Limited Authority to Teach (LAT)

The Education and Training Act 2020 requires that any person appointed to a teaching position must be registered and hold a current practising certificate issued by the Teaching Council.

A holder needs to have completed formal teacher training to have a certificate.

This usually prevents untrained teachers from teaching, and the preference is always to employ a formally trained and qualified teacher.

However, despite running a robust recruitment process, sometimes a teacher cannot be appointed due to a lack of suitably qualified applicants.

This means you may need to employ someone who is not a trained teacher but is either:

• Someone with a specialised skill (such as music or language) that is in short supply, or

• In a geographic area where there is a critically short supply of teachers.

In these situations, an individual who cannot obtain a practising certificate because they have not undertaken formal teacher training can apply for a temporary, time-limited authorisation to allow them to teach in a school.

These are known as a Limited Authority to Teach (often called a LAT).

How does someone apply for Limited Authority to Teach?

The Teaching Council handles the process, which is very similar to the process for applying for a practising certificate.

The individual applies for the authority rather than the school on their behalf.

Applications and renewals are detailed in the Teaching Council’s article For Limited Authority to Teachopen_in_new.

Note: approval is not guaranteed.
Therefore, if you have a preferred candidate you would like to appoint, it is suggested that they apply and gain approval prior to an offer of employment being made.

What are the employment arrangements for someone on a LAT?

Due to the restrictions placed by the Education and Training Act 2020, those on a LAT can only be employed using a fixed-term employment agreement.

The fixed-term duration will be the length of time the employee holds their LAT.

Further information and letter templates can be found in our article on fixed term employment agreements.

Remuneration is determined based on the pay scales for those holding a LAT as set out in the respective Collective Agreement:

• Clause 3.4 of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

• Clause 4.1.3 to 4.1.5 of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

• Clauses 3.1.4 and 3.1.5 of the Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

When their employment is due to end, the school should undertake a new recruitment process to identify if a qualified and registered teacher can now be engaged.

The current employee can also apply. If no suitable qualified and registered teachers can be engaged at that time (and they are, therefore, the best candidate for the position), they can be re-employed, provided they are granted a new LAT.

Can student teachers be on Limited Authority to Teach before their qualification is confirmed?

If the Teaching Council approves, a LAT can be used between the end of the student teacher’s course and their registration being approved provisionally.

There are some points to note about mentoring and the release of a beginning teacher while on a LAT.

The student teacher is not considered a beginning teacher for the purposes of entitlement funding and staffing as they technically have not completed their initial teacher training qualification until it is declared complete by their tertiary education provider.

If the teacher on a LAT is employed from the bulk grant, the board is liable for any relevant allowances.

As a good employer, a school will need to ensure appropriate mentoring and support are in place for the student teacher despite not receiving the additional staffing entitlement.

Any release time the school schedules for the student teacher to engage in induction and mentoring programme would have to be managed within the current staffing and budget.

Questions a principal could ask

• What should be done before hiring an employee on a Limited Authority to Teach?

• What kind of employment arrangement do I use for someone with a Limited Authority to Teach?

Templates, resources, and references

Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.

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Links from us

• Fixed term employment agreements

Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand

• For Limited Authority to Teachopen_in_new

The Education and Training Act 2020

• Section 92 – Restrictions on appointment of teachersopen_in_new

• Section 93 – Restrictions on continued employment of teachersopen_in_new

Collective Agreements

• Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

  • Clause 3.4 – Untrained Employees

• Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

  • Clause 4.1.3 – Base Scale – Untrained Teachers

  • Clause 4.1.4

  • Clause 4.1.5

• Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

  • Clause 3.1.4 – Base Scale – Untrained Teachers

  • Clause 3.1.5