Teacher Migration to Australia: Early Childhood and School Teaching Pathways Explained

If you are a teacher considering skilled migration to Australia, one of the most important questions to answer is not simply, “Am I a teacher?”

It is: “Which teaching occupation best matches my qualifications and professional training?”

That distinction matters because Australian migration requirements are not the same for every type of teacher.

An Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher is currently assessed for skilled migration purposes by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). School-teacher occupations such as Primary School Teacher, Secondary School Teacher and Special Needs Teacher are assessed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). ACECQA took over the skilled migration assessment function for Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher from AITSL on 7 December 2024.

That means migration planning for teachers needs to begin with the occupation and assessing authority, followed by a careful review of qualifications, supervised teaching practice, English evidence, registration requirements and the skilled migration pathway itself.

Here is what teachers should review before building a General Skilled Migration strategy.

Early Childhood Teaching and School Teaching Are Different Migration Occupations

The first mistake to avoid is treating all teaching backgrounds as if they fall under one migration assessment system.

They do not.

For skilled migration purposes, Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher, ANZSCO 241111, is currently assessed by ACECQA. ACECQA's published assessment standards require an applicant to hold an ACECQA nationally approved early childhood teaching qualification, or an equivalent qualification, and meet the applicable English-language requirement. If the qualification is not already approved, ACECQA can assess it under the National Quality Framework as part of the migration skills assessment process.

AITSL, meanwhile, currently provides migration skills assessments for school-teacher occupations including:

• Primary School Teacher, ANZSCO 241213

• Middle School Teacher, ANZSCO 241311

• Secondary School Teacher, ANZSCO 241411

• Special Needs Teacher, ANZSCO 241511

• Teacher of the Hearing Impaired, ANZSCO 241512

• Teacher of the Sight Impaired, ANZSCO 241513

• Special Education Teachers nec, ANZSCO 241599

AITSL specifically advises applicants to choose the school-teacher occupation most relevant to their teaching qualifications.

This is why your current job title alone should not determine the occupation you nominate.

The assessment needs to look at what you studied, the level and age group your teacher training prepared you to teach, your initial teacher education program and your supervised teaching practice.

Early Childhood Teachers: Start With the ACECQA Qualification Standard

For an Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher migration assessment, the qualification itself is central.

ACECQA's current standard requires an ACECQA nationally approved early childhood teaching qualification or equivalent. Applicants whose qualification is not already recognised as an approved ECT qualification may have it assessed for equivalence under the National Quality Framework as part of the skills assessment.

A migration review should therefore establish:

• the exact title of your qualification

• the institution that awarded it

• the level and duration of study

• whether it appears on ACECQA's approved qualification lists

• whether an equivalence assessment may be required

• whether you can provide the required academic documents

• whether you satisfy ACECQA's English requirement

ACECQA's current supporting-document guidance includes the official qualification parchment, academic transcripts covering all years of study, identity documents and English-language evidence for the Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher occupation. Documents not in English need to be provided with an appropriate translation.

The important point is that an overseas qualification called “Early Childhood Education”, “Preschool Teaching” or something similar should not automatically be assumed to meet the Australian migration assessment standard.

The content and recognition of the qualification need to be reviewed.

Primary and Secondary Teachers: Your Initial Teacher Education Must Match the Occupation

For school-teacher migration assessments, AITSL takes a qualifications-based approach.

AITSL currently requires a minimum of four years of full-time university-level study, or the part-time equivalent, resulting in qualifications and including a relevant initial teacher education qualification. Both the qualification and English-language criteria must be met for a successful assessment.

Importantly, that initial teacher education, or ITE, needs to be relevant to the occupation being nominated.

AITSL describes ITE as the qualification that prepares a person to teach in a school classroom or educational setting. It needs to include professional education studies and supervised teaching practice relevant to the age range for the nominated occupation.

This becomes particularly important when deciding between occupations such as Primary School Teacher and Secondary School Teacher.

For example, AITSL's current Secondary School Teacher criteria require at least one year of relevant secondary-teacher initial teacher education and at least 45 days of supervised teaching practice involving students across the relevant secondary age range in a secondary school setting.

So being employed as a secondary teacher does not, by itself, establish that a person's qualifications meet the migration assessment standard for Secondary School Teacher.

Your academic training and supervised teaching practice matter.

Special-Needs Teaching Requires an Even More Targeted Qualification Review

Special-needs and special-education cases should be reviewed separately rather than grouped into a general “teacher” category.

