Job Discussion Forums

AnzacGal · Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

Hi. I am a newly CELTA qualified person and I'm looking at working in the UK. Just wanted to know what the average hourly rate would be (roughly) for a newbie teacher either in London or elsewhere in the UK. What's a decent rate?

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

By all accounts it goes something like this ...

.. take the government weekly figure for a breadline existence ... deduct your rent and transport expenses from this ... and then divide by 30 classroom hours ...

Golightly · Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:36 am Post subject:

The answer is, not worth the candle, mate. As you're newly qualified, you won't get work in the Further Education sector; Private language schools typically pay �11 - �14 per hour (no prep time paid), but I have heard of teachers being paid as low as �7 per hour!

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

[quote="Golightly]" I have heard of teachers being paid as low as �7 per hour![/quote]
Yes, I was one of them. 7 pounds 80 to be precise, meaning i had to work 12 hour days to make ends meet. Nice school though, and great experience but you can't live thinking twice about buying Tesco sandwiches because you might not be able to pay the rent.

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

TLWH - it's a bit rude to ask, but why did you accept that pay - presumably for the experience? I did a very short stint of private school work after my CELTA, and when he stated �11 an hour (outside London) I suggested I was looking for a bit more and he increased it without demur to �12.

I find teaching enjoyable but tiring, so presume those 12 hour day's weren't contact time! Smile

After my blessed redundancy from IT I certainly took jobs paying �7.80 an hour but ones where I could leave work and switch off.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The pay is just about enough to sustain life. Certainly not enough if you have dependants.

Come on over to the Middle East 1 Lots of jobs here that pay a reasonable wage !

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

In the UK private sector you might earn enough to exist on, but not enough to live on. If you ever work in a private language school in Britain, you'll notice that the only teachers who don't turn up for work every day in the same clothes are those who have a partner with a well-paid job.

Either do a PGCE or emigrate.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi