Here are some helpful tips for teaching abroad in the United Kingdom as a foreign teacher. Although it can be very positive and rewarding experience, depending on making a decision to go through an employment education agency, which can be very daunting and extremely time consuming offering a less than rewarding and very negative experience. Thus, the following recommendations are based on my experience.
I highly recommend that a foreign teacher get their QTS and apply to an Ofsted school. I do not recommend the following employment education agencies. Do not apply/register with TimePlan Education. They are very unprofessional, lack communication, untrustworthy, and disrespectful to foreigner teachers. Do not apply/register with Aspire People. They are unprofessional, lack communication, unreliable, untrustworthy, deceiving, and disrespectful to foreign teachers. Do not apply/register with Balfor Recruitment. They are unprofessional, lack communication, unreliable, untrustworthy, disrespectful to foreign teachers, and do not automatically provide pay slips.
I strongly recommend that foreign teachers obtain their QTS, a qualified teacher status by clicking on this link to find out more, https://www.gov.uk/qualified-teacher-status-qts. This link gives a detailed overview for a qualified teacher status and how to apply. Be sure to read all the information carefully before applying for a QTS. The QTS is the United Kingdom’s certification for teachers.
Once a foreign teacher obtains their QTS, I strongly recommend that they apply to an Ofsted school directly and to bypass applying/registering with an employment education agency. Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They are responsible for inspecting and regulating services for students in schools. To find out more, click on this link, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. Ofsted gives the schools its rankings and their inspection reports are made public.
To sum up based on my experience, it is best for a foreign teacher to obtain their QTS and to directly apply to an Ofsted school. By doing this, it will save a lot of time wasted going through an employment education agency.!