Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stakay]

I'm wondering what London is like for teaching. I've heard the kids can be pretty awful but the pay is good and of course Europe is at your doorstep. What's the general opinion when comparing Korea to London?

[Muffin]

Before advising I need to know whether you are a qualified teacher and whether you intend to teach in state schools or language schools.

The pay in London language schools tends to be dire, and London is a very expensive city so your quality of life would not be good, and forget saving any money.

In state schools the pay is much better, but you are right a lot of the kids will be very challenging and the schools that would tend to employ foreigners would probably be inner city schools with staff shortages.

[stakay]

Yes, sorry - should've mentioned that I've got a teaching certificate. Muffin, I've read your other thread and I was going to ask you if you can save as much in London on a teacher's salary as you can in Korea, but is it right to assume that you haven't taught in Korea yet? What has your teaching experience been like in the UK?

[Muffin]

Hmm, if you teach in London state schools and if you live in shared accommodation in a cheaper part of the city, you will have enough money to live on, but I don't think you will save a lot. It depends how much the school pay you and that depends on your age and experience and the desperation of the school! I have never taught in London and I don't know how much extra London salaries are over provincial ones. Remember that tax in the UK is 22% not including National Insurance deductions. You will also not have any accommodation provided. The one positive would be the holidays (13 weeks a year).

To give you some idea about teachers salaries, outside London, newly qualified teachers earn around £20,000 per annum. This is increased for older teachers sometimes and also if the school is having problems recruiting they will entice staff with the extra thousand or two. Teachers who have built up several years experience (and I doubt whether Korean hagwon experience counts) get considerably more.

If you intend to teach in a language school, forget it! It would really be a hand to mouth existence ( I have a close friend doing just that, crazy girl) London language schools often pay as little or less than schools in other areas. So you would save absolutely nothing and certainly not make enough to go travelling to Europe regularly.

You are right I haven't taught yet in Korea, going very soon!

[stakay]

Thank you very much for your info Muffin. One more question though - are UK teacher recruiters generally regarded as having the same sneaky qualities that some Korean recruiters are well known to have?

[Muffin]

No, on the whole I think recruiters in the UK are fine, although if they are trying to place you in a difficult school they may not be totally upfront about the school's problems. Before accepting a position you should research the school and find out the results of its last Ofsted inspection. You can also find out the examination pass rates, which are calculated on what percentage of students get 5 or more A-C grades at GCSE. Tougher schools in my area tend to have rates of less than 50%. In London there are schools with far less than that! BEWARE

[thepeel]

You might as well compre dog sh$t to a flower.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

[newinseoul]

Hi Stakay,
I thought I would try and answer a few of you'r questions. I worked just outside of London in a middle school on a six month contract. Although, I didn't work right in London, I had friends that did. I don't know how it works for teachers on salaries but, I know it is very low if you are not certified to teach in the UK.

If you are Canadian or American you have to take a test and go through tons of paperwork to get certified to teach. Being certified you'r salary increases. Without certification it is better to go with a recruitment agency and work on a daily basis. You'r rate in London will be about 125-150pounds/day. After taxes though, you are looking at about roughly what you make in Korea on a monthly basis(2 million won).

The recruiters in London won't pay for you'r accomodations and this adds a lot off your net salary. Accomodations are extremely expensive and you may already know that. About recruitment agencies over there - They are a gamble.

I went with an agency that was quite new and I got royally screwed. They wanted to change my contract part way in. I didn't really feel I had any rights over there either. You have to pay to get into a union which looking back is an excellent idea once you start working there. If you have any more specific questions just pm me. I can also tell you what agency not to work for. I hope this helps.

I forgot to mention about the kids. It really depends on the school you are at. I was at a school that was very inner city and my friends in London were at the same type of school. The students were really rough. My friend in London was at a high school and said the students were fighting in the class and she had constant problems trying to teach them.