Does British Council pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, British Council employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at British Council. This rating has improved by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at British Council?

62% of British Council employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated British Council 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at British Council?

English Teacher (162) , English Language Assistant (100) , Teacher (100) , Exam Invigilator (93) , Project Manager (67) , Invigilator (64) , Teaching Assistant (55) , Manager (45) , ESL Teacher (38) , Customer Service Representative (30) , Teacher of English (26) , Language Assistant (25) , IELTS Invigilator (24) , Administrative Assistant (23) , Consultant (23)

What are the pros of working at British Council according to real employee reviews?

"Good work life balance and exposure to the market." ((in 121 reviews)); "Great people to work with and for." ((in 107 reviews)); "Great working environment and friendly" ((in 74 reviews)); "It's just a shame that the good culture was destroyed by bad organisational management." ((in 66 reviews)); "Entry level internship position gave me something worthwhile to add to my cv and was a good opportunity for some networking." ((in 63 reviews))

What are the cons of working at British Council according to real employee reviews?

"Salaries are low and you have to work from the office most of the time." ((in 201 reviews)); "Low pay and insanely bureaucratic" ((in 113 reviews)); "But yes Management is Poor and Biased !" ((in 105 reviews)); "Changing leadership and poor strategy" ((in 37 reviews)); "This permeates across different offices and countries too as the managers have very often mixed a lot in past roles." ((in 31 reviews))

What are employees saying about British Council layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about British Council layoffs and their outlook for job security at British Council in 2026.

British Council reviews

3.7

62% would recommend to a friend

(2,312 total reviews)

Ciarán Devane

57% approve of CEO

43% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,312 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

British Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,312 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

Dec 16, 2018

Language Assistant Experience

Language assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Gives you the opportunity to live and work in another country and meet amazing people in the same position as you.

Cons

Little room for academic development

2.0

Aug 10, 2018

British Council in Shanghai, China

Ielts examiner

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

the chance to stay in nice hotel rooms the chance to earn some decent money (as far as English-teachers' salaries go) pretty good health insurance

Cons

inexperienced staff in charge of visa processing confusing salary structure that left a lot of room for error (on the employer's part--to the examiners' detriment) mind-numbingly boring work to read that IELTS-speaking-exam script all day -the Chinese partner to the British Council (required by law in China) is really the bane of that operation's existence -no payment for time travelling. Yes, travel expenses were reimbursed, but the hours of waiting in airports, Chinese train stations, and sitting on Chinese trains---none of that was compensated. I thought that was unfair. Also, there's NO wifi access in any of those areas, so forget about getting any work done during those interminable hours. Also,it's really hard to explain what the heck you did at this job when going to any other job. Especially in the U.S.

3.0

Jul 22, 2018

Director

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Work life balance. Range of projects Opportunities to travel Committed colleagues

Cons

constantly restructuring Invisible ceo and little vision Decision making is avoided and very bureaucratic Poor pay and no pay rise or reward allowed

Viewing 247 - 249 of 2,312 Reviews

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Jobs at British Council

Language Learning Project Officer

Service Enablement Co-ordinator - HE

Erasmus + Single Point of Contact(Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland)

Consultant, UK-German Connection (Comms & M&E)

British Council

British Council reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Language Assistant Experience

British Council in Shanghai, China

Director

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Jobs at British Council