Travel & Teach - Sweden

Overview

Sweden is the land of the midnight sun, where in summer the sun never sets in the arctic. Like many new TEFL teachers, you may be first drawn to Stockholm, Sweden’s capital city, which celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2002.

English continues to be in high demand in Sweden. This is largely due to the growth in the business community, combined with the fact that the standard of living is high and many can afford the luxury of private English classes. Even though the standard of English teaching in the state sector is good across Scandinavia, the long established tradition of learning in informal social study groups is still alive and practised at the Folkuniversitetet (Folkuniversity). This is a public subsidised college system across Sweden where various adult classes take place.

However, it is increasingly more challenging to get into that as fewer positions are available, which now makes it harder for the newly qualified teacher to find work.

That said, if you are lucky enough to find one of these places, then you will receive a nine-month contract, guaranteed minimum hours and a week’s induction course. Whilst the salaries are not the best, you should be able to live reasonably, although saving is going to be difficult with the relatively high cost of living position.

Tips for teaching English in Sweden:

The courses we would recommend for Sweden are:

* the TESOL Advanced Course 150 hours for Europe
* the 30-hour Business TESOL for Sweden, as Business English is really growing here.