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JimJam
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 69
Location: UK
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 Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:28 pm Post subject: �24,000 to work in central London |
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Just saw a job on TEFL.com which pays �24,333 to be a senior teacher in central London.
Is that a reasonable aount of money. taxcalculator.co.uk says it's �1,559.50 per month. Can you live on that in London?
I can factor in �100pm for bills, same for council tax, and again for food but how much do you need to factor in for transport and rent?
Can anyone teaching in London at the moment give me some idea of these figures. |
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GriffinParka
Joined: 16 Dec 2010
Posts: 41
Location: West London
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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It's crap, but it's the norm.
Try another career, or go back abroad! |
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JimJam
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 69
Location: UK
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the detailed insight GriffinParka.
Anyone else? |
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slapntickle
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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�24,000 would be enough to live on if you were living at home with mummy and daddy and they were paying the rent and all bills, but if not then forget it. To live - or should I say survive? - in central London, you'd probably need to be earning at least �35,000. Of course more would allow you to really start living.
Anyway, most TEFL teachers do not earn this, unless they move into management, which would mean a lot more work and responsibility. I think GriffinParka gets it right when he advises you to go back overseas.
BTW, is your �24,000 a gross or net figure? If it's gross, then you'd need to deduct around 24% for tax and NI. Now we're getting into the realm of the absurd. |
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reddevil79
Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Posts: 234
Location: Neither here nor there
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm, I beg to differ. I lived in Central London a while back and earned quite a bit less than the figure quoted. Sure, you�re not going to live like a King, but it�s manageable.
Where in Central London are we talking? You could live just outside the centre, and catch the tube or bus in. London doesn�t necessarily mean being broke ALL the time; a lot of museums and galleries are free, loads of neat and affordable cafes/restaurants, and some of the best days I�ve had in London were just taking a picnic to a park with a bunch of mates, few drinks and many laughs.  Ah, summer, where did it go... |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 972
Location: UK
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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JimJam,
I can only presume you are talking about the job with Kaplan in Covent Garden.
Hundreds of thousands of people (not necessarily in EFL) work for 24,000 GB pounds or less in London. It can be done, though you will be counting your pennies. Covent Garden is in Zone 1,but it is virtually impossible to get accommodation in a flat alone in that zone on an EFL salary. You would be sharing.
If you can live in Zone 2, you would pay 2.50 GB pounds on an Oyster card on the Tube for each journey. Buses are cheaper. Check out the Transport for London website.
The big advantage of being in central London is that there are countless students wanting private lessons for IELTS/BMAT/LNAT/ general English.
Just advertise around the universities - you can double your salary.
I have and earn over 50,000 GB pounds a year. |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:22 am Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
The big advantage of being in central London is that there are countless students wanting private lessons for IELTS/BMAT/LNAT/ general English.
Just advertise around the universities - you can double your salary.
I have and earn over 50,000 GB pounds a year. |
But Dedicated, do you have a life? |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:10 am Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
The big advantage of being in central London is that there are countless students wanting private lessons for IELTS/BMAT/LNAT/ general English.
Just advertise around the universities - you can double your salary.
I have and earn over 50,000 GB pounds a year. |
And does the taxman know about the second source of earnings?
If not, a chunky fine down the road could seriously derail your plans .. |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 972
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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Just to assure any lurking tax inspectors on this forum,P.C.Parrot, my tax returns are all totally up to date and correct (my brother is a tax inspector!)
As for "do you have a life?" Well, this week I've managed the Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery; the Degas and the Ballet at the Royal Academy; a concert with students at the Royal Festival Hall; cinema twice(Wuthering Heights) and (The Deep Blue Sea); concert at the Barbican.
I also teach 14 hours a week and have marked 12 research projects of 2,500 words...and I swim 50 lengths three times a week in the university pool.
What do you do, Perilla? |
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slapntickle
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| reddevil79 wrote: |
| Hmm, I beg to differ. I lived in Central London a while back and earned quite a bit less than the figure quoted. Sure, you�re not going to live like a King, but it�s manageable. |
After tax and NI, you'll be taking home around �18,240. Add to that the crazy rents that you pay in London, even if you're sharing. Then factor in food, transport, and entertainment, all of which have been hit by inflation, then your not gonna be left with much. Picnics are a good idea, but damned cold in autumn and winter. Yes, it's manageable, but why just manage in London when you can actually live in other parts of the world? |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 972
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| I totally agree with what slapntickle says...but you have to build up your private market which pays up to 50 GB pounds an hour. This takes time, but it can be done. |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:33 am Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
As for "do you have a life?" Well, this week I've managed the Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery; the Degas and the Ballet at the Royal Academy; a concert with students at the Royal Festival Hall; cinema twice(Wuthering Heights) and (The Deep Blue Sea); concert at the Barbican.
I also teach 14 hours a week and have marked 12 research projects of 2,500 words...and I swim 50 lengths three times a week in the university pool.
What do you do, Perilla? |
You sound a little piqued, Dedicated, but my Q was fair enough given that you said you "doubled" your salary with work outside of your full-time job. But such a volume of what must, presumably, be evening or w/e work does beg the Q. You don't elaborate on how you manage to fit your extra work in with such a lively social life - how do you do it?
I don't doubt what you write - you're clearly doing very nicely in London and are seemingly happy with job and lifestyle, but as has been copiously pointed out on this forum, most TEFL opportunities in the UK offer meagre pickings at best, while folk like yourself will be loathe to give up the dwindling good jobs. Finding private clients - as you concede - takes time and God forbid if it also means getting around Londinium on public transport. Whichever way you look at it, for most TEFLers London is unthinkable.
What do I do? Do you mean work, culcha, or both? |
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slapntickle
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| Perilla wrote: |
| Whichever way you look at it, for most TEFLers London is unthinkable. |
Couldn't agree more. I don't have a social life.(Incidentally, according to a recent survey, 40% of Brits are unhappy with their social lives.) A social life costs money, and to be honest, I'd rather save for the future move overseas, where I KNOW I can have fun and do it on the cheap too.
People say that London is fun. Is it? I find it a cold, indifferent place where every person is atomised and lives in their own little world. I've spent a lotta time in Asia, and I find that it's fun to go out because you can actually connect with people. I'm not really into material things, but in Asia I find myself wandering around the malls, stopping off for a bite to eat, striking up conversations with strangers and generally feeling happy to be out and about. Not so in London. I go to work, pop into Morrison's, and go back home and get online to see if any new overseas jobs have been posted.. . . jobs that, if I'm lucky to get, will rocket me out of the UK to other parts of the world where I can actually LIVE the life I want to live. |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:34 am Post subject: |
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| slapntickle wrote: |
| People say that London is fun. Is it? I find it a cold, indifferent place where every person is atomised and lives in their own little world. |
And I couldn't agree more with that! I lived in London for five years in the late 80s. At first I was hugely excited to be there, but that wore off after about a year, as it did with most of my friends too. After the initial euphoria life in London became an existence split between two areas - the one around work and the one where I lived. Transport between the two took place underground in the most dilapidated subway system I've had the pleasure of using - which partly explains why we didn't see as much of the city's fantastic cultural offerings as we should have done.
These days I love visiting London as a tourist but I could never live there again, unless I was loaded and could afford a nice house or flat in one of its leafy, central neighbourhoods. I imagine some people love it for what it is and don't mind its many shortcomings. Each to their own.
But I totally agree, most TEFLers should be looking to get out of the UK or into another line of work. |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:25 am Post subject: |
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�24,000 earned via private lessons at an average of �40/hr equals 600 lessons ... which, with 4 weeks off for holidays, equals an average of 12.5 hours a week ..
Add in the travelling time and the set-up time and you could easily be looking at over 20 hrs etxra a week .. this, added to a 25 hr regular working work (contact time + other) plus travel, makes for a formidable week .. to be repeated every week for 48 weeks of the year ..
I don't know many people for whom that would be realistically sustainable .. |
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