Annual Salary
£21,000 to £32,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Swap to Childcare or Training or go back to all job sectors
EFL teachers help students learn or improve their English in the UK and abroad.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; flexibly
There will be
4.3% more English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher jobs in 2027.
In this role you will:
You could work at a language school, at a college or from home.
You can get into this job through:
Some employers may expect you to have a degree or postgraduate course that gives you qualified teacher status (QTS).
Useful subjects include:
You'll usually need:
You can take Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) courses at colleges and private training providers all over the world. They vary widely in cost and length.
You can do:
The most common TEFL qualifications are:
You'll usually need:
You could get experience as a paid language assistant in schools abroad. You do not necessarily need a TEFL qualification to work in schools, but if you want to teach in a private language academy, you will.
Each country has different eligibility criteria, for example, age limits and standard of English, so check carefully to make sure you meet all the requirements for the country you want to work in.
You may need foreign language skills for some jobs.
The British Council has information about working abroad as an English language assistant.
You can work as an EFL teacher in further education. You'll usually need a teaching qualification like the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training, which you can do through professional development.
After the Diploma, you can get qualified teacher learning and skills status (QTLS).
You can find out more about careers in further education from Teach in Further Education and GOV.UK.
To work in schools in the UK, you'll usually need to be a qualified teacher.
You'll need to:
Teaching roles can be a few hours a week to full time, depending on where you work. There are likely to be more jobs available during holiday periods, as many course providers cater for overseas students visiting the UK at these times.
Rates and pay and hours vary widely when teaching abroad, so make sure to check job offers carefully.
You can get more details about working as an EFL teacher from Trinity College London and Cambridge English.
With experience, you may be able to:progress to a management position in a commercial language school or a college in the UK or abroad; work freelance in private tuition, for example specialising in business English; train future EFL teachers; create EFL learning materials, online resources and apps; open your own language school
You'll need: