Increasing Overseas Opportunities for British Teachers

In a recession there are some jobs that are safer than others.  Teachers, for example, are relatively well cushioned from the economic fallout because we all require an education for our children.  What’s more, it’s a legal requirement for all children in Britain to attend school between the ages of 5 and 16. 

Of course teachers may face cut backs and also have to face the fact that their pay probably won’t rise as they would hope in coming years, but the bottom line is, teachers are still in demand in the UK, therefore the teaching profession is one lesser impacted than many others at the current time.

However, those who are employed in the private school sector may well be facing the reality that their schools are seeing falling pupil numbers as an average 6% increase in fees last year, coupled with the state of the economy in the UK, has priced some parents out of the private school market.  But it’s not all bad news, because there are many more interesting overseas opportunities for British teachers that are emerging.

In a bid to stop British private schools having to cut back on staff, slash the number of bursaries available, put expansion and development programmes on hold or compromise the quality of education they offer, a handful of the best schools are taking their ‘brand’ abroad.  The likes of Shrewsbury and Harrow have already ventured abroad, and now many more schools are following in their footsteps.

It’s a well-known fact that the British private education system is impressive, that British trained teaching staff are professional and that many private schools in the UK are well run, well maintained and have excellent standards of education resulting in impressive exam results.  Consequently many nations around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, are keen to adopt the British standards.  And how better to do it than by ‘importing’ British schools!

Both Wellington and Brighton Colleges are venturing abroad with multi-site focus – and with the fees that school ‘brands’ such as these raise abroad, in time they foresee reinvestment in their UK sites which many admit have seen a drop off in the number of pupils enrolling for two years in a row.

Expatriate families are being targeted – they are being shown the value of providing their children with a British education abroad, and a British education that is 100% transferable between nations now that many of these internationally based British school ‘brands’ are opening up educational establishments in multiple nations.  Local wealthy families are also being targeted – and a great deal of interest is being shown especially now that many of these schools are following the International Baccalaureate system, rather than the UK only A level system of education.

So, if you’re a teacher in the UK and you’re concerned that the government is not going to invest into the state school system because it’s bankrupted the country, you’re worried that the outflow from private schools will overrun the state school sector, or you’re in the private school sector and are concerned for your job or your rate of pay, what’s stopping you from advancing your career overseas?  All of these brands require brilliant British teachers, therefore as they expand, so do your opportunities to find a well paying job abroad.  Why limit yourself to the UK?  Especially if you have no ties in Britain and you fancy riding out the recession abroad somewhere – somewhere you can earn a tax-free wage for example, or somewhere you can really enjoy soaking up the sun and living the expat life.