The UAE teaching license exam is almost here and this is that time of the year when teachers up and down the country are on their toes and looking to prepare for the exam as well as possible. The reason is that this test is the key to any teacher being able to successfully craft their teaching career in the country. Without holding this license, no teacher in the country can legally work at any school, college, or university. Therefore, this licensing test is the first step in the life of any professional teacher looking to make a career in the UAE. Seeing as this test is all the rage these days (and for good reason too), we decided to scour the teaching landscape in the country ourselves and bring you some valuable info about the UAE teacher license so that you can have a better idea in case you are a teacher looking to take the exam.   

To start off, you need to first have a proper understanding of the UAE teachers’ license test and what it actually entails. Known officially as the Teacher License System (TLS) UAE exam, this is a license/certification issued by the Government of UAE that allows all teachers in the country to legally perform their duties. It will be illegal for any teacher to work at any institution in the country without this license after the year 2020. So, if you plan on teaching in the United Arab Emirates, then you need to start preparing for this exam in order to be able to clear it and start your teaching journey in the country. In the past, it was called the Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS) UAE exam.

So, if you plan on moving to the UAE and building a career in the country’s education sector, then your obvious first step is to prepare for and take the UAE teacher certification exam. All teachers in the country must hold this license; otherwise, they cannot legally work in the country. However, there are some limitations to this program as of right now. The current registration cycle is only open for registration of high school teachers specializing in the following subjects.

• English
• Arabic
• Mathematics
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Biology

In the future, teachers of other subjects and other school levels will also be a part of the assessment process. But for the moment, all eligible teachers will be contacted through email and directed to register for the teaching license exam on the official website of TLS UAE. They will be asked to sign up and register by providing all relevant personal details as well as academic information. The registration process is completely free and would not cost the candidates anything. All expenses will be managed by the UAE government and the Ministry of Education itself. As mentioned already, only teachers of the subjects mentioned earlier in this piece have to register for now. Future assessments will include teachers of other subjects and other school levels as well.

After registrations are done, all teachers will have to sit a subject-specific exam meant to test their knowledge and expertise in their subject of specialization. Three months later, a second assessment will evaluate teachers’ comprehension of the UAE’s education system and prevalent teaching methods as well as culture and the issues teachers face in the execution of their responsibilities.

Teachers who successfully clear both tests will receive their teaching licenses having a validity of one, two, or three years. The duration of this validity will be dependent upon a candidate’s test score, academic qualifications, and teaching experience. Unsuccessful candidates will be given two more chances to take the test and pass. However, before sitting for a retake, they will have to undergo some specialized training designed to overcome candidates’ weaknesses. The kind of training required will depend on an individual teacher’s test result. The training time period will be anywhere between 1 to 6 months.

In this piece, we tried to bring you some basic info about the UAE teacher license exam. For more details, do not forget to visit the official website of the UAE Ministry of Education.