The two schemes Irish teachers keep applying for, and cannot actually join
Two of the best known assistantships in Europe are closed to most people reading this, and almost nobody says so out loud. Here is what an Irish passport actually opens, what it does not, and which windows are live right now.
If you are living in Ireland and you have been eyeing the British Council assistantship or a Fulbright grant, stop and read the eligibility line first. The British Council scheme requires five years of UK residency in the last ten. Fulbright Portugal requires US citizenship. Neither rule is hidden, both are easy to miss, and between them they account for a good share of the disappointed emails we get.
On the wire this fortnight
- Hungary. CETP orientation in Budapest from 23 August, classes from the first Monday in September, and a January intake if you have missed this one.
- Czech Republic. The state school register sends candidate lists to schools before 1 September. 30,000 to 35,000 crowns a month gross.
- France. The Irish route pays about 820 euro net for 12 hours a week. The 2027/28 round is not open yet.
- Ireland. The Department of Education runs its own assistant scheme to six countries. That is the one to watch.
- Paperwork. A Garda police certificate is free and takes about three weeks. An apostille is 40 euro and 3 to 7 working days.
The eligibility traps, in plain English
British Council English Language Assistants. Applications for 2026/27 are closed, and when they reopen the residency rule still applies: you need five calendar years of residency in the UK within the last ten. An Irish passport removes the visa problem, it does not remove the residency requirement. If you did your degree in Ireland and have never lived in the UK, this scheme is not open to you no matter how strong your application is.
Fulbright Portugal English Teaching Assistant. The 6 October deadline is real and the money is decent, but it is a United States programme. You need US citizenship. Dual Irish and US citizens can apply, and only if they have not spent extensive time living in Portugal.
Our own board carries the words “US citizens” beside that Portugal listing, in small print, at the end of a line about grant length. That is not good enough for a rule which decides whether you can apply at all, so it is stated here in full instead.
Sources: British Council English Language Assistants and Fulbright US Student Program, Portugal, both checked 18 August 2026.
What an Irish graduate can actually apply for
The Department of Education assistant scheme
Ireland runs its own English Language Assistant scheme through the Department of Education and Youth, placing assistants in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Irish nationals are eligible, and other nationalities are considered subject to each host country’s terms. Applications go by email to the International Co-operation Unit. The 2026/27 deadline was 12 March 2026, so the round now to prepare for is 2027/28, and on the current pattern that means a March 2027 deadline. Spain is the exception: the department states that applications for the Spanish programme are not open at this time.
Source: gov.ie English Language Assistant scheme, checked 18 August 2026.
France, through the French Embassy in Ireland
The French assistantship has an Irish route with its own terms. It pays a gross 1,036.21 euro a month, about 820 euro net, for 12 hours a week, on a contract that runs 1 October to 30 April. You need to be between 20 and 35 on arrival, to have completed at least one year of higher education, and to have French at B1 certified by a university tutor. The 2027/28 round is not published yet. The 2026/27 deadline was 15 March 2026, so pencil in mid March and get the B1 certification sorted long before that.
Source: French Embassy in Ireland, checked 18 August 2026.
Italy, where Ireland is a named partner
Italy’s language assistant programme runs on bilateral agreements with seven countries and Ireland is one of them, named on the Italian Ministry’s own INDIRE page. Posts run 1 October to 31 May, roughly 12 hours a week, and pay about 850 euro net a month, rising to around 1,100 euro in Trentino Alto Adige. B1 Italian is expected.
Sources: INDIRE language assistants and the British Council destination figures, checked 18 August 2026.
Live now: Central Europe before the bell
| Where | What is happening | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Budapest | CETP orientation from 23 August, classes from the first Monday in September. A January to June contract runs too, with a short orientation before it | The Hungarian state teacher scale, the same as your local colleagues. Housing is provided and paid for by the host institution |
| Prague | The Academic Information Agency register sends candidate lists to schools before 1 September and again before 1 February. Schools hire directly, the agency is not an employment agency | 30,000 to 35,000 crowns a month gross, about 1,200 to 1,400 euro, before tax and insurance |
Sources: CETP programme details, DZS English teachers and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, checked 18 August 2026. Euro figures are ours.
A Hungarian point worth knowing: teacher pay there rose again under the government’s 2026 pay decree, which sets the first grade of the scale at 718,000 to 1,400,000 forint a month gross. CETP teachers are paid on that same scale, so the phrase “local salary” means considerably more than it did two years ago, and your rent is covered on top.
The paperwork desk: two things Irish teachers get wrong
Garda vetting is not the document you need
Garda vetting is carried out for registered organisations only, never for an individual applying on their own behalf. What a foreign employer or consulate wants is a Police Certificate, which you apply for yourself, and which is issued free of charge in about three weeks. Ask for the right one and you save yourself a fortnight.
The apostille is 40 euro, and the postage is in the price
An apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs costs 40 euro per stamp, with return postage included in the fee, and the average processing time is 3 to 7 working days by post. Walk in to Mount Street in Dublin or South Mall in Cork and the target turnaround is thirty minutes.
Sources: An Garda Siochana police certificates and Department of Foreign Affairs authentication, checked 18 August 2026.
Further afield, briefly
Japan. JET 2027 applications close in late November or early December on the programme’s own timeline, which is marked subject to change and defers to embassies for country dates. First year pay is 4,020,000 yen. References and transcripts are the bottleneck, so ask this week.
South Korea. EPIK’s official application notice does not name a Spring 2027 round, so we are not printing an opening date for one. Check the EPIK notice for the intake currently open. Applications are handled in the order they arrive.
Online. italki closed English applications for the week of 17 to 23 August. Its list reopens on Mondays, so have your profile written before you look. Cambly is still limiting new tutors at 10.20 dollars an hour. Preply is open and reviewing profiles within five working days.
Sources: JET Programme, EPIK, italki language availability, Cambly and Preply, checked 18 August 2026.
What we could not verify
Spain’s ministry pages did not respond when we checked them this morning, so we are not printing a NALCAP figure or a status for the 2027/28 round. The Department of Education’s own line, that the Spanish programme is not open at this time, is the most recent official word we have. We will print the rest the day the ministry site answers.
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Written by Katie Troy for The Hire Wire, The TEFL Institute of Ireland. Every figure was checked against its official source on 18 August 2026 and links to it. Currency conversions are ours and move with the market. Corrections are made here in place and noted. Updated 23 August 2026: the Japan and South Korea lines in “Further afield” have been corrected. As sent, this edition said JET 2027 “opens in September and closes in November” and that “EPIK Spring 2027 has been open since 1 August”. Neither claim was carried by the official page cited for it, so both have been replaced with what those sources actually say. Subscribers received the earlier wording. Read our Editorial Charter, or open The Salary Index, The Visa Desk and The Paperwork Desk.