Choosing whether to go international to work abroad is perhaps one of the most important decisions you will ever have to make regarding your career. Working as a teacher in England presents both opportunities and obstacles: a good educational system, old-world school traditions, and proximity to Europe, but also a costly lifestyle, tough Ofsted inspections, and a recognized problem with teacher retention in England. As a qualified teacher from such nations as Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, the issue you need to ask yourself is not “Can I become a teacher in England?” but “Should I?”
Before you enter any classroom, you must learn how English infrastructure impacts your day-to-day activities. While car-based cultures exist, many English cities depend on public transportation, which may not be available in rural or suburban areas. When you take up an offer of employment in Hertfordshire, for example, it may be important for you to know that your school is located just 20 minutes away from the nearest train station. For these first few weeks of adapting to life abroad, having a means of ground transportation is crucial for completing tasks like shopping trips, banking errands, and visiting school. In these situations, you will appreciate the benefits of using services like Watford Private Hire for transportation. However, most teachers tend to end up purchasing a used vehicle or cycling due to the rapidly accumulating costs associated with using these private hire companies.
By far the simplest way for foreign teachers to come to the UK would be the Skilled Worker Visa, requiring that they receive a job offer from a Home Office approved sponsor (typically any school or academy). Furthermore, one should provide proof of their English language skills (in terms of passing the IELTS test or obtaining a degree in English) along with having Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Fortunately for teachers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, the Department for Education currently allows an accelerated conversion of credentials into QTS, which does not require any additional education. Other foreigners, however, will have to participate in an induction program. The Skilled Worker Visa costs somewhere around £1,500 to £2,000 for five years with an annual fee of £624 in form of the Immigration Health Surcharge. The most important factor here, though, is that one’s salary needs to meet at least the market value – currently standing at £20,960 per annum, while in reality being higher.
Teachers get paid according to a national pay scale with salaries running between M1 and M6 for mainstream teachers. For example, a new teacher earns around £30,000 while an experienced teacher can earn over £47,000 in inner London. This looks like good pay but remember to consider the cost of living. In London’s outer boroughs, for instance, rent on a one-bedroom apartment is about £1,300–£1,600 per month, and £800-£1,000 in affordable cities such as Manchester and Leeds. In addition, council tax stands at £100–£150. Energy bills have gone up tremendously and now cost an average of £150-£200 monthly. When you factor in tax, national insurance and pension payments (which you will be enrolled in automatically under the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, taking approximately 9% of your income), a teacher earning £35,000 brings home a net pay of about £2,200 per month after deductions. That leaves no room for expenses. Remember: Never take a teaching job in or around London unless you’re prepared to co-habit or come in from further away.
There are distinct differences between teaching in England compared to teaching in North America or Australia. Behavior management is always mentioned as the number one issue faced by teachers. State schools in poverty-stricken areas face disruptions, while selective schools and independent schools provide a peaceful environment. An Ofsted inspection can be extremely stressful, as an “Inadequate” rating causes mass resignations from a school. Workload is exceptionally high due to grading papers, planning lessons, filling in data forms, and attending parents’ evenings that take place outside school hours. Teachers spend on average 50 to 55 hours at work each week. On the bright side, teachers benefit from having shorter summer vacations (six weeks) compared to the three-month vacation in North America. They also have several half-term breaks every six or seven weeks. A supply teacher (substitute teacher) job is a viable choice for beginners earning between £120 and £180 per day, although no paid vacation time or sickness allowance is provided.
One of the benefits of being an educator is the holiday season. English teachers get to spend 13 weeks a year on vacation – 6 weeks in summer, 2 weeks at Christmas time, 1 week in February, 1 week during Easter holidays (sometimes two weeks), and 1 week in May. During the vacation period, the majority of educators leave their home countries for weather reasons or European vacations. Nevertheless, reaching an airport is always troublesome due to a large number of people leaving the town at the same time from trains. In case you live in the suburb of London and fly from Luton Airport (the airport that provides budget flights by airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet), you need to arrange your transportation properly to avoid delays and overcrowding in the trains holding a suitcase and a hand luggage. Booking a Watford to Luton Airport Taxi 1 week ahead of schedule will help you avoid delays in the train stations.
Also read: What Are Some Things to Know Before Moving to the UK
After considering all the factors for and against, the only way to decide is on the basis of individual circumstances. Go to England to teach if: you are under 35 and are looking for a working holiday (check out the Youth Mobility Scheme), you don’t have any dependants and are willing to cope with shared accommodation, you feel the urge to explore the continent, or you want to build a career with good prospects of a pension, including the excellent Teacher Pension Scheme of the United Kingdom. Don’t go to England to teach if: you are in debt or saving money, you can’t cope with winter that is cold and rainy (sunset at around 4 PM during November – February), you don’t like the bureaucracy that goes with the job, or you are used to the work-life balance seen in Scandinavia. Many teachers from overseas tend to stay for 2 – 3 years before returning home or moving to the Middle East in search of better pay. Some get entranced with Britain’s charms and end up staying there for many decades thereafter. What should you do? Start off with supply teaching for one term.
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