Where are Foreign Language Assistants from?

Currently the British Council recruits FLAs from Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Latin America, Spain, Switzerland, China, Japan, Oman and Russia.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ASSISTANT?

FLAs (except those from China) are only very rarely trained teachers: the vast majority of them are either undergraduates or recent graduates and they will therefore require support and guidance from the modern foreign languages (MFL) department of the host school.

Their role is to bring the language and culture of their country to the classroom and make language learning relevant, fun and “real” for your pupils.

FLAs’ tasks could include working together with a teacher in the classroom, working on their own with small groups of pupils, helping to prepare pupils for oral examinations and contributing to cross-curricular work in collaboration with other subject areas. FLAs can undertake exercises in reading, comprehension, pronunciation, dictation and oral composition, and may also contribute to international projects.

However, since the majority of FLAs are not trained teachers they should not be asked to take sole responsibility for a whole class, to supervise, to deal with pupils’ discipline problems or to take responsibility for marking pupils’ work or exam papers.

FLAs from China (CLAs) are all qualified teachers and so their role may be slightly different. For more information on CLAs visit the following page.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO MY STUDENTS?

FLAs will support language teaching and inter-cultural understanding. They can also inform discussion on citizenship. The FLA will often take small groups of a class which will encourage communication and improve pupils’ confidence. In this way they can also be used to support less able pupils or the gifted and talented. See more about the benefits here.

WHAT WILL BE THE BENEFITS TO MY SCHOOL?

Employing an FLA will bring an international dimension to the curriculum. They can play a key role in developing intercultural understanding. They bring a fresh cultural perspective to language learning and provide access to authentic teaching materials. Teachers can also refresh their knowledge of the target language or you could arrange the assistant’s timetable so that they spend a lesson teaching teachers or parents. See more about the benefits here.

WHEN WILL MY ASSISTANT START WORK?  

The standard period of appointment is from 1 October to 31 May in England and Wales and from 1 September to 31 May in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This period may be extended for up to a month either side of the appointment by mutual consent. The assistant must be paid for the extra work pro-rata.

The standard period of appointment for Chinese language assistants is from mid September – 30th June in all of the UK.

I AM INTERESTED IN HOSTING AN ASSISTANT, BUT CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY THE ANNUAL ALLOWANCE(FOR 12 HOURS PER WEEK). IS FUNDING AVAILABLE?

No, the British Council arranges around 2,500 assistantships per year and FLA allowances are paid by the school(s). You could share an assistant with up to two other local schools each employing the assistant for four hours (see costs on our 'how much will it cost?' page.)

If you wish to employ an assistant for only 2 hours, you could approach another local school with a view to sharing their assistant (see costs on our how much will it cost? page).

Any combination of hours/schools is possible as long as the assistant works at least 12 hours, no more than 18 hours and works in no more than 3 schools.

DO I NEED TO WORRY ABOUT VISAS OR WORK PERMITS FOR MY ASSISTANT?

No, most assistants are from EU countries and are legally eligible to work in the UK. If you host a Spanish assistant from Latin America, a French assistant from Quebec or an assistant from China, Oman, Russia or Japan, all you need to do is send a copy of your offer letter (see our 'Contacting your Assistant’ page for more information) to the British Council, before the summer holidays.  We will prepare a ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’ which they can use to apply for their visa.  The British Council acts as sponsor for the Foreign Language Assistant.

WHAT SUPPORT AND/OR TRAINING IS AVAILABLE?

The British Council has produced FLAs Online, a dedicated website for FLAs which has online lessons and links to useful websites. A new lesson is posted each week and assistants can access archive lessons. There is also a ‘virtual mentor’ appointed by the British Council who writes the material and posts messages on an e-mail discussion group exclusively for FLAs.

We have also developed support mechanisms for FLAs in primary schools and their mentors, including detailed training materials. The Primary FLA Starter Pack is available on our website.

WHAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES NEED TO BE CARRIED OUT?

Once you have been allocated an assistant, one school needs to be the ‘Host School’ for the FLA and co-ordinate the timetable and arrival arrangements with any partner schools. You will need to write an offer of appointment and a contract, a pro-forma for both is available on our 'Contacting your Assistant’ page.

The British Council provides a booklet on the administrative procedures for both schools and assistants which covers important issues such as registering with a doctor, completing income tax forms and opening a bank account. The link to the booklet will be sent along with your assistant’s dossier. See this year’s booklet here.

Each school must also appoint a mentor teacher who is the assistant’s main contact both prior to arrival and during their assistantship.

HOW DOES THE APPLICATION PROCESS WORK?

You will need to inform your Local Authority co-ordinator or apply online directly (if you are not applying through your local authority) if you wish to employ an assistant. You should state how many assistants you would like, which language/s and any specific requirements. Applications for FLAs open in January of each year.

Once the British Council has received all the requests we then work with overseas partners to select suitable candidates and match them to schools. The British Council usually sends dossiers to schools and Local Authorities by the end of May.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION REGARDING ACCOMMODATION?

Assistants are ultimately responsible for arranging their own accommodation. However you should provide guidance where possible and ensure that temporary accommodation is available when they first arrive. This is the main worry of all assistants before they depart for the UK and they are less likely to settle in well initially if they are worried about finding somewhere to live.