Education jobs in the UK & Ireland: The key differences

Working in England as an Irish teacher means you’ll be comfortable with the culture and language of your new home and the education system, as England and Ireland do have many similarities, such as close neighbours, there are some distinct differences to consider. 

Key differences for teachers moving to England from Ireland

Contracts & Pay

Permanent teaching roles and 1-year fixed-term positions in England are very much standard practice. In England, teachers would either work full-time or part-time by choice. Compared to Ireland where there can be contracts advertised for as less as 3 hours per week. 

This means when working as a teacher in England, you have security and stability. 

In Ireland and England, there is an incremental salary scale which operates for both primary and secondary-trained teachers. In England, there are salary bands for Unqualified, Qualified, and Upper Pay scale teachers. The salary bands differ depending on school location; Inner London, Outer London, Fringe of London and the rest of England and Wales. In addition to this, teachers with responsibilities can also receive TLR (Teaching and Learning Responsibility Post) payments.

The salary scale can range between £28,000-53,482. 

Career Development 

In England, there are more opportunities for teachers to gain full-time long-term employment, which allows teachers to move schools or positions when they want to develop or move into management positions. It is also possible for schools to offer training and development for their teachers including financially supporting additional qualifications. 

In Ireland, career progression is a slower process than in England. 

Language

Primary school teachers in Ireland are required to be able to speak Irish, as teaching the Irish language is compulsory for primary school students. Speaking English is the only language requirement for all teachers in England, aside from foreign language teachers, of course.

Curriculum

In Ireland, teaching is compulsory until the 6th Year, which is equivalent to year 13 in England, when pupils are 18 years old. In England, pupils can leave school at 16 or choose to continue to A-Levels and University. During A-Levels, pupils can choose their subjects (three or four) to study, whereas, in Ireland, pupils must study English, Maths, and Irish, as well as 3 or 4 other subjects.

For the National Curriculum taught in England, including a breakdown of programmes of study by subject, you can see this page on the gov.uk website.

Relocate with Engage

When you register with Engage, we’ll assign you your own personal Engage consultant in the area you’d like to teach in. Find out more to see what we have to offer, including our teaching jobs abroad. If you don’t know what area you’d like to move to, we can help you with that too! We’ll begin by creating a personalised career plan for you, taking into account your goals and ambitions for the future, and set you up on the path to getting there.