ScotErin

Brilliant of you to reach out on here with this information! I will be keeping an eye on the forum once I qualify in the UK and am following the advice from Marisawright and others to expand on the subjects I teach to improve my chances. Yes, Modern Studies is essentially current affairs, citizenship and politics, but Modern Studies teachers here in Scotland will often teach other Humanities too like History and Geography - so I will get as much under my belt as I can. Thanks for sharing this and I will certainly come back to the forum in the future with more experience and my qualifications gained. Thanks for your help on this - I really appreciate it. I am delving into the specific curriculums of several states to understand if/ how my subject might fit into the curriculums. Good to know this kind of outreach can be found here, so thanks again!

I see what you mean.. Hopefully can expand on what subjects I can teach. That is a good point - I have considered a few UK/Scotland based migration agents and will get the ball rolling soon! I know! The issue is I am not clinically trained and I work within a very specific area of health (Forensic Mental Health) so my options are quite limited. Also, when reading up on the skills assessment for a practice/service manager or similar it seems that the applicant needs several years to qualify for the skills assessment .I would be prepared to do this but for the sake of my own mental health I am looking to leave the NHS and the mental health sector in particular. Also, when considering job opportunities in Oz for service managers, I have noted that many require the applicant to have a degree and experience in nursing (and other more specific than this, such as menta health nursing, childrens nursing etc) which is not the case here in NHS Scotland - many managers have no clinical experience. I think essentially the competition is very fierce because there will be many highly skilled and highly qualified nurses/ clinicians who would be a better applicant for a ledership position.

Apologies for my typos above haha. Thank you all for your responses, I am going to focus on my career and expanding my experience before getting advice from a migration agent in the future. This has been helpful to ground me a bit, and has encouraged me to think about more about my back up plans as Oz is seeming less and less likely - I will certainly still give it my best shot though! Cheers everyone

I will be teaching modern studies because that is the only subject I am currently able to complete a PGDE in. I have a degree in Social Science and a masters in Helathcare Leaderhsip so my university credits apply to the PGDE Modern Studies opposed to a more mainstream subject such as Maths/ Science etc. No one advised me to become a teacher in order to move to Australia - I m becoming a teacher because I enjoy working with young people and love the Social Sciences. I have worked in other sectors in which my chances of moving to Oz would be even lower so I have focusd on gaining 'professional' qualifications to better my chances. I am trying my best with what I have, I am not an engineer or a tech wizz so I have considered the paths that are even remotely possible for me and are also something I actually want to do! Hence why I am becoming a teacher, it may not be the most in-demand professional right now but its something I can actually be good at and may open a door for me if I focus on being heads above the competition. I appreciate you are being brutally honest but I just wanted to clarify this point. Thanks

Apologies, this was meant to read 'minimum' in the OP. I understand there is no minimum experience for the skills assessment, sorry I may be confused - I meant more for how many points I can claim as less than 1 year experience I thought meant no points claimed.. Thank you for clarifying! Hello, thanks for your reply - thats good to know. I am planning on using a migration agent but closer to the time as this is likely to be a good few years away and visa requirements may change/ I may change haha... I just want to explore my general options now so I can best plan, consider if it is even worth pursuing and best prepare myself to make the best possible visa application I can. In terms of WHV, I have considered that over the years but it does not suit my family needs so I am looking for a more permanent solution - even if it takes me much longer. I am more than happy to live in a regional area rather than the cities. I will definately explore getting experience over the coming years in more popular subject areas to better my chances - thank you very much for your advice!

Hello! Yes the PGDE is a post graduate diploma that is completed after a four year honours undergrad degree and is completed at university, it can also be completed to masters level which I hope to do. I hoped to move to a regional area because as you say there is more demand for teachers, and I am happy to live just about anywhere to be honest in order to get my foot in the door.. Thank you for your response Yes absolutely - Modern Studies is similar in subject matter to Social Science or Politics that may be taught elsewhere but it is unfortunate for my chances that it is not an in demand subject! I would not be able to gain experience in a STEM subject as I have no qualifications but I hope to teach other humanities such as History and Geography which are more broadly taught than my core subject. Thanks!

Hello all, I am hoping to move to Aus permanently and have been pursuing this dream for many years. I have secured a place to complete my PGDE in Scotland in order to teach in secondary schools. The PGDE is followed by the Probationary year in which I am guaranteed a teaching position for one academic year teaching my core subject in a secondary school in Scotland. I will be teaching Modern Studies, which is a Social Science/Humanities subject. The PGDE is equivalent to the PGCE in England, and the Probation year is equivalent to what they call the NQT year in England (just for clarity). I am leaning towards the independent visa as from what I have heard not many schools (particularly state schools where I hope to work) are willing or eager to sponsor foreigners. So I feel I would be best placed to have my visa secured and the appropriate certification for the state prior to making applications to work. Correct me if I am wrong on this please! So – onto the questions. I gather that for maximum points on an independent or even a nominated visa I will want to have at the very least 3 years of professional experience. I wondered if anyone has a similar background – was your probationary/ NQT year classed as experience? Secondly, I have read online in several places that the application can take up to two years (for an EOI). If this is the case, can I apply prior to having the minimum experience on the basis that I will have those years behind me by the time I receive a decision on my EOI? So, for example – apply after my probationary year but accepting I will not be moving for a good while and after I have gained more experience. I hope this makes sense, I just want to make it clear I fully respect the migration process and feel I have skills that would prove beneficial to Australia. Thank you for taking the time to read my query! Erin

Thank you for this information. I will be in my late twenties by the time I am ready to move with 8 years of professional experience (but only three in this specific role). Essentially I am just looking for tips on how to best present myself to stay for more than the three year WHV which I intend to do (subject to being granted and completing essential work of course). I hope that I can gain further experience in my current role while on the WHV so thank you.

Thank you for your advice Paul! Yes, having looked at this particular skilled role you are right it is definitely out of my league at this time. I am unsure if I would fit into other skilled job categories without several years of very specific experience.. this is off topic but I wondered if you may have any comments on it if possible - is it common for brits to gain a more permanent visa (such as a nominated 186 with a job offer) while on a working holiday visa (417)? I have been researching non stop and the options seem endless but at the same time very challenging to achieve, so just trying to assess my options for long term residency in Australia while hopefully being able to re embark a career in my field at some point.. Thank you in advance for any replies

Hi everyone, I am new here and have only recently started to do real research into the 189 visa which I am really hoping I will be eligible for in a few years.. Basically, I am currently employed as a “general management trainee” for the Scottish NHS under a graduate scheme. I work full time and am paid a full time salary however for the first two years I am still classed as a “trainee” essentially. I am hoping that by the end of my three year graduate scheme I could be considered under the minor group 134 Education, Health and Welfare Service Managers (also hoping it is still on the list by the time I am eligible to apply!) with three years experience working within a hospital. My responsibilities do correlate with the above listed however I am cautious of the fact that my current job title still refers to me as a graduate trainee and that my responsibilities are not listed in my contract (this is because these vary depending on what hospital you are based in). Does anyone know more about this, struggling to find info online.. or has anyone had experience with a graduate job being classed as “skilled”. Many thanks in advance, Erin