Applications are now open for the next recruitment round. Please visit the "Apply to the Scheme" tab for further information.

In many regions around the world there is a huge and growing demand for English language teaching and a need for quality teachers to meet this. This new scheme from the British Council will help provide unemployed graduates (from the last three years) with a gateway into an exciting and dynamic career which gives an insight into other cultures and communities while also helping people around the world to meet their own goals and aspirations.

The British Council will subsidise successful applicants to study an intensive or part time Trinity CertTESOL or Cambridge CELTA course at a UK training centre which will give them the necessary basic qualifications to go abroad and work as an English teacher. Every year thousands of UK citizens work overseas teaching English language to people who want to improve their education and employment opportunities. Please note conditions apply.

Successful applicants will receive a British Council training grant of 50% of the course fee (tuition only) of a Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL course, to be undertaken in the UK only. After the one-month course, successful applicants will also be provided with one day of additional training at the British Council which will give them guidance about starting a career as an English teacher overseas or in the UK.

For full details about the scheme and the eligibility criteria, please see the information under the FAQs tab.

Read about one graduate's experience of the scheme.

You can also read about an English Language Assistant's experience of teaching in Spain by clicking here .

Watch a webinar recording by Cambridge English Language Assessment:
The ultimate guide to CELTA

Applications are now open for the next recruitment round.

Please apply by the 1st July for CELTA/TESOL courses to take place on or after 1st July and no later than 30th September 2013. The dates of the training days will be announced shortly but will most likely take place in September. There will be a final recruitment round after this one for the 1st October (for CELTA/TESOL courses to take place on or after 1st October and no later than 31st December 2013).

Before applying, please read the FAQs carefully, including the eligibility criteria for the scheme.

To apply to the scheme please click here. Please ensure you upload all the required documents when applying, otherwise your application will not be considered:

• Personal Bank Details form (please download the form here, complete, sign and upload as an electronic scan to your application form)
• Proof of nationality (an electronic scan of your passport)
• Your degree certificate (an electronic scan of your degree certificate)
• Proof of enrolment in a CELTA/TESOL course within the UK to take place on or after 1st July and no later than 30th September 2013.

If you are successful, you will be required to attend a British Council training day. The dates of the training days will be announced shortly but will most likely take place in September. 

You can find a centre running a course in the UK using the links below:

• Cambridge CELTA: http://cambridgeesol-centres.org/centres/teaching/index.do
• Trinity CertTESOL: http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/locator/course_flash.php

Further Support

QuiTE promotes quality in the training and education of teachers of English to speakers of other languages. It is not an accrediting body but offers useful information and guidance on quality issues in teaching English. The organisation facilitates informal professional discussion, regular seminars, and a web site for TESOL Teacher Education and publications: http://www.quality-tesol-ed.org.uk

What is the aim of the English Teaching Graduate Scheme?

The aim of the scheme is to support unemployed UK graduates who are keen to pursue a career in Teaching English as a Foreign Language but who have not yet had the opportunity or do not have the resources to do so.

What is a CELTA / CertTesol qualification?

These are both qualifications offered by the University of Cambridge and Trinity College respectively that enable you to teach the English language to non-native speakers of English in the UK or abroad. These qualifications do not equate to qualifications to allow you to teach in state educational institutions within the UK.

When can I apply?

The deadline for applications is 1st July (for CELTA/TESOL courses to take place after 1st July and no later than 30th September 2013) and 1st October (for CELTA/TESOL courses to take place after 1st October and no later than 31st December 2013).  

If my application is successful and I’m accepted onto the scheme, what do I receive?

You will receive a British Council training grant of 50% of the course fee (tuition only - up to a maximum of £600) of a Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL course. You will also be a given a place on an additional one-day teacher training course run by the British Council (more information below), which will give you guidance about starting a career as an English teacher overseas or in the UK.

Please note: grants may only be used towards the course fees of a Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL course, taken in the UK. You will need to meet any transport, subsistence and accommodation costs that you may incur when undertaking the Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL course, or when attending the one-day additional training run by the British Council.

When can I complete my CELTA/TESOL course? 

• Proof of enrolment/course booking form will be required upon application to the scheme.
• Applicants should be enrolled in a 4 week intensive course or a part time course. Online courses are not eligible.

When do I receive the grant?

Who is eligible to apply?

• you are a UK national; 
• you graduated from a UK university in the last three years; 
• you are not currently undertaking a course of full-time higher education; 
• you are not in full-time employment; 
• you are not in a teaching position in the UK or overseas at the point of application; 
• you are not enrolled to undertake a course of full-time higher education in the coming academic year.
• If you are employed as a teaching assistant (for example as an English Language Assistant) you may apply, provided the role is part-time only, as you are an assistant not a teacher.

What supporting documentation should I submit with my application?

• Proof of nationality (an electronic scan of your passport)
• Your degree certificate (an electronic scan of your degree certificate)
• Proof of enrolment in a CELTA/TESOL course within the UK to take place in the future (grants cannot be paid retrospectively for courses that have already been completed). For specific deadline dates, please refer to the “Apply to the Scheme” tab.
• Personal Bank Details form (an electronic scan including your signature)

How will my application be assessed?

• An appropriate understanding of what working in EFL involves and a commitment to learners and learning
• Evidence of some experience as a teacher
• Evidence of an interest and openness to other cultures
• Good use of English throughout the application form

Where two applications are assessed as equal on the above criteria, preference will be given to the applicant who would otherwise have been unable to fund the full cost of a Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL course. This will be assessed according to what you have written in the 200 word statement in answer to the question “Why do you need a British Council training grant?”.

What will be covered on the additional teacher training day?

'The resources you shared and the opportunity to reflect on many different aspects of English language teaching have really helped me. Thank you!' 

Where and when will the additional training days be held?

At venues in either Manchester or London after you have completed your CELTA or CertTESOL course. Further details will be sent to successful candidates.

Will I be expected to work for the British Council afterwards?

How can I contact you for more information?