employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

British Council

Is this your company?

British Council reviews

3.7

65% would recommend to a friend

(2,306 total reviews)
avatar

Ciarán Devane

63% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

British Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,306 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The British Council employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Gemeinnützige Organisationen & NGOs industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
4.0
Jun 21, 2012

i am just a student of it .

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

i think it is helping all kinds of students for better English by speaking , learning and listening parts also its helps to get better future by good thought and study skills .

Cons

some times students don't understand teachers talking words , and is also happen that they talk normally buy because of English is a 2nd language for others county students can't get the point in right time . but some times teachers say in their 1st class that if any student can;t catch words they can share the problem friendly .

1.0
May 22, 2012

A lot of "back door" policies

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

People who are not in key positions are some of the best professionals right now. The values of British Council are very important to me, personally. THe work the British Council does changes the world for the better.

Cons

Management doesn't care about employees, but acts like it does. Values are not upheld. Strategy changes dramatically every year. Change management doesn't exist. People with ideas are not listened to.

3.0
Sep 15, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Support - as a teacher you never have to deal with complaints or difficult customers beyond an certain point. Training - colleagues tell me it's not as good as other employers, such as IH - but it's paid. Atmosphere - depending on the centre (e.g. not Martinez Campos), colleagues are friendly and helpful. International opportunities - it's relatively easy to move around in the BC. Career development - I haven't ranked this very highly, as their insistence on the DELTA exam means that some incapable people are promoted, while other very capable people are stuck in monotonous positions. However, if you have this exam, there are decent prospects. Holidays - very long, about 6 - 9 weeks (although inflexible).

Cons

Rigid hierarchy - see above note on DELTA. There is little to no flexibility within jobs and promotions are very official while unfair. False transparency - managers usually employ who they want (and know), and make the incredibly lengthy applications fit their foregone choice. This means a lot of time wasted in hopeless applications. Antisocial timetables/bad contracts - the centres that offer decent timetables tend only to offer short contracts, and those that offer permanent contracts demand antisocial working hours (Friday, Saturday, or both, as well as evenings). Inequalities surrounding contracts are famous both within and outside the BC. Teachers are only registered as working part-time (with preparation time not included), which means they fall short of the threshold for a standard pension. Managerial attitudes - due to the rigid hierarchy, and since middle managers come exclusively from teaching backgrounds, their attitude towards teachers can be painfully patronising (eliciting the obvious etc.). Decreasing pay - pay rises always happen in retrospect, and don't meet the real rise in the cost of living, so teachers are proportionally poorer each year.

Viewing 73 - 75 of 2,306 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,220 British Council reviews submitted anonymously by British Council employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if British Council is right for you.