The Departure Board
The Departure Board
The TEFL jobs magazine: every opening, salary and deadline that matters, reported from official sources and sent to subscribers first.
Fulbright ↑ · Taiwan ↓
We read the official program sites, government schemes and the big recruiters every week, and publish only the openings we'd send our own graduates to.
Latest issue
Read the full edition →The Departure Board is Premier TEFL's report on TEFL jobs, published on the 4th and the 18th. As of 2 September 2026: five government teaching programmes take applications before January 2027, and only one has a fixed deadline. Fulbright's US student competition closes on 6 October. South Korea's EPIK is open and reviewed in the order applications arrive. Japan's JET, France's TAPIF and Spain's NALCAP have not opened yet.
ISSUE 003 · 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 · BY JESS JEFFREY
Five windows before January: the order to apply in
- Fulbright's 2027-2028 US Student Program competition closes 6 October 2026 at 5pm Eastern. It is the only fixed deadline before January.
- EPIK's Spring 2027 application opened 1 August and has no closing date. Applications are processed in the order received.
- JET's 2027 application still had not opened as of 2 September. CLAIR confirms first-appointment pay of 4.02 million yen.
- Spain's NALCAP pays 700 to 1,000 euros a month by region, 12 to 16 hours a week, 1 October to 31 May. Not yet open.
Dispatches
Checked at source, datedFulbright closes on 6 October, and nothing else closes before January
The 2027-2028 Fulbright US Student Program competition is open, with a national deadline of 6 October 2026 at 5pm Eastern Time. France alone carries ten Fulbright English Teaching Assistant awards. It is the only fixed deadline among the major teaching programmes this side of the new year, which makes it the one worth putting in a calendar today.
JET's first-year pay is 4.02 million yen, and we were wrong to pull it
In August we removed this figure because it looked like a top-of-ladder rate presented as year one. CLAIR's own FAQ gives the guaranteed pre-tax remuneration as 4.02 million yen for a first appointment, then 4.14, 4.26 and 4.32 million. Your contracting organisation provides airfare; accommodation is your own responsibility, at four to seven months' rent up front.
Spain's terms are confirmed. Taiwan's pay stays off the board
The Spanish ministry puts NALCAP at 700 to 1,000 euros a month by region, 12 to 16 hours a week, 1 October to 31 May, with the window not yet open. Taiwan's TFETP carries no salary line here: its remuneration page would not yield a figure we could quote, and the alternative government host is serving an expired certificate. It stays out until we can check it.
Editor's note
Japan led the last issue. This one is about sequence: five government programmes take applications between now and January, and they do not behave the same way. One closes on a date you can miss, one is a queue where arriving early decides your placement, and three have not opened at all. Get the order wrong and you spend September watching a portal that will not move.
This issue also carries a correction. In August we pulled JET's headline pay figure because we could not confirm it. We have now checked it against CLAIR's own FAQ and the figure was right: 4.02 million yen is the first-appointment rate. It is back on the board, dated. We only report what we can check against an official source, and when we get it wrong we say so.
In every issue
Jobs first, always. But The Departure Board also tracks the things that decide whether a job is worth taking. The brief you'd read every two weeks even if you weren't applying yet.
The desks
Kept live between editionsThe board changes every two weeks. These four tools don't. They stay live so you can plan the whole move: what you'd earn, the visa you need, the paperwork it takes, and what you could make online.
Your say
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The archive
3 issues published, see them all →Five windows before January: the order to apply in
Fulbright closes 6 October, EPIK is open and reviewed in order of arrival, and JET, TAPIF and NALCAP have not opened yet. Plus JET's first-year pay, confirmed at source. By Jess Jeffrey.
Read issue 003 →
Japan is boarding: JET's 2027 application opens this fall
JET's fall window and the six documents it wants, France's TAPIF returns in November, plus Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and China hiring now. By Katie Troy.
Read issue 002 →
South Korea is boarding: EPIK Spring 2027 just opened
EPIK's rolling Spring 2027 intake, plus Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam & Thailand windows. By Ola Flynn.
Read issue 001 →
Coming next: October's deadlines, and does JET open?
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Read our Editorial CharterCommon questions
What is The Departure Board?
The Departure Board is Premier TEFL's fortnightly TEFL jobs report. Every two weeks it lists the teaching programs and schools hiring now, what they pay, and the application deadlines that are about to close, each checked against an official program source and dated. Subscribers receive it by email first, then it is published free on this page.
Which TEFL programs are hiring right now?
As of 2 September 2026: the Fulbright US Student Program is open with a 6 October deadline, South Korea's EPIK is taking Spring 2027 applications and reviewing them in the order they arrive, and private centres in China and Vietnam hire year-round. Japan's JET 2027 application has not opened yet, France's TAPIF portal shows no open call, and Spain's NALCAP window is still shut.
When does the JET Program 2027 application open?
The official US JET Program page states that the application for 2027 departures to Japan will open in fall 2026. The 2026 application has closed. JET runs on a one year term of appointment, extendable to a maximum of five years.
Do I need a degree to teach English abroad?
Government programs such as JET, EPIK and TFETP require a bachelor's degree in any subject plus a TEFL certificate of at least 120 hours. Some private language center markets are more flexible on the degree, but the visa rules of the destination decide it, not the school.
How do I read the back issues of The Departure Board?
Every published edition stays online. The full archive is at the Departure Board Archive, and each edition also lives in the blog so you can see what was open, and what it paid, on the date it was reported.
How often is The Departure Board published?
Twice a month, on the 4th and the 18th. Subscribers get each edition by email before it appears on the site, and deadline alerts are available separately for the programs you are tracking.
Subscribers read every issue first
One email every two weeks with every opening, salary and deadline that matters, plus a heads-up before the big windows close.