AITSL describes Special Needs Teacher as a specialist-qualified teacher working with students who have learning difficulties or other special needs in school settings.

Its published criteria require the general teacher-education framework as well as relevant specialist study. For Special Needs Teacher, AITSL currently specifies one year of full-time equivalent special-needs study resulting in an appropriate higher-education qualification. Where that specialist study forms part of the initial teacher education qualification, the supervised teaching practice must also be completed in a special-needs setting.

AITSL also distinguishes a Special Needs Teacher from Special Education Teacher nec. The latter applies to specialist fields of special education that are not covered by Special Needs Teacher, Teacher of the Hearing Impaired or Teacher of the Sight Impaired.

This is exactly why the occupation should be selected after reviewing the academic documents rather than simply copying the applicant's current employment title.

Supervised Teaching Practice Can Be Critical Evidence

For school teachers, one of the most important documents can be evidence of supervised teaching practice.

AITSL requires applicants to provide appropriate academic evidence, which can include final award certificates, academic transcripts and official evidence of supervised teaching practice from the awarding university.

A teacher may have many years of professional employment and still face an assessment issue if the initial teacher education qualification or supervised practice does not align with the nominated occupation.

AITSL expressly states that its school-teacher skills assessment is qualifications-based and that work experience before or after completion of the initial teacher education qualification does not substitute for the qualification criteria.

That distinction is particularly relevant for experienced international teachers.

Years spent teaching can still be important elsewhere in a migration strategy, including points calculations where the relevant requirements are met, but professional experience should not be assumed to fix a qualification problem in the AITSL skills assessment.

English Requirements Need to Be Checked Against the Correct Assessing Authority

Teachers often ask whether IELTS, PTE or another English test is required. The answer depends partly on the assessment being undertaken.

English for Early Childhood Teacher Assessment Through ACECQA

For Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher, ACECQA's current published standards allow English proficiency to be demonstrated through several specified options.

These include qualifying tertiary study in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom or the United States, or Academic IELTS with at least 7.0 in Reading and Writing and 8.0 in Speaking and Listening. ACECQA's current guideline states that the relevant IELTS test must have been undertaken within the previous three years. ACECQA also lists a teacher-focused ISLPR pathway and, in certain cases, consideration of an eligible professional employer reference.

English for AITSL School-Teacher Assessments

AITSL also assesses English language proficiency separately from the broader English requirements that may apply to the eventual visa.

Its current process allows the English criterion to be satisfied through an eligible study pathway or an acceptable Academic IELTS result. AITSL's published IELTS criterion uses at least 7.0 in Reading and Writing and 8.0 in Speaking and Listening.

There has also been an important recent change.

From 13 July 2026, AITSL extended the validity of Academic IELTS results for its skills assessment from two years to three years.

AITSL's current English guidance states that it does not accept PTE, TOEFL, Cambridge or other English tests as alternatives to IELTS for the test-based skills-assessment option. Its separate study pathway may apply where the required study conditions are satisfied.

This is an important planning issue. An English result that may be accepted for one migration purpose should not automatically be assumed to satisfy the assessing authority's separate English requirement.

A Migration Skills Assessment Is Not the Same as Teacher Registration

Another common source of confusion is the difference between a skills assessment and teacher registration.

They perform different functions.

For school-teacher occupations, an AITSL skills assessment is used for skilled migration purposes. Teacher registration, on the other hand, is administered by the relevant state or territory teacher regulatory authority and provides the statutory authority to teach in that jurisdiction.

AITSL specifically confirms that Australian teacher registration is not required before applying for an AITSL migration skills assessment. However, a teacher who intends to work in Australia will need to satisfy the applicable registration requirements of the state or territory in which they teach.

Holding registration does not automatically remove the need for an AITSL skills assessment when one is required for migration.

Likewise, receiving a positive AITSL assessment does not automatically mean that all state registration requirements have been satisfied.

The two processes should therefore be planned together but assessed separately.

For early childhood teachers, there can similarly be different qualification, regulatory and employment requirements depending on the role and jurisdiction. ACECQA itself distinguishes a migration skills assessment from other qualification-assessment functions under the National Quality Framework.

The Skills Assessment Is Only One Part of the Migration Pathway

Receiving a suitable skills assessment is important, but it is not the end of the migration review.

For points-tested General Skilled Migration pathways, applicants may need to consider the Skilled Independent subclass 189, Skilled Nominated subclass 190 or Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 visa, depending on the occupation and applicable requirements.

Home Affairs requires an EOI through SkillSelect before an applicant can be invited for these pathways. The current minimum points threshold is 65, but Home Affairs specifically states that meeting 65 points does not guarantee an invitation.

For a teacher, the broader review should therefore consider:

• nominated teaching occupation

• correct skills assessing authority

• qualification suitability

• English evidence

• age and points

• skilled employment evidence

• current location

• state or territory nomination opportunities

• regional options

• registration planning

• current visa and expiry dates, if already in Australia

• partner circumstances and potential partner points

• timing of the skills assessment, EOI and nomination process

Different skilled occupation lists apply to different visas, so the occupation's current eligibility must also be checked before relying on a specific pathway.

Why State Strategy Matters for Teachers

For many teachers, the strategy should not stop at asking whether the occupation appears on a skilled occupation list.

Subclass 190 and state-nominated subclass 491 pathways involve state or territory nomination, and those jurisdictions can apply their own nomination criteria and priorities.

That makes the applicant's complete profile important.

Two Secondary School Teachers with similar qualifications and points can still have different strategies because one may be working in a particular state, another may be offshore, and another may be willing to relocate to regional Australia.

Likewise, an early childhood teacher should not assume that a positive ACECQA assessment automatically means every state pathway is available.

The assessment answers one important question: whether the applicant meets the skills-assessment standard for the occupation.

The visa and nomination strategy answers another: where can that occupation and applicant profile realistically be used?

What Should a Teacher Migration Review Cover?

A useful teacher migration review should connect all of these pieces.

It should confirm the likely nominated occupation, determine whether ACECQA or AITSL is the appropriate authority, review the applicant's qualifications and transcripts, examine supervised teaching practice where relevant, assess English evidence and identify whether teacher registration needs separate action.

From there, the migration review should calculate the applicant's points, check applicable 189, 190 and 491 options, consider state and regional pathways and identify any timing issues that could affect the strategy.

The goal should not simply be to obtain a skills assessment. The goal should be to understand how the skills assessment fits into the wider migration pathway.

• Is ACECQA or AITSL the assessing authority for early childhood teachers?

  For new migration skills assessments for Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher, ACECQA is the assessing authority. This function transferred from AITSL to ACECQA from 7 December 2024.

• Who assesses Primary and Secondary School Teachers?

  AITSL assesses the relevant school-teacher occupations, including Primary School Teacher and Secondary School Teacher.

• Who assesses Special Needs Teachers?

  Special Needs Teacher and the other listed special-education teaching occupations are assessed by AITSL. Applicants need to ensure that their specialist qualifications align with the particular occupation they nominate.

• Can teaching experience replace an AITSL qualification requirement?

  Generally, no. AITSL states that the school-teacher skills assessment is qualifications-based and professional experience does not substitute for the required qualification criteria.

• Do I need Australian teacher registration before obtaining an AITSL skills assessment?

  No. AITSL confirms that you can apply for a skills assessment without Australian teacher registration. Registration is a separate process required for teaching in the relevant Australian jurisdiction.

• Can I use PTE instead of IELTS for an AITSL skills assessment?

  For AITSL's test-based English pathway, no. AITSL currently specifies Academic IELTS and states that it does not accept PTE, TOEFL, Cambridge or other tests as substitutes for that option. A separate qualifying-study option may apply.

• Does a positive skills assessment guarantee a skilled visa invitation?

  No. A positive skills assessment can be a required part of the skilled migration process, but visa eligibility, points, state nomination and invitation requirements are separate. Home Affairs currently states that even reaching the 65-point threshold does not guarantee an invitation.

Build Your Teacher Migration Strategy Around the Right Occupation

Teacher migration planning is not simply about proving that you have worked as a teacher.

For an early childhood teacher, the strategy may begin with an ACECQA assessment of the early childhood teaching qualification.

For a primary, secondary or special-needs teacher, the review may instead focus on AITSL's qualification criteria, initial teacher education, supervised teaching practice and English requirements.

After that, the occupation needs to be connected to the applicant's points, state opportunities, regional options and personal timeline.

If you are an early childhood, primary, secondary or special-needs teacher, Think Visa's GSM Occupation and State Strategy campaign is designed to help you review those factors together rather than looking at your occupation or points in isolation.

Explore our GSM Occupation and State Strategy campaign here: https://www.thinkvisa.com.au/gsm-occupation-and-state-strategy

This article provides general information and is current as at September 2026. Skilled occupation settings, assessing-authority requirements and state nomination criteria can change. Individual circumstances should be reviewed before relying on a particular migration pathway.