Is A PGCE Enough To Teach Abroad?

If you’re from the UK and want to work in an international school, then a degree and a PGCE are enough to get a job. One thing to be aware of when job hunting, is that occasionally schools might want your degree to be in a relevant subject but usually a PGCE is enough.

If you have a BA in Education relevant to the age group (e.g.BA QTS Primary Education Early Years) then that’s fine to obtain a job in the age group you’ve trained with.

If you’re looking for a role in a language school to teach ESOL, the qualifications are different. 

Is A PGCE Enough To Teach Abroad?

There are many online TESOL courses you can do, either 60 hours or 120 hours, but I wouldn’t recommend them even though they’re inexpensive and often say they’re accredited and recognised (this is marketing speak as they’re not). There might be some providers who ask you to do an online course and then find you a job with their qualifications. The only qualifications that are globally accredited are Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity CertTESOL. Both of these courses are equally recognised and you can do either. They are the same level and length, but have slightly different content. Both are available full-time (4 weeks) or part-time (12 weeks) and both are available fully online. 

If you have completed the advanced courses – the DELTA or the Trinity DipTESOL, these are both excellent qualifications for the experienced practitioner, where you can get well-paid jobs. Other acceptable higher-level qualifications are BAs and MAs in TESOL and linguistics. 

Check out the equivalence of these qualifications in your own country as some of these apply to the UK.

To teach in an international school you need to be a qualified teacher, the qualifications are the same as in your home country, not more or less.

Other qualifications such as for nursery practitioners, it might be possible to get a job with a CACHE or NVQ Level 3 in Early Years, but these might be few and far between. Some private nurseries might accept this but they wouldn’t provide the visa and accommodation so it may not be worth it.

Check out available school jobs on:

And for TEFL: