Our Language Assistants come from two main sources. You could be an undergraduate on a language degree course fulfilling your year abroad requirement, or an undergraduate or recent graduate of any discipline.

Before you can apply to become an English Language Assistant abroad you need to know if you meet our eligibility criteria. If you do not have the required language skills, you could apply to be a Comenius Assistant in Europe.

To be an English Language Assistant, you must:

			be a native-level English speaker
			have completed all of your secondary education (age 11-18, in Scotland 12-18) in the UK and at least two years of higher education by the time you start your post*
			be a final year student or graduate to apply for a post in China
			have the requisite language skills, except in China (see individual country pages for details)**
			meet the requirements of the host country (see individual country pages)***

*If you are a British citizen who attended a secondary school overseas you are eligible to apply. However, should you be considered suitable we will conduct a telephone interview to test your knowledge of UK culture. If you are an undergraduate, you must have passed all second year coursework and exams. Places will not normally be kept open for those required to re-sit exams.

**If you have a lesser qualification, but have spent time in a country where the relevant foreign language is spoken, you may be considered if you believe your ability in the language is equivalent to A-level (AS for Austria, France, Germany and Spain) or Higher Grade in Scotland. Please contact us before applying.

***To discover what the requirements are for individual countries - visit our pages on Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Latin America, Spain and Switzerland. Please note, if you are currently living in the country of application (and have been for over 12 months) you will not be eligible for this programme.

You should also hold a passport from the UK or another European Union member state. However if you meet the above requirements but do not hold a UK or EU passport, contact us before applying and we will discuss your eligibility. You will be responsible for finding out whether or not you require a visa or need any other entry documents for your destination country.

Please note

If your application is approved by the British Council in the UK, it will be forwarded to our partner organisation in the relevant country who in all cases makes the final decision on appointments.

You can only be an English Language Assistant three separate times regardless of whether the posts were in the same or different countries. Both consecutive and non-consecutive years will be counted.