeframe, the same as any other sponsored worker leaving — a seasonal or fixed-term contract doesn't change the reporting duty, it just means the end date is often known well in advance.