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danahawkins
Joined: 05 Feb 2013
Posts: 3
Location: Canberra, Australia
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 Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:20 pm Post subject: Job situation in London for MA TESOL grad? |
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Hey all,
My partner might be transferred to his London office (we're from Australia) and I'm looking into teaching over there.
I have an MA TESOL and 7.5 years of teaching experience, both ESL and EFL contexts. I've been hearing horror stories about 10 pounds an hour, which terrifies me. The current rate for teaching ESL at an Australian University or College is no less than $70 per hour, and quite often higher (about 46 pounds). As you can imagine, I'm not too keen to take such a horrendous pay cut, and wondering if going over there is even worth it at all, or if I should convince my partner to stay in Australia.
Anyone out there currently working at a University or College? I have a few questions:
1. What is the pay actually like?
2. Is there much opportunity for employment, or is it a fairly closed-off industry (like it is here in Australia)
Thanks in advance for any information!! |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 972
Location: UK
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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Nobody with an MA in TESOL and with 7.5 years of teaching experience
would ever dream of working for 10 pounds an hour. These jobs are taken by people with no experience, or the desperate. You can earn more waiting at table or as bar staff.
Depending on when you intend arriving, check out the immediate university pre-sessional courses look at [/url]www.jobs.ac.uk[url] and [/url]www.baleap.com[url] which start from around April and offer between 650-700 pounds per week, sometimes including accommodation.
Often a pre-sessional course is the path into something more permanent.
You can also command a minimum of 35-40 pounds an hour for private lessons/IELTS preparation/GMAT/LNAT/BMAT exam work. You can advertise in and around the university campus.
I work at a top-ranking London university and my annual overall salary is never below 50,000 GB pounds a year.[/url] |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:01 am Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
Nobody with an MA in TESOL and with 7.5 years of teaching experience
would ever dream of working for 10 pounds an hour. These jobs are taken by people with no experience, or the desperate. You can earn more waiting at table or as bar staff.
Depending on when you intend arriving, check out the immediate university pre-sessional courses look at [/url]www.jobs.ac.uk[url] and [/url]www.baleap.com[url] which start from around April and offer between 650-700 pounds per week, sometimes including accommodation.
Often a pre-sessional course is the path into something more permanent.
You can also command a minimum of 35-40 pounds an hour for private lessons/IELTS preparation/GMAT/LNAT/BMAT exam work. You can advertise in and around the university campus.
I work at a top-ranking London university and my annual overall salary is never below 50,000 GB pounds a year.[/url] |
I don't doubt what Dedicated says, but my advice would be to take it all with a pinch of salt. You might get lucky and find pre-sessional work as described, but bear in mind that such jobs are the creme de la creme and will be fiercely contested. It goes without saying that many such posts will go to incumbent teachers and returnees.
Re. Dedicated's salary, while it is (apparently) still possible to make that much in the UK uni TESOL sector, it would also place him/her in an elite and endangered group. Uni salaries ranging from 25 to 35K would be more the norm (in TESOL that is), and even these posts will be competitive. Uni work is more often piecemeal thesedays rather than a salary as such. Btw, there are plenty of other threads on this site discussing the state of uni pay in TESOL. Many unis have had their English language operation hijacked by McDonalds-style private language cartels - you can guess what the pay and conditions will be like.
Where I feel I can agree with Dedicated without reservation is regarding the 10 pounds an hour stuff - I'm sure you can do much better than that. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Summer session work at univeristies pays reasonably. Apart fropm that, not much going, unless you fancy a "Zero-hours Contract". They may be on offer AFTER you have done a summer school. |
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slapntickle
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
| Depending on when you intend arriving, check out the immediate university pre-sessional courses look at [/url]www.jobs.ac.uk[url] and [/url]www.baleap.com[url] which start from around April and offer between 650-700 pounds per week, sometimes including accommodation. |
First of all, the summer presessionals are seasonal gigs and most do not pay a gross 700 quid a week.(Remember you'll lose around 25% of your gross salary to NI and tax deductions.) Also, these jobs often go to returnees or teachers who are already teaching insessional courses with the university, meaning that it is quite difficult to get a foot in the door.
| Quote: |
Often a pre-sessional course is the path into something more permanent.
You can also command a minimum of 35-40 pounds an hour for private lessons/IELTS preparation/GMAT/LNAT/BMAT exam work. You can advertise in and around the university campus.
I work at a top-ranking London university and my annual overall salary is never below 50,000 GB pounds a year.[/url] |
While the figure of 50,000 is possible, it is highly unlikely that you'll earn that kind of income because as an outsider it'll be virtually impossible to break into the better jobs. Of course you could work for the fast food institutions like INTO and Study Group which pay around the 25,000 mark per annum for a 40+ hour week. As to teaching privates, you'd be lucky to find enough to keep your boat afloat and the hourly rates that Dedicated quotes are simply too high.
If you can earn 46 quid an hour working at an Australian university, why move to the UK? You'd only be shooting yourself in the foot. |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 972
Location: UK
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| Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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slapntickle wrote :
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| ...the hourly rates that Dedicated quotes are simply too high |
Of course, a lot depends on your qualifications and experience and where you are based. With a BA and CELTA you are not going to command much (if you even get any private tutees) and not likely to get pre-sessional work. How can you accurately advise postgraduate students on how to write a thesis if you have never done one yourself?
The OP said she had an MA and 7.5 years of experience.
I'm based in London and have an MA, MSc and PhD and have built up an extremely full timetable of contacts and private lessons. If you do a good job, word-of-mouth is everything, and companies/organisations contact you. This obviously takes time and effort. Check out any of the high-ranking universities and see how much they charge for private lessons - they start at 48 pounds per hour. This is standard.
Frankly, I'm tired of folk based abroad, saying it's impossible to earn a good salary in the UK; that the UK is only for losers on 10 pounds an hour. If you have the qualifications and experience, there is masses of work in London - I regularly have to turn work away, or keep companies waiting until I have a spare "slot". |
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slapntickle
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| Dedicated wrote: |
| I'm based in London and have an MA, MSc and PhD and have built up an extremely full timetable of contacts and private lessons. If you do a good job, word-of-mouth is everything, and companies/organisations contact you. This obviously takes time and effort. Check out any of the high-ranking universities and see how much they charge for private lessons - they start at 48 pounds per hour. This is standard. |
How do you get these lucrative 48 pound an hour jobs? If the university is offering you this work, they have a legal obligation to advertise the post first. I've seen no jobs posted by universities for private students at www.jobs.ac.uk that pay this princely sum.
| Quote: |
| Frankly, I'm tired of folk based abroad, saying it's impossible to earn a good salary in the UK; that the UK is only for losers on 10 pounds an hour. If you have the | | | |
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