Educator Certification
Provisional Certificates
A provisional certificate may be issued when an applicant who holds a valid comparable certificate from another state does not meet all Illinois requirements. A provisional certificate is valid for two fiscal years, provided the holder meets the testing requirement within 9 months of the date of issue. A fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the next calendar year. The first year of a provisional certificate expires on June 30 following the date of issue.
A provisional certificate may be used during the period of its validity for appropriate employment. During the validity period, the holder must remove all listed deficiencies. Before requesting a provisional, the applicant should be aware of the following:
If all deficiencies are removed during the fiscal year in which the certificate was issued, the provisional will be exchanged for a regular certificate; no additional fee is required. If deficiencies are removed after June 30, a new application and fee are required for issue of the regular certificate.
- If a provisional is deficient for state tests, the holder
has 9 months to pass all tests. If tests are not passed during that period, the provisional will be
canceled. - If the holder passes the required tests within 9 months of the date of issue, he or she has 2 years from the date of issue to remove the remaining deficiencies.
- To receive a full first year on the provisional, applicants should request that it be issued after July 1.
- To have a full year of teaching before tests must be passed, applicants may request that the provisional be issued after August 15.
- State law prohibits issue of a second provisional certificate of the same kind.
