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Inquiries Regarding 189: Teacher for Secondary Education
I’ve recently received approval from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) as a secondary school teacher, and I’m exploring options to apply for an Australia 189 or 190 visa. I currently meet the points requirement based on my 5 to 8 years of professional experience, which is accurate. However, I face a potential issue: although I was trained as a secondary school teacher, I hold a single subject credential and my current position is teaching Theater at a primary school level. Prior to this, I did teach for one year at the secondary school level before being offered my current contract.
My main concern is whether I will need to submit evidence proving my 5-8 years of experience in secondary education, and if my application could be rejected based on the fact that my district identifies my teaching experience as primary education (which is similar to what happened with my initial AITSL application for primary school teaching).
Can anyone here provide some insights on the Expression of Interest (EOI) and visa application process? I want to avoid losing $4000 if my application is denied. 😰
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1 Reply
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Welcome to our community, Trisha, and thanks for your post! You’ve raised a very important point, and I completely understand your concern about risking a costly visa application.
For Skilled Independent Visa (subclass 189) or State Nominated Visa (subclass 190), your nominated occupation must align with your skills assessment outcome, and your work experience must be closely related to that nominated occupation.
Since you’ve now been positively assessed by AITSL as a Secondary School Teacher (ANZSCO 241411), you must ensure your EOI and visa application nominate this exact occupation. The Department of Home Affairs will then assess whether your claimed employment is “closely related” to that occupation.
Here’s what’s crucial in your case:
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Teaching Theatre at the primary level may not be considered “closely related” to the role of a Secondary School Teacher under ANZSCO 241411.
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However, your one year of actual secondary school teaching experience definitely counts, and if you had any other secondary teaching roles within the last 10 years, they may be counted as well.
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To claim points for 5–8 years of skilled employment, the work must have been:
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After you were qualified
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Full-time (or equivalent part-time)
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Closely related to the nominated occupation
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Since you already encountered this distinction during your AITSL assessment for primary school teaching, that same issue may come up again with Home Affairs during your visa application.
What you can do:
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Double check your employment references and contracts—if they describe your role using secondary-level descriptors, that may help.
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Avoid claiming experience that cannot be clearly shown to be “closely related” to secondary school teaching, even if it reduces your points—this helps avoid refusal.
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Consider applying under subclass 190, where some states may be slightly more flexible if your overall profile aligns with workforce needs.
Also, make sure your EOI aligns with the information on your AITSL assessment and that you do not overclaim work experience points that could be questioned later.
If you’d like to explore current teaching roles offering visa sponsorship, you can visit our job board here: https://482jobs.com
I hope this gives you more confidence in planning your next step. Let me know if you’d like help checking if you meet the points threshold under a more cautious work history claim.
Warm regards,
Mark
482jobs.com
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