10 Tips For Getting
Hired as a Teacher

Teaching Job Resources

Teaching London

London is the capital of the United Kingdom. It is the most populated city in the European Union. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse and vies with Paris for the most expensive to live in. London is a city of contrasts with extremes of wealth and deprivation – often in close geographical proximity. It is a dynamic and changing city with higher than national levels of pupil and staff mobility. The London community has 40% pupils with English as an additional language and over 300 languages spoken in the city. But what is so special about teaching Londoners? What do you have to consider and where do you look for the information you need?

Teaching in London can be an exhilarating experience for someone new to the city. Just living there is often its own reward, despite the challenges you will face. One way in which London attempts to encourage its teachers is by recognising them when they perform an outstanding service. Chartered London Teacher (CLT) status recognises and rewards the skills and expertise of London teachers. For London to be a world leader in education, London teachers must be recognised as among the best in their profession and CLT status is designed to provide this recognition.

London’s private, fee-paying schools are called public schools while government maintained and ‘free’ schools are called state schools. The greatest difference for teaching is that class sizes in private schools are much smaller. These schools are also not bound by the National Curriculum and many choose to teach extra subjects such as languages, specific sports and music. This provides a greater opportunity for teaching in a specialised subject. The other aspect is the burden of record-keeping on the teacher, which is lighter in the private sector.

Teaching in London is best supported by joining a union. A Union is an organisation that represents people who do a similar job but work for different employers. There are a number of Unions for teachers in Britain, and they are all national organisations. It is a good idea to join one as there are many benefits from membership, the most important include support, guidance and advice on your professional development and legal support. You can visit the Union websites to make your judgement on which to join.

If you qualified in your field or took your teaching qualification in London, then contact the careers office at your university or college and see if they can guide you in your job search. One publication that specialises in advertising educational positions in the UK is the TES, or the Times Educational Supplement. This is published on a Thursday and although it does not limit itself to London you will still find many London Teaching jobs advertised there. There are several London wide papers which advertise jobs in general as well, one is the Evening Standard. Most school, however, will also advertise in their local paper of which there are several covering the London area. You can find many of the publications’ job sections online, contact schools directly, even apply for jobs online. There are recruiting agencies which only offer teaching posts. You could register with one or several of those and still look in the papers or on the ‘net for that perfect teaching job in London.