Do i need a TEFL to teach

in China?

 

So you've now decided you want to teach English in China and the next thing on your mind is whether or not to get a TEFL/TESOL certificate and if it's actually needed. Well the short answer is yes but the longer answer is much trickier.

 

Each year, more and more schools are requesting that teachers have some form of TEFL certificate and recently the Chinese government are making their working visa regulations stricter each year and to legally teach in China applicants should have graduated at least 1 year prior to making the application, have a BA degree and a TEFL certificate (120HR minimum for major Chinese cities).

 

 All the schools we work with follow all visa regulations and provide a 'Z' working visa and Foreign Expert Certificate before coming to China so if you want to teach in major Chinese cities without a TEFL/TESOL certificate you can pretty much forget about the government accepting your visa application that these days.

 

Now, that's not to say you still can't teach in China at all. If you are open to the location and like the sound of the adventure of living in smaller Chinese cities, then in a handful of cases you are still able to get the working visa and foreign expert certificate before making your way to the other side of the world! But then do you really want to limit what teaching job you can have?