South Korea EPIK - South Korea

EPIK (English Program In Korea) is South Korea's government-run scheme for placing native-English-speaking teachers in state primary and secondary schools. Administered by the National Institute for International Education under the Ministry of Education, it offers one of the most generous public-school packages in Asia. The Seoul (SMOE) and Gyeonggi (GEPIK) metropolitan programmes now recruit through the same EPIK application.

Requirements: a bachelor's degree, a recognised 100-hour-plus TEFL/TESOL certificate, and citizenship of an E-2-visa-eligible country. An apostilled criminal background check and degree are also needed.

Salary & benefits: a nationally standardised salary graded by qualifications and experience, plus free or subsidised housing, a settlement allowance, flight reimbursement, a completion bonus, national health insurance and pension. Teachers work a maximum of 22 classroom hours a week with around 26 days of paid leave on a one-year renewable contract.

Intake: two intakes a year - spring and autumn - with applications opening several months ahead.

Apply directly via the official EPIK programme. Get TESOL-qualified with Global English first: EPIK requires a 100-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate, so an accredited course is your route in.