As of 17 October 2026, four government English-teaching programs are taking applications: Japan's JET (closes 5 November for UK applicants, 13 November for US and Canadian applicants), France's TAPIF (open to 15 February 2027), South Korea's EPIK (rolling, no closing date) and Taiwan's TFETP. Spain's NALCAP and the US Fulbright ETA are closed. Private schools and language centers in China, Vietnam, Thailand and the UAE hire year-round. Every date and pay figure below is taken from the official program source and dated.
Verified at source 17 October 2026 (The Departure Board, Issue 006). Next check 4 November 2026. This page is updated in place every edition, so the URL stays the same and the dates move.
Which TEFL programs are open right now?
The table lists every route on The Departure Board, in the order a US applicant should act on them. Pay is shown only where a government or program publishes a scale. Where nothing official exists the row says so, because the dollar ranges that used to appear for those markets came from our own research and could not be sourced.
| Destination · route | Status | Official pay | Deadline | Apply and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan · JET Program 2027 | Boarding | ¥4.02 million in year one (about $2,120 a month), rising to ¥4.14 million in year two. Set by CLAIR. | UK: 5 November 2026. US: 13 November 2026, 11:59pm Hawaii time. Canada: 13 November 2026, 3pm EST. | JET Program USA · Embassy of Japan in the UK · JET Programme Canada |
| France · TAPIF 2027-28 | Boarding | €1,010.67 a month gross (about $1,137), roughly €810 net, for up to 12 hours a week, October to April. | 15 February 2027. Opened 15 October 2026. $149 application fee. Ages 20 to 35, three years of higher education, B1 French. | Villa Albertine, TAPIF |
| South Korea · EPIK | Boarding, rolling | 2.2 to 2.8 million won a month on the main scale at the levels currently hiring (about $1,650 to $2,100), plus a furnished single apartment, severance and airfare. Chungbuk pays 2.9 and 3.0 million won at two higher levels. | No closing date. Spring 2027 intake open since 1 August; interviews and document checks run October to January, reviewed in order of arrival. | EPIK · EPIK salary and benefits, updated 4 May 2026 |
| Taiwan · TFETP | Boarding | No official scale published on the program site at the time of checking. | Applications open on the official portal. | TFETP, Ministry of Education Taiwan |
| Spain · Meddeas | Boarding | Stipend plus lodging. | Open on the program site at the time of checking; no closing date published. | Meddeas |
| China · schools and training centers | Hiring year-round | No official scale. Market ranges are on our China salary guide. | No program deadline; schools hire continuously. | eChinacities jobs |
| Vietnam · language centers | Hiring year-round | No official scale. | No program deadline; centers hire continuously. | ILA Vietnam |
| Thailand · schools | Boarding | No official scale. | No program deadline; schools hire continuously. | Ajarn jobs board |
| UAE · Dubai schools | Hiring, tax-free | No official scale. Salaries are paid tax-free. | No program deadline; schools hire continuously. | GEMS Education careers |
| Spain · NALCAP | Closed | €800 to €1,000 a month by region (about $900 to $1,125), 14 to 16 hours a week, 1 November to 31 May, with medical insurance. | No date published for the next call. The most recent call ran 2 to 30 June 2026. | Spanish Ministry of Education (no live call page at the time of checking); set an alert for the next window |
| Fulbright ETA · US Student 2027-28 | Closed | Stipend set per country by the program. | Closed 6 October 2026. Recommendation decisions by end of January 2027; final decisions late February to June. | Fulbright US Student Program, selection timeline |
What is the next hard deadline?
JET for UK applicants, on 5 November 2026. The Embassy of Japan in the UK states that late applications will not be accepted. US and Canadian applicants have until 13 November 2026. After JET, the next fixed date is TAPIF on 15 February 2027. EPIK has no deadline but reviews applications in the order they arrive, so an application filed in November is interviewed before one filed in January.
In what order should a US applicant apply?
If you want Japan, file JET before 13 November; there is no second window until late 2027. If you want Korea, file EPIK now, because the Spring 2027 intake is already being interviewed. If you want France, TAPIF is open until 15 February 2027. Spain's NALCAP is closed and has not announced a 2027 call; if Spain is the goal, Meddeas is the route that is open. China, Vietnam, Thailand and the UAE hire through schools and recruiters rather than a single program, so there is no program deadline.
Which programs publish their pay, and which do not?
Only four routes on the board publish a pay scale: JET (CLAIR sets ¥4.02 million in year one), EPIK (2.2 to 2.8 million won a month on the main scale), TAPIF (€1,010.67 a month gross) and NALCAP (€800 to €1,000 a month). Those are the only figures a teacher can hold a program to. For China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and the UAE, no government or program publishes a scale, so any range you see is a market estimate from job listings. Our market estimates, labeled as such, are in The TEFL Salary Report and on The Pay Desk. The official scales are set out on our official pay scales page.
How is this list verified?
Every row is checked against the program's own page on the date shown at the top, and a row is only marked Boarding when the official page says applications are open. Deadlines are copied as the program writes them, including the time zone. When a figure changes, the old one is corrected on the board and noted in the next issue of The Departure Board, which is published on the 4th and the 18th of each month. Issue 006 corrected EPIK's lower figure from 2.1 to 2.2 million won, because the 2.1 million rate belongs to a level EPIK is not currently hiring at.
How to cite this. Premier TEFL, "Which TEFL programs are hiring right now? The Now Boarding list", verified 17 October 2026, https://premiertefl.com/blogs/posts/tefl-programs-hiring-now. Official pay figures are taken from CLAIR, EPIK, Villa Albertine and the Spanish Ministry of Education on that date; USD conversions use European Central Bank reference rates of 16 October 2026. Routes without an official scale carry no pay figure. Read our Editorial Charter.
Part of The Departure Board, Premier TEFL's TEFL jobs report. Back issues are in the archive.
