Do I need a TEFL/TESOL or a degree to teach in China?

Many of our applicants ask us about the necessary qualifications to teach English in China as a full-time teacher and it’s a question that depends on a few variables. There is a lot written online on blogs and various schools/agencies will tell you different things so it can be a little confusing for somebody thinking about teaching in China. It can also vary from province to province what qualifications you do in fact need.

Graduates2china which is part of the registered UK company West-East connect is based in Hubei province the regulations are very clear about what’s required to work as a full-time teacher. Firstly all applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline and secondly the person must have a TEFL/TESOL certificate or 2 years work experience.

Now we are aware that there are other companies that may say differently and that there are plenty of teachers working in China without a bachelor’s degree however they may not necessarily be working legally as teachers in China and this is commonly seen and something we won’t involve ourselves in.

Often Chinese companies will not explain this fully to the teacher until they have arrived in the country and already begun to work. Only recently we spoke to an applicant who was looking to change jobs as he wasn’t given a Z-visa and is sometimes told to stay home by his school in case the police came in for checks. This is very common and means schools are free to abuse the contract and make changes at their own discretion and there is nobody the teacher can report them too for breach of contract because technically they aren’t working legally in China anyway which can leave teachers in a vulnerable position.

We strongly advise that nobody goes to teach in China unless they have the correct qualification and are working under visa (Z-working visa). If there is another company telling you that you don’t need it I can assure you they are lying for their own benefit. All full-time placements we make offer a working (Z) visa from the school you’ll be going to and your contract is directly with them.

Regulations for Shanghai

http://files.shafea.gov.cn/html/c03cab1b-b757-447c-96c9-5777eca7881c.htm

Regulations for Beijing

http://beijing.caiep.org/faq/content.php?id=14887