The Departure Board, Edition 5: JET is open, and Fulbright closes on Tuesday

By Ola Flynn, Marketing Brand Consultant, Premier TEFL. Reviewed by Katie Troy.

JET's application opened on Monday 21 September, earlier than last year, and the US deadline is Friday 13 November. Fulbright closes next Tuesday, 6 October, at 5pm Eastern. France's TAPIF now has a published opening date of 15 October. EPIK is still rolling. Six days is enough to finish a Fulbright application, but not to start one.

Where every window stands today

What time does Fulbright close where you are?

Fulbright's national deadline for the next award cycle is Tuesday 6 October at 5pm Eastern Time, and it is final. That is 2pm in California, 4pm in Chicago, and 10pm on the same evening if you are applying from London. Applicants who go through a college also have a campus deadline, which Fulbright says usually falls four to six weeks earlier, so if you are applying through your school, your adviser sets the date that matters.

The part people miss is the recommendations. Every letter has to be in by the same deadline, and Fulbright will not accept a late one under any circumstances. If a recommender needs a submitted letter pulled back and corrected, the request has to reach Fulbright by Friday 2 October at 5pm Eastern. If you have one referee who has gone quiet, today is the day to chase, politely and by name.

If France is your target, there is a second step. Fulbright offers up to ten English Teaching Assistant awards in France, running 1 October to 30 April, and candidates also have to apply separately to the French government's TAPIF program. Nothing about TAPIF needs doing before Tuesday, but it is worth knowing the Fulbright application is only half of that route.

JET opened on 21 September. When is your deadline?

Earlier than we expected. Our last issue told you to watch the final week of September, because the previous cycle opened on 30 September 2025. This year JET Program USA put the application live on Monday 21 September, nine days before this edition. If you were waiting for the signal, it has been and gone, and nothing is lost: the window runs for just over six weeks more.

The deadline depends on your passport, because every country runs its own JET desk through the Embassy of Japan.

The pay is unchanged and still the best-documented figure on this board. CLAIR, the body that administers JET in Japan, guarantees about 4.02 million yen before tax in the first year, which is roughly $25,600 at the European Central Bank's reference rates for 29 September, or about 335,000 yen a month. It rises to 4.14 million in year two, 4.26 million in year three, and 4.32 million for the small number reappointed for a fourth and fifth year.

For US applicants, the degree has to be conferred by 25 June 2027. If you are graduating next spring, you are eligible now, and you need a statement of expected graduation with your application. Our Japan salary and visa guide covers what happens after an offer, and issue 002 walks through the documents JET asks for.

TAPIF opens on 15 October. Here is what it pays

France's teaching assistant program for Americans now has a firm date. Villa Albertine, which runs TAPIF for the French Embassy, says applications for the next cohort open on 15 October on its program page. That makes it the first time since August that we can print a TAPIF opening date rather than an expectation.

The terms, from the same page: up to 12 hours a week assisting English teachers, across up to three schools, for seven months from October to April. The monthly stipend is €1,010.67 gross, which Villa Albertine puts at about €810 net depending on regional deductions. At the ECB rate for 29 September, that is roughly $1,148 gross and $920 net. You need to be a US citizen or permanent resident aged 20 to 35, with at least three years of higher education and French at B1 on the CEFR scale.

We are still not printing a TAPIF deadline. Two official pages have given different closing dates in the past, and the honest answer is to wait until the window opens and read the call itself. If your French is borderline, the next two weeks are the time to get your B1 evidence in order. The France guide has the wider picture on teaching there.

EPIK is moving into interview season

Korea's Spring intake has been open since 1 August and still has no published closing date. What changes now is the stage. EPIK's own timeline puts spring-term interviews between October and January, followed by the full document package for anyone who passes.

That package is where the time goes. EPIK asks for a national-level criminal record check from your country of citizenship, validated with an apostille, and the original ink-signed versions of your two recommendation letters. Neither is quick. If you have applied or are about to, start the background check now rather than waiting for an interview result. EPIK processes applications in the order they arrive, so a delay at the document stage costs you the place in the queue you earned by applying early. The South Korea salary and E-2 visa guide covers the visa that follows.

Spain: a correction to our last issue

We got two things wrong about NALCAP in issue 004, and both matter for planning.

First, we described the next window as expected around February, based on the late January to early February pattern of earlier years. The most recent call did not follow that pattern. Spain's Ministry of Education published it in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 19 May 2026, and applications ran from 2 to 30 June. So we are withdrawing February as an expectation. No date for the next window has been published, and we will not guess one.

Second, we said most placements run from 1 October to 31 May. The ministry's current call sets the program at 1 November to 31 May. The stipend of 800 to 1,000 euros a month for 14 to 16 hours a week is unchanged. Issue 004 now carries a dated note pointing here. Our Spain salary and visa guide covers pay, visas and the assistant route in more depth.

What should you do this week?

Get qualified while the windows are open

JET says applicants with a background in TEFL or TESL may have an advantage in selection, and a certificate is something you can finish inside the six weeks JET's window has left. The 120 Hour Online TEFL Course is the standard entry qualification and most people complete it in four to eight weeks. If you want more weight on paper when a selector is comparing candidates, the 180 Hour Level 5 TEFL Diploma is a regulated qualification. You can compare everything on our accredited TEFL courses page.

Catching up? Issue 004 covered the document work that decides an application before it opens, and issue 003 set out the order to apply in.

Sources and method: JET's US opening date, deadline, interview and results timeline and degree date are from JET Program USA's application and departure page. The Canadian deadline is from JET Programme Canada's apply page, and the UK deadline and information sessions are from the Embassy of Japan in the UK. JET pay is from CLAIR's official FAQ. Fulbright's national deadline, the recommendation rules and the 2 October correction cutoff are from the Fulbright US Student Program's own pages, and the France award details are from its France award page. TAPIF's opening date, stipend and eligibility are from Villa Albertine's TAPIF page. EPIK's status, interview timeline and document requirements are from epik.go.kr. NALCAP's most recent application window is from the Spanish Ministry of Education's call and its notice in the Boletín Oficial del Estado of 19 May 2026; the program dates and stipend are from the ministry. Dollar conversions use the European Central Bank reference rates of 29 September 2026: 1 euro to 1.1355 US dollars and 178.41 yen. All checked 30 September 2026.

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