There has never been a better time to get CELTA qualified in the UK. Demand for teachers of English as a foreign language have been at an all time high since the summer of 2022.
The COVID pandemic meant EFL schools up and down the country shut their doors and language students had to practice their English online in their home countries. A massive decrease in student numbers arriving in the UK and fatigue with learning online, sadly meant hundreds of teachers were put on furlough and eventually made redundant by UK language schools. English UK says that up 54% of EFL teachers were let go by the end of 2020 and ex-teachers then needed to retrain and carve out careers in other sectors outside of the industry.
Since the end of the pandemic, student numbers have bounced back in the UK with a vengeance. However, while the demand for English lessons in the UK surged – schools have struggled to keep their staff rooms full. The demand for EFL and CELTA qualified teachers is huge. Schools in popular cities like London, York, Edinburgh and Birmingham have all reported a big gap in teacher numbers and have come up with creative ways of attracting CELTA qualified teachers to work for them, including better pay, free accommodation during busy months and significant job perks. At the time of writing, tefl.com had 75 UK based job vacancies alone - and this was well after the peak hiring season before UK summer.
Huan Japes, Membership Director at English UK, said: ‘After two years of Covid-19 related disruption, the UK ELT industry is roaring back to life, creating excellent opportunities for CELTA-qualified teachers, whether they are looking for seasonal work this summer or a longer-term career. Now is the time to make use of your qualification and explore the many opportunities available to you’.
Brexit impacted the EFL sector further. Previously, European teachers travelled and worked in the UK during the busy months of summer and January. Since Brexit, this is no longer possible. If you have the right to work in the UK and have a CELTA qualification, you will have your hand bitten off to work at any number of schools in the UK. If you fancy spending a summer on the south coast, schools in Brighton, Bournemouth and Eastbourne are all keen to receive applications and CVs from CELTA qualified teachers, while work in the UKs bigger cities rarely dries up.
Enrol onto a CELTA course with DC Teacher Training and become a qualified EFL teacher in as little as 4 weeks. The qualification is the world's most recognised English teaching qualification, and we run course types to fit all schedules including online, face-to-face, full-time and part-time. Every CELTA course focusses on developing practical teaching techniques that you can apply directly into UK EFL classrooms as soon as you qualify. A quick career change in the UK has never been more possible or accessible and the current job market shows that CELTA qualified teachers are high demand. So, what are you waiting for? Apply now!
Danny Wilkins graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2009 with a degree in English and Drama Studies and went on to get his CELTA qualification in Manchester in 2012. Since then he has taught English in over 10 countries including Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Austria, before settling in the UK. Danny has previously managed one of the largest CELTA centres in the UK and is thrilled to bring CELTA courses to Birmingham, having lived and graduated in the city.
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