Teach English in South Korea: The Complete Guide for First-Time Teachers

South Korea is one of the best places in the world to teach English abroad. The pay is strong, free housing is included, the infrastructure is excellent, and the country is small enough that you can see a huge amount of it on weekends. This guide walks through everything you need to know to teach in Korea for the first time, with the real details that most generic guides skip over.

Why South Korea is a top choice for first-time teachers

Korea hits a rare sweet spot: high salary, low cost of living outside Seoul, free housing, and a contract structure that makes saving genuinely easy. For first-time teachers who want to come home with money in the bank, it's hard to beat. It's also incredibly safe, the public transport is world-class, and the food scene is one of the best in Asia.

Salary and housing: what you actually earn

Salaries start at 1.9 million KRW per month, around £1,150, and free housing is included on both the six and twelve-month contracts. Your school provides a one-bedroom studio, usually within a short commute, ready and waiting when you arrive. That single fact changes your financial picture completely, because rent is typically a teacher's biggest monthly cost.

After utilities, food, transport and a healthy social life, most teachers save £700 or more every month. On the twelve-month option, you also get flight reimbursement, which offsets one of the biggest upfront costs.

Hagwon vs public school: what's the difference?

• Public schools: regular hours, co-teaching with a Korean teacher, more predictable schedule, longer holidays.
• Hagwons (private academies): afternoon and evening hours, smaller classes, higher intensity, sometimes higher pay.
• Our placements work with a broad network of vetted schools across the country, so we match you based on your preferences and personality.

There's no universally better option. Public schools suit people who want structure and holidays; hagwons suit night owls and people who want a faster pace. The most important thing is working with a provider that vets the school properly, because a bad hagwon can make or break your experience.

Visas and paperwork

To teach legally in South Korea you need an E-2 visa, which requires a bachelor's degree in any field, a clean criminal record check, and a health check on arrival. The process takes a few months, which is why we start the paperwork well before your departure date. We handle the document authentication, the school matching, and the visa guidance end to end.

What life is actually like in Korea

"The program is well structured and I enjoyed the support I received from TFT and their partners in South Korea. It was great to be guided through the preparation work and have visa guidance before heading out and the language classes were a bonus."

Day to day, you'll teach during the week and have weekends free to explore. Korea's high-speed rail means you can be in a different city in two hours. Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Gyeongju, the DMZ, hiking in Seoraksan, the list is endless. The food is cheap and incredible, the cafes are next-level, and the seasons are dramatic in the best way: cherry blossoms in spring, monsoon in summer, fiery leaves in autumn, snow in winter.

How to get started

You don't need a teaching degree, a TEFL certificate before you apply, or any prior experience. You need a bachelor's degree in any subject, to be a native English speaker, and to be able to pass a criminal record check. Our programme includes a fully accredited 120-hour TEFL course, Korean language lessons before you depart, airport pickup, in-person training, and 24/7 support throughout.

One last thing worth knowing: if you start in Korea and want to try somewhere new afterwards, the TFT Clubhouse lets you move on to any other TFT programme completely free, for life. Start in Korea, head to Japan or Thailand next, and never pay a programme fee again.