PR Pathway for Teaching and Education Graduates in Australia (2026)

If you trained as a teacher overseas and are wondering whether that qualifies you for permanent residency in Australia, the honest answer is: it depends entirely on which teaching occupation you fall under, and the difference is bigger than most guides let on. Some teaching occupations sit on Australia’s Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) with a full pathway to points-tested permanent residency. Others – including, surprisingly, Primary School Teacher – sit on the Short-term list only, which quietly rules out two of the most commonly assumed routes.

This guide sources every occupation, list status and fee directly from the Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) – the national assessing authority for most classroom teaching occupations – so you can see exactly where your qualification stands before you spend a cent on an assessment.

Quick Facts

The One Thing Most Guides Get Wrong: Primary School Teacher Is Not on the Long-Term List

It is easy to assume that because Australia regularly reports teacher shortages, every teaching occupation gives you the strongest possible migration pathway – a points-tested Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) and eligibility for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485). Checking the current skilled occupation list directly shows that is not true for two of the largest teaching occupations by graduate numbers:

• Primary School Teacher (ANZSCO 241213) and Middle School Teacher (ANZSCO 241311) sit on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) plus the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) only. That rules out the subclass 189 points-tested stream and the subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa. You can still be sponsored by a state (190/491) or an employer (482/186).
• Secondary School Teacher (241411), Special Needs Teacher (241511), Teacher of the Hearing Impaired (241512), Teacher of the Sight Impaired (241513) and Special Education Teachers nec (241599) sit on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) plus CSOL – the full pathway, including 189 and 485.
• Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher (241111) is also on MLTSSL plus CSOL with the full pathway, but is assessed by a different authority entirely – the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), not AITSL.

Teaching Occupations on the Skilled Occupation List

For how ANZSCO codes, assessing authorities and the skilled occupation lists work in general, see our skills assessment and skilled occupation list guide. This is the full picture for the classroom and specialist teaching occupations, sourced directly from the Home Affairs skilled occupation list tool. “Full pathway” means MLTSSL-eligible occupations that can use the 189 points-tested stream and the 485 Temporary Graduate visa in addition to state and employer sponsorship. “Sponsored only” means STSOL or ROL occupations limited to state nomination (190/491) and employer sponsorship (482/186/494) – no 189, no 485.

A smaller set of private-tuition teaching occupations – Art Teacher, Dance Teacher, Music Teacher and Drama Teacher (Private Tuition), plus Private Tutors and Teachers nec – also appear on the list under VETASSESS, generally on STSOL or ROL with narrower visa access. These sit outside the mainstream classroom-teacher story this guide focuses on, but they exist if a private-tuition specialisation is your occupation.

The AITSL Skills Assessment: What It Actually Checks

For the seven AITSL-assessed occupations above, the skills assessment is a fixed, two-part test: your qualifications, and your English language proficiency. You need to meet both to pass – meeting one does not compensate for falling short on the other.

1. Qualification requirement: a minimum of 4 years of full-time (or part-time equivalent) university-level study that results in a qualification including a relevant initial teacher education component.
2. English requirement: met either through a recognised study pathway or a suitable Academic IELTS Test Report Form – AITSL publishes a dedicated English language proficiency fact sheet with the exact bands accepted.
3. Occupation-specific checklist: AITSL publishes a separate document checklist for each of the seven occupations (Primary, Middle, Secondary, Special Needs, Hearing Impaired, Sight Impaired, Special Education nec) – use the one matching your nominated occupation, not a generic form.
4. Application Guide and Applicant Portal: applications are lodged online through AITSL’s Applicant Portal; migration agents applying on a client’s behalf follow a separate information page.
5. Assessment outcome: AITSL states most assessment-ready applications are completed within 4 weeks, with some taking up to 6 – though AITSL has noted a significant increase in application volume that may extend these timeframes. An incomplete application or incorrect documents will delay processing further.
6. Optional Skilled Employment Statement (SES): once you hold a Skills Assessment Certificate, you can request a separate SES summarising your relevant skilled employment, which can support your score under the points test.

Two Separate Processes: Skills Assessment vs Teacher Registration

This is the same distinction that trips up nursing graduates between ANMAC and AHPRA, and it applies just as directly here. An AITSL skills assessment is only for skilled migration purposes – it tells the Department of Home Affairs that your qualifications and English meet the standard for your nominated occupation. It does not give you permission to teach in an Australian classroom. To actually work as a teacher once you are in Australia, you separately need to register with the teacher regulatory authority in the state or territory where you plan to work:

• Victoria: Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) – see our full guide to VIT registration for the step-by-step process and costs.
• New South Wales: NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
• Queensland: Queensland College of Teachers (QCT)
• Western Australia: Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia (TRBWA)
• South Australia: Teachers Registration Board of South Australia
• Tasmania: Teachers Registration Board Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory: Teacher Quality Institute (TQI)
• Northern Territory: Teacher Registration Board of the Northern Territory

Each authority sets its own fees, evidence requirements and processing times, and these change often enough that we link out to the official state page rather than quoting figures that go stale. If Victoria is your target state, our dedicated guide above covers VIT’s requirements in detail; for every other state, start directly on the regulator’s own website.

Visa Options Once You Have an Occupation and an Assessment

Which visas are realistically open to you depends on where your occupation sits on the list above.

The Skills in Demand visa (482) Core Skills stream and the Employer Nomination Scheme (186) Direct Entry pathway both carry an annual market salary requirement – the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) was AUD $79,423 following the 1 July 2026 indexation, confirmed directly from Home Affairs. A school or education employer sponsoring you would need to demonstrate the position meets this threshold. For the general mechanics of how state nomination and employer sponsorship work, see our dedicated guides on state nomination visas (190 and 491) and employer-sponsored visas (482, 186 and 494).

What This Means in Practice

If you trained as a Secondary School Teacher, a Special Needs or Special Education teacher, a teacher of hearing or sight impaired students, or an Early Childhood teacher, you have the same broad set of options as any other MLTSSL occupation: build points, consider state nomination if it suits your circumstances, or line up employer sponsorship, potentially working toward the 189 points-tested stream independently.

If you trained as a Primary or Middle School Teacher, the realistic sequencing looks different. Your strongest routes are state nomination – many states actively nominate primary teachers for regional and hard-to-staff schools, since teacher shortages are frequently reported at the primary level despite the occupation’s STSOL status – or employer sponsorship through a school willing to sponsor a 482 or 186 visa. Neither of those requires you to independently qualify under the points test the way a 189 application would.

In both cases, the AITSL skills assessment is still very likely the first real step, since state nomination, the 482 Core Skills stream and the 186 Direct Entry pathway all still require a positive skills assessment in your nominated occupation – the assessment is not optional just because you are STSOL rather than MLTSSL.

Frequently asked questions

Last verified: 30 August 2026, against the Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list and AITSL’s official fees and application-process pages. Skilled migration rules, occupation lists and fees change regularly – always confirm current details directly with Home Affairs and AITSL before acting, and consider speaking with a MARA-registered migration agent for advice specific to your situation.