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EF (Education First)

Engaged Employer

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,610 total reviews)
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Edward Hult, Ph.D

61% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,610 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EF (Education First) employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
2.0
Jun 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Compared with other local competitors in the same industry, our workload is relatively lighter. 2. Fixed working hours with regular clock-in and clock-out. 3. Full social insurance, supplementary medical insurance and housing fund (six insurances and one housing fund). 4. No KPI targets.

Cons

1. Workload has been gradually increased over time with no corresponding pay rises or company-wide salary adjustments. 2. Local teachers and foreign teachers receive unequal pay for identical work; foreign teachers enjoy higher salaries, better benefits and more holidays. 3. Most management staff lack frontline working experience or have been away from classroom work for many years. Their decisions are often impractical, and they rarely take frontline employees’ feedback on board.

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EF (Education First) Response
2w
Thank you for sharing about your 8 years teaching English with EF; your commitment to the students means a lot. We hope some of the info below is helpful for the points you wrote about. On scheduling: it’s great that you enjoy fixed working hours, but we'd just clarify that the schedule is built around students' needs rather than fixed clock-in/out times. On workload: teaching hours haven't changed in many years. In the past years we have introduced new class types to replace older class topics. We know adapting to new approaches can take time, but this should not increase workload in the long term. On leave: all teachers (local or international) receive the same annual leave based on tenure. International teachers can apply for additional unpaid leave, reflecting the unique circumstances of living abroad. The feedback from local teachers indicated this unpaid option was not useful, which is why it’s not offered. On management: Beijing centre managers have 5 years of education management experience, hold relevant qualifications, and still teach around 15 hours a week. Senior academic management also understands the workload of teachers as they all came through that pathway themselves. The team is always happy to hear from you on any other questions or concerns - be that face to face, via your manager, or the annual Global Staff survey.
3.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great pay for the amount of work

Cons

Management team is not really helpful

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EF (Education First) Response
3w
We appreciate you sharing your experience teaching in Bournemouth and it's great to hear the compensation was a highlight. Your comments on management have been passed along, as we want to make sure our teams feel supported. Wishing you all the best in your next role.
3.0
May 27, 2026

EF

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

the teaching was fun at times

Cons

6 day work week - teachers expected to run activities

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EF (Education First) Response
13h
Hi, thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed teaching with EF Language Abroad. Teachers at our year-round schools (even if teaching over summer) are 5 days a week, but teachers at our summer schools are 6 days a week. We aim to make that clear both in the job descriptions and during the recruitment process when speaking with candidates, so thanks for bringing it up.
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