How do I get an English teaching job in Australia?

Last updated: 15th June 2021

One of the questions we get asked pretty often is: how do I get an English teaching job in Australia? It would be nice if the answer was straightforward, but life is rarely simple and the answer is “it depends”.

It depends on your existing qualifications.
It depends on your experience.
It depends on which institutions you want to teach in (universities? English language centres? Tour groups?)
It depends on what level of English you want to teach (are you going to teach conversational English? Academic English? Volunteer teaching migrants?)

In Australia, teaching positions are very competitive, more so than overseas or online teaching positions. Your existing qualifications and teaching experience (volunteer or paid) play an important role in what types of positions you could potentially hold in Australia. The level of positions open to you will also depend on the type of English training provider and level of English taught. 

Don’t be discouraged though! If you have your heart set on teaching English, then there are ways to get your foot in the door. 

If you want to boost your chance of landing a job in TESOL, then you can consider doing some of the following:

• completing a recognised TESOL qualification
• offering one-on-one tutoring
• working with seasonal tour groups
• volunteer work to build up your experience

Keep in mind that some positions in Australia may need you to hold more than one qualification or have a set amount of experience. Lets take a look at two of the most rigorous sets of standards for teaching English in Australia: ELICOS and NEAS (not every English school operates under these standards, but some do).

​If you are looking at positions in Australian ELICOS centres, employment eligibility and conditions for teachers and certain other English language college staff are regulated by the federal government through the Department of Education. Specifically, the ELICOS Standards 2018 set out. Teachers in ELICOS Centres must:

• have a degree or diploma of at least three years full-time or equivalent (teaching or other)
• have a suitable TESOL qualification or qualification that contains TESOL as a method
• have appropriate TESOL teaching experience or be formally mentored by a senior staff member with this experience.

​There are further requirements for teachers who teach on English language programs in the primary or high school sector. Similarly, there are further requirements for those teachers who teach on English language programs for students under the age of 12.

(Source: ELICOS Info - https://www.englishaustralia.com.au/our-sector/teaching-in-australia)

If you are looking at teaching in NEAS endorsed ELT Centres, then you would be required to hold at least the following qualifications:

• a recognised degree or equivalent * and
• a recognised TESOL qualification **; or
• a recognised degree in education with TESOL method ***

To break this down more:

*1. a recognised degree or equivalent - NEAS expects your Bachelor degree or equivalent to be at least three years full-time (or its part-time equivalent) in length. It also says that teachers holding a degree or equivalent from overseas institutions should contact the relevant State or Territory education authority or Department of Education and Training to confirm local equivalence.

**2. a recognised TESOL qualification - NEAS wants a TESOL qualification that results from a program of study having all of the following characteristics:

• no less than 100 contact hours, or the equivalent in Distance Education programs, with a content focus on English language, language learning and TESOL teaching (note: our Certificate IV in TESOL is 580-650 hours, (depending on elective) and our Diploma of TESOL is 1300 hours. Both of these qualifications are delivered by either online education or blended learning with the full nominal hours equating to distance education contact hours.)
• a practical component including at least six hours practice teaching in TESOL to actual students (not to classmates), supervised and assessed by a teacher who is qualified as per these requirements (note: all of our students complete practical placement in authentic ESL learning environments. Certificate IV students complete a minimum of 6 hours practice teaching and Diploma students complete a minimum of 10 hours practice teaching.)
• is a recognised qualification delivered by an education provider registered with government as being eligible to deliver nationally recognised qualifications (note: we are an Australian Registered Training Organisation, RTO No. 30173.)

​OR as opposed to meeting the above requirements, you can instead hold ***3. a recognised degree in education with TESOL method - for example: a Bachelor of Education with a major in TESOL. Again, teachers holding a degree from overseas institutions would need to contact the relevant State or Territory education authority or Department of Education and Training to confirm local equivalence / acceptance.

(Source: NEAS Info - https://neas.org.au/resources/career-advice/#neas-teacher-qualifications)


If you're passionate about teaching English in Australia, then we encourage you to keep working towards it. Right now, it might seem like there are a few things you need to check off - and that's true, but keep in mind that it is a truly rewarding career choice where you can make a difference in people's lives by helping them to achieve their goals!


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