Fort Worth to general London area to teach

Where to start...   

I'm in the process of getting a teaching job in Greater London (not sure where yet) through TimePlan that I plan on starting in Sept 2015.  My father was born there, so I have my British passport and have applied and received my QTS.

I've been to England many, many times (I was a flight attendant) and LOVE it!  Now I'd just like to figure out the best place to teach!  When I was visiting, where to teach wasn't in my mind.

Any advice you have, I'd be grateful! I'm not sure which forum topic I should post that under! 

Rachel,  good luck with your move.  My long term plan is to transition from electronics/programming into high school science teaching.

I'm sure your aware, but the cost of living in London is much, much higher than most of the rest of the UK, and I'm really not sure how far a teaching salary will go, even with the London allowance.   London is a great city, but make sure you research the cost of London housing before deciding on London, especially since teaching is a profession that allows you a lot of freedom in deciding where to live.

Thanks.  As for moving to London... I've seriously considered other options, but my problem is international transportation (ie airplanes).  With my partner and family still in Texas, I want to be one direct flight from the US.  I looked into Manchester also, but the teaching agency I'm working with doesn't fill positions there.

What is your suggestion?  Like I said before, I have visited quite a bit, but that's not the same as deciding on an area to call home.  I have moved blindly before, but I would rather have experienced input if at all possible!

Thanks.  As for moving to London... I've seriously considered other options, but my problem is international transportation (ie airplanes).  With my partner and family still in Texas, I want to be one direct flight from the US.

Remember though that the UK is tiny compared to the US and travelling between cities is pretty fast - England can fit into Texas 5 times over and the UK can fit into Texas 3 times over. You could still fly direct from London, but live in a different UK city.

I don't live anywhere near London, but I only ever travel to the US from either London Heathrow or London Gatwick, because it's usually much cheaper to get a train or a bus to London than to fly from a different city (but I still can't get direct flights because my US relatives live in Arkansas so I usually have to connect in Dallas, Houston or Chicago). And even though I live halfway up the country from London, it's only actually 120 miles away. I can get to Central London by train in 2 hours 8 minutes or to the Heathrow airport terminals by train in 3 hours 15 minutes (2 hours 8 minutes to Central London then 1 hour on the London Underground out to the airport).

You can also get from several other UK cities to Central London by train in less than 2.5 hours.
For example:
- Manchester to London in 2 hours 10 minutes;
- Birmingham to London in 1 hour 59 minutes;
- Bristol to London in 1 hour 38 minutes;
- Oxford to London in 58 minutes;
- Cambridge to London in 53 minutes
- Liverpool to London in 2 hours 12 minutes;
- Cardiff to London in 2 hours 7 minutes.
- Sheffield to London in 2 hours 1 minute

It does take longer to get up to Scotland though - Glasgow or Edinburgh to Central London takes about 4 hours 45 minutes by train.

It's actually the travelling through London out to Heathrow Airport by Underground that actually takes a fair chunk of time on top of that - sometimes it can take a couple of hours just to get from one side of London to the other on the tube, so even if you lived in Greater London, you could still be looking at a journey of an hour or two just to get to the airport.

What is your suggestion?  Like I said before, I have visited quite a bit, but that's not the same as deciding on an area to call home.  I have moved blindly before, but I would rather have experienced input if at all possible!

I guess my suggestion would be rather than decide you only want to live in London, look into where you can get jobs, do a bit of research into the cities and towns they are in, how much the cost of living is, whether the cities/towns have the shops and amenities you would like, what their transport links to London are like etc.

Personally, I don't think I could live in London myself - the city's a bit too busy and stressful for me and I could never afford the lifestyle I have here (in a fairly small city in Eastern England where rent is cheap) if I lived in London. I earn a little bit more than a teacher's starting salary in Inner London. Where I live now, I can rent a whole 2-bedroom house with a garden for about one quarter of my monthly salary. In London, I wouldn't even be able to rent a bedroom in a shared apartment for that.

Remember though that the UK is tiny compared to the US and travelling between cities is pretty fast - England can fit into Texas 5 times over and the UK can fit into Texas 3 times over. You could still fly direct from London, but live in a different UK city.

I don't live anywhere near London, but I only ever travel to the US from either London Heathrow or London Gatwick, because it's usually much cheaper to get a train or a bus to London than to fly from a different city (but I still can't get direct flights because my US relatives live in Arkansas so I usually have to connect in Dallas, Houston or Chicago). And even though I live halfway up the country from London, it's only actually 120 miles away. I can get to Central London by train in 2 hours 8 minutes or to the Heathrow airport terminals by train in 3 hours 15 minutes (2 hours 8 minutes to Central London then 1 hour on the London Underground out to the airport).

You can also get from several other UK cities to Central London by train in less than 2.5 hours.
For example:
- Manchester to London in 2 hours 10 minutes;
- Birmingham to London in 1 hour 59 minutes;
- Bristol to London in 1 hour 38 minutes;
- Oxford to London in 58 minutes;
- Cambridge to London in 53 minutes
- Liverpool to London in 2 hours 12 minutes;
- Cardiff to London in 2 hours 7 minutes.
- Sheffield to London in 2 hours 1 minute

It does take longer to get up to Scotland though - Glasgow or Edinburgh to Central London takes about 4 hours 45 minutes by train.

It's actually the travelling through London out to Heathrow Airport by Underground that actually takes a fair chunk of time on top of that - sometimes it can take a couple of hours just to get from one side of London to the other on the tube, so even if you lived in Greater London, you could still be looking at a journey of an hour or two just to get to the airport.

I guess my suggestion would be rather than decide you only want to live in London, look into where you can get jobs, do a bit of research into the cities and towns they are in, how much the cost of living is, whether the cities/towns have the shops and amenities you would like, what their transport links to London are like etc.

Personally, I don't think I could live in London myself - the city's a bit too busy and stressful for me and I could never afford the lifestyle I have here (in a fairly small city in Eastern England where rent is cheap) if I lived in London. I earn a little bit more than a teacher's starting salary in Inner London. Where I live now, I can rent a whole 2-bedroom house with a garden for about one quarter of my monthly salary. In London, