Teach English in Italy – The Ultimate Guide

Generally speaking, there’s very high demand for English teachers in Italy. Much of that has been fueled by a mass migration of people from rural areas to cities in the last 20 years. Some places in the mountains of Sicily and the long-lost hills of Arezzo are now all but deserted, their onetime inhabitants having flocked to Rome, Milan, and Florence on the hunt for jobs. What’s more, city living and city working tends to be heavily corporate and globalized, which, in turn, demands good English skills. Viola: There’s a direct link between the fact that over 70% of Italy’s population is now urban and recent upticks in demand for native speakers.

On the flip side, TEFL jobs in Italy rarely go unfilled or hang around for very long. Teachers from all over have their eye on this sun-kissed corner of Europe. Don’t expect to be alone when you start applying to schools! The overall result is a rather balanced and healthy industry that sees plenty of turnover of staff every year and lots of opportunities for TEFL grads with the right qualifications.

Unlike in some European TEFL destinations, state school positions aren’t really on the table in Italy. They are largely reserved for permanent Italian residents or Italian university grads. TEFL teachers are mainly looking at private language schools and private tutoring. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of those. One estimation counts almost 400 private schools across the country, and over 40 in Rome alone. Phew!

• Private language schools – These are privately run institutions that usually run courses in multiple European languages. English remains the highest in demand, though, and could be anything from dedicated B2B business English courses to young-learner English for pre-school kids. What you earn, how much you work, and your weekly schedule will all come down to negotiations with individual language schools.
• Language summer camps – Italy is one of the hotspots for European summer camps. Lasting between one and six weeks, they’re a fantastic way to test out the TEFL industry while also gaining valuable experience, not to mention a good way to earn some extra cash during the Italian school breaks. Oh, and did we mention that they often take place in stunning locations, like the craggy Italian Alps or Tuscany, for example?
• Tutoring – Private tutoring can be a lucrative way to bolster your monthly income. Few teachers rely solely on this, but something like four or eight extra hours a week is normal. Expect demand to be much higher for private tutors in bigger cities like Rome and Milan.

One of the great things about teaching English in Italy is that it often comes with a whole load more flexibility than in other European and Asian TEFL destinations. There’s rarely a binding contract that demands a certain number of hours each week. Instead, teacher and school agree on a rate and the teacher is free to take on however many hours they like at that particular institution, provided they’re available, of course.
For that reason, lots of teachers will mix and match the schools they work with, and then top the lot up with some lucrative private tutoring sessions on the side. You can also work online to add extra hours. In the end, we’d say most teachers in Italy work between 15-30 hours per week.
Private language schools usually run their programs to match up with the state school terms. That means you’ll work most of your hours between September and June, with holidays at Christmas and at Easter, along with other breaks sometime towards the end of January or the start of February. TEFL summer camps in Italy run between June and August.