Asylum seekers
and refugees

Professional qualifications gained overseas

To obtain recognition of your professional qualifications, it is necessary to contact the 'designated authority' for your profession in the UK. The Higher Education and Research Opportunities in the UK (HERO) website the official online gateway to Higher Education, offering information on HE institutions, universities and colleges – contains links to the main professional bodies in the UK.

For some professions you will need to register with the relevant professional body before you will be allowed to work. This includes (amongst others) medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacology, law and teaching. Links to some relevant websites are listed below:

• Accountancy - Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• Civil Engineering - The Institution of Civil Engineers
• Dentistry - General Dental Council
• Engineering - Engineering Council UK
• Health - Health Professions Council
• Law - Law Society of Scotland
• Medicine - General Medical Council
• Nursing - Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Pharmacology - Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
• Teaching - General Teaching Council for Scotland

For further information, advice and guidance on careers visit the Careers Scotland website.

Glasgow Overseas Professionals into Practice(GOPiP) GOPiP is a project set up to adapt the skills of nurses and midwives educated overseas, for work in the National Health Service for Scotland. Run by Glasgow Caledonian University, the GOPiP project provides the academic support and clinical supervision these professionals need to bring them into work for the NHS in Scotland. You can contact the Project Co-ordinator at Glasgow Caledonian University - telephone 0141 3318352 or email GOPiP@gcal.ac.uk.

National schemes for asylum seekers and refugees with professional qualifications

There are a number of national schemes that have been designed to assist asylum seekers and refugees who have previous professional qualifications.

• Find out more