Updated 16 October 2026. This guide is about England, and about agencies placing staff in London schools. It does not state a pay rate.
How do teaching agencies in London work?
A teaching agency introduces you to schools and arranges the checks the placement needs. Daily supply, long-term cover and a permanent job are different kinds of work. Pay depends on who employs you and what the written terms say. Registration does not guarantee a booking.
Impact Teachers is IMPACT TEACHERS LIMITED, company 05624051, incorporated on 15 November 2005. The London office is at 1-13 Falcon Road, London, SW11 2PL. Schools use a different route from candidates. A school should start at the schools page or contact, not the candidate form.
What happens when you register
You complete a registration and speak to a consultant about phase, subject, settings and the boroughs you will travel to. Before you work in a school you need the right to work in the UK, references, and the safeguarding checks the employer must make.
For most school work the employer must get an enhanced DBS check. Where the work is regulated activity, a barred list check for children is also required. DBS checks: guidance for employers and regulated activity with children. Holding a certificate already is not the same as the placement having finished its checks. Prove your right to work. If you have lived overseas, ask which criminal-record check is needed from that country. Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.
The agency can explain the paperwork. It cannot give immigration advice. If you need a visa, use the official route and a qualified adviser.
Daily supply, long-term cover and permanent jobs
Daily supply is cover confirmed at short notice, often the evening before or the same morning. You follow the teacher’s existing plan and the school’s behaviour policy. Keeping children safe in education is the safeguarding guidance for England.
Long-term cover is a placement that runs for weeks or a term, for example maternity cover. A permanent job is employment by the school. An agency may introduce you. The contract, if you are offered one, is with the employer named in it.
Current teaching and support vacancies are listed separately from this guide. How daily supply works in London is the page for the shape of a supply day.
Teaching assistants, LSAs and HLTAs
These are not the same job. A teaching assistant supports the class teacher with the class, a group or a pupil. A learning support assistant, in many London schools, supports a named pupil or a small group with an identified need, though some schools use the two titles for the same post. An HLTA has met the 33 professional standards. A Level 4 certificate on its own does not confer that status.
Read the advert, then read TA, LSA and HLTA in London schools. Jobs are listed separately: teaching assistant jobs, LSA jobs and SEN teaching assistant jobs.
Early career teachers and supply
Early career teacher, or ECT, is the current name. NQT is the old one. Induction is not a pay scale. In a relevant school, a teacher who has not finished induction can do short-term supply of less than one term only for five years from the award of qualified teacher status. That limit is fixed. A placement of less than one term cannot count towards induction, because it does not give the experience, support and assessment the Teachers’ Standards require.
After those five years, the same guidance says the teacher can teach in a relevant school only in a post of one term or longer, and only while undertaking induction. Some settings, including academies in the circumstances the guidance describes, are treated differently. Read Induction for early career teachers (England) and the June 2026 statutory guidance before you rely on a booking to complete induction. Qualified teacher status is explained at qualified teacher status.
Teachers coming from overseas
You can register while you are still abroad. Plan around a term start if you want a longer booking. September and January are the usual points. Bring the documents in the registration section, and ask the employer which overseas criminal-record check it needs.
Qualification recognition and the right to work are your checks to complete. The agency can say what a school will ask to see. It should not tell you that a particular visa is the right one for you.
How to choose an agency
Ask which places it actually fills, and how often it places your phase or subject. A wide claim is not the same as a booking next week. Registering with several agencies at once can produce two bookings for the same morning. Two or three is a practical limit. Tell each one when you are already booked.
Questions worth asking:
- Who employs me on a daily booking, and who employs me on a long-term one?
- Is the figure gross pay, and is holiday pay included or shown separately?
- Is the assignment PAYE or through an umbrella company?
- How much notice do you give for daily supply?
- Which boroughs do you cover for my phase?
- If I am an ECT, will this booking count towards induction, and who provides it?
Agency workers: your rights covers the key information document and the right to comparable treatment after the qualifying period. The twelve-week rule is a separate guide: the supply teacher 12-week rule.
Pay
There is no single rate for agency teaching in London. A school-employed salary under the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document is not an agency day rate. Ask who pays you, what the gross figure is, and how holiday pay and deductions are shown.
Classroom teacher pay is set out in the teacher pay guide. How to read a supply figure is in the supply pay guide. Teaching assistant grading is in the teaching assistant pay guide. Starting pay for a new teacher with qualified teacher status is in the early career teacher pay guide.
Register
Register with Impact Teachers. Say what you teach or support, where you can work, and when you can start. Registration does not guarantee an interview or a placement.
Browse teacher jobs in London, Wandsworth, Hackney and Greenwich. Those location pages are examples, not a full list of boroughs.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need UK school experience before registering with a London teaching agency?
You can register without UK school experience. You still need the right to work, the qualifications the role requires, and the checks the employer must make. An enhanced DBS check is required for most school work. If you have lived overseas, ask which criminal-record check is needed from that country.
Can I choose which London boroughs I work in?
Yes. Tell the agency which boroughs you will travel to. Daily supply is easier to fill if you can cover more than one borough. Naming a preference does not guarantee work there.
What documents do I need before I can work?
Bring proof of your right to work, the qualification certificates you hold, and professional references. For most school work the employer must obtain an enhanced DBS check, and a barred list check for children where the work is regulated activity. Overseas criminal-record checks are separate. Registration does not finish those checks.
Does short-term supply count towards early career teacher induction?
No. A supply placement of less than one term cannot count towards induction. A teacher who has not completed induction can do that short-term supply in a relevant school only for five years from the award of qualified teacher status. After that, the June 2026 statutory guidance says they need a post of one term or longer and must be undertaking induction. Some settings are treated differently, so read the guidance for the type of school.
Is there one pay rate for agency teaching in London?
No. Pay depends on who employs you, the role and whether the figure is gross pay or an umbrella assignment rate. Ask how holiday pay is shown. School-employed classroom teacher pay is explained in the teacher pay guide. Agency supply is explained in the supply pay guide.
