Job Discussion Forums

[Gamajorba]

I've been doing some scouting around for teaching positions in the UK (the West Midlands to be more exact), and it seems the situation of EFL is getting worse and worse.

In Birmingham, where I currently live, it seems most community centres and colleges have scrapped ESOL courses or anything similar, language schools are making drastic cutbacks or they just never hire anyone anyway. One school even dismissed its teachers for Ramadan, it seems! The only realiable positions that seem to be open are sessionals at universities or summer camps.

Even in the schools with branches in other places are experiencing cutbacks across the board, so it's unlikely it's a West Midlands only thing. What does anyone else think?

[Dedicated]

This is certainly not the case here in London, which is positively heaving with hoards of teenagers and adults all sporting EF, IH and similar T-shirts and going for 3 or 4 week courses.

Universities seem to be packing in the students on pre-sessional courses and they are predominantly Chinese, Russian, Arabs and Kazakhs.

So EFL/EAP are thriving here.

[Gamajorba]

Funny, because one school that I am aware of is actually losing students for reasons unknown to me.

Maybe I've just looked in the wrong places. OK I know Birmingham is hardly the most popular of places for anyone to do anything, but at least it's a very cosmopolitan place to be!

[slapntickle]

[Mr. Bourenmouth]

It's had it. End of an era, schools are all competing on price and it's the end of the road. Time to pick up a new skill.

[Gamajorba]

I would say visas and prices are 2 huge factors.

There are 2 very prominent schools in Birmingham for example - one is a government school which is subsidised and therefore cheaper, but from what I understand is less willing to take on sponsored students (e.g. from Saudi Arabia with government scholarships etc) and thus tends to have a lot more European students, and a private school which takes on sponsored students, but compared to the other institution, is a lot more expensive and thus Europeans TEND to not go there.

Then of course the visa requirements for various nationalities make life even more difficult.

Having said all that, a lot of my students in Birmingham do tell me they're not so keen on Birmingham for various reasons, despite being incredibly multicultural and not as bad as people make it out to be.

[nwtefl]

Yeah EFL is dying in the U.K.

I work in the main FE college in Liverpool and, due to factors outside my department's control, we have lost HTS and so EFL is dead here. There is still ESOL, but even that is limited to about 9 hours a week for students and each year the restrictions tighten and the government alter the rules.

Now there are the changes to the SELT and where you can do it, and CAS allocations. If you look at the English UK forums, those language schools who can issue T4 and SVVs are closing all the time, due to all the mess.

This will not change either unless the government stop including students in the immigration figure. However, as they are twats, this won't happen.

If you are a teacher it's equally shit - you can work for a language school for £13 per hour (maybe £14 if you have a higher qualifcation ! Wow !) or try and find sessional work.

Abroad seems the logical choice (un)fortunately.

[Gamajorba]

The most abundant work I've come across so far seems to be summer camp work. Hardly sustainable...!

[nwtefl]

yeah summer school - "teaching" loads of Italian teenagers sent here by their parents who want to get rid of them over the season ; who don't want to be in the UK. It's 90% babysitting. All for £13 an hour ?

I'd rather boil my head.

[Gamajorba]

[nwtefl]

Ha ha ! No you don't !

[sprightly]

i have a celta and MA tesl and work freelance. i get 22/ teaching hour with local language schools. i get about 1/3 that teaching online from home, but it's gradually going up.
i could get a full time job, but i'm not keen on going back to that.

independent schools teaching a-levels, marketing abroad = lots of ESL teaching, mostly ielts prep + academic english.

[CANDLES]

I have qualifications and experience, but still no job, perhaps it might be something to do with my 'foreign' name?

That's what I think...... There are Language schools crying out for teachers in London, but for some reason not replying to me. What's happening?

[dragonpiwo]

I've been an EFL teacher for 20 years. It's getting harder and harder. I work in the Middle East, used to work in Eastern Europe and have worked in the UK at language schools and an FE college.
The thing is, to get the fewer and fewer 'good' jobs, you need to 'invest' in more and more expensive qualifications. It's a bit of a trap because even then there's no guarantee. The well-paid jobs are on the slide in the ME due to the low price of oil. I went back to Eastern Europe last year in between jobs and was offered entry-level pay, split-level shifts and thought screw that. The UK regs mean schools are closing.
If I were younger, I'd get straight out of EFL. It's a duff job these days with no prospects.
There was always the Middle East bolt-hole but that is closing.

[johncoan]