'Feeding frenzy': How British Council 'exploits' agency instructors
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Up to 350 teachers from the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and India must compete to book the variable number of lessons available each week in what they call a "feeding frenzy".
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A classroom in the UK holds a video call with Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Undated, X photo)
The British Council has been accused of taking advantage of hundreds of agency instructors on zero-hour contracts who are forced to compete for classes in a weekly "feeding frenzy", The Guardian reported.
An open letter from teaching staff exposes that the prominent government-funded public entity does not provide regular tutoring hours on its famed English Online platform, which serves over 45,000 students globally.
Instead, up to 350 teachers from the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and India must compete to book the variable number of lessons available each week, a process known as "the feeding frenzy" among staff.
The letter, organized by the Tefl Workers' Union, details how "often, all available classes are gone in minutes," meaning "if you’re teaching or having computer problems when hours are released, you can end up with no lessons at all."
“This Uberfication of teaching needs to stop.”
Teachers used to be directly hired by the British Council, which the Foreign Office supports to promote healthy cultural connections with other nations. Following the epidemic, the council's commercial arm, which produces £700 million yearly, began hiring teachers through partner agencies.
It comes as the government moves forward with measures to prohibit "exploitative" zero-hour contracts. To prevent companies from avoiding limits, ministers declared last month that firms must provide agency workers contracts guaranteeing a certain number of hours each week.
There are rising fears that exploitative gig economy practices will extend to other areas of the economy, including professional positions. Unions have warned that the current forms of casualisation pioneered by Uber and Deliveroo are infiltrating high-street stores and universities, with even Oxford University now employing professors on gig-style contracts.
The British Council's "policies, operations, and performance" are accountable to parliament, according to Foreign Secretary David Lammy. The Tefl union is aware that at least one MP may question the treatment of teachers with the government.
The British Council advertises teaching opportunities on the platform, although they are not directly hired by the public agency, which was established by the Foreign Office in the 1930s to boost Britain's worldwide reputation. In the United Kingdom, the Impellam Group employs instructors.
One teacher reported being offered regular hours before she went on her maternity leave. Upon coming back, what "felt like a proper job" was now "nothing...it was absolutely abysmal," she expressed.
She noted that her employment was less stable than her partner's bar work.
Internal British Council staff message boards from the last ten months, shared with The Observer by a whistleblower, describe weekly lesson releases as "10 minutes of manic button pressing, panic, and expletives," which is getting worse as "the number of teachers is growing a lot faster than the number of classes being uploaded."
Tom Liebewitz, lead organizer for the Tefl Workers’ Union, criticized the British Council’s use of zero-hour contracts and gig-economy models, leaving teachers in constant uncertainty and struggling to secure stable work.
The British Council defended its English Online platform, highlighting the flexibility it offers teachers to work from home and choose their hours. However, they noted that there are no guaranteed hours and teachers should not rely on the platform as their primary source of income, while ensuring compliance with employment laws and a commitment to teacher wellbeing.
