Sponsoring Visas for US Teachers NOT in a shortage subject?

Hello all! I am back to posting after a hiatus where I returned to the US and taught for 5 years. I have been looking off and on at returning the the UK as looking back it was a poor decision to leave when I did.

My question is - if I have a school interested in hiring me, would they even be eligible to become a sponsor for me as I am not a Maths of Physics teacher? Are the schools given some leeway in deciding who is a good candidate?

Additional info: I worked at this school in the past when they were sponsoring several teachers back in 2008. They have since then not kept their sponsorship status and the foreign teachers, including myself, returned home. I am not in a current shortage subject that is listed on the immigration site, but as I said the school is willing to advocate for me to return. I don't want to waste their time as they are lovely and could instead spend their time focusing on more likely candidates.

Any feedback is appreciated.

In order to sponsor you they have to conduct a resident labour market test.  That means they  have to advertise the job and prove there are no suitable applicants who don't need to be sponsored for a visa to fill the position.  They really don't have any leeway. If there are local applicants who can fill the position, they can't offer a job.

Advertising on TES generally fulfills this requirement right? They have struggled to find people in the past that were suitable for the position.

Any ideas on how that affects things for non shortage subject teachers?

See from page 85 of this document which explains the requirements for conducting a resident labour market test.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/371099/Tier_25_Sponsor_Guidance_11-14.pdf

Thanks! I guess I just need to hope that my subject goes back on the shortage list like some are predicting.

Thanks! I guess I just need to hope that my subject goes back on the shortage list like some are predicting.

Are you a Biologist? English teacher? Hmm... if you listen to the unions all teachers will be shortage in the near future! I do think there are still a lot of unemployed teachers about...

English, though I hate to admit it online for fear of grammar mistakes

That's why I wanted to check, lots of articles on how difficult schools are finding it to find teachers in English. That is why my former school would be interested in having me back. When I was hired before, the head of English had mentioned my cover letter was the only one that didn't have a ton of errors that prevented her from wanting to hire me. I also know that number of teachers doesn't always related to how each area affects the shortage. Like I'm in an area of Ohio where teachers are plentiful, but that doesn't help places in Arizona where they aren't, and I'd change careers before moving to Arizona to teach.

I was also confused because not a day after I had done some research about the possibility and told them it didn't look good I had an e-mail from an agency about working with an academy chain as an English teacher, so evidently they CAN get visa's for non-shortage subjects in some instances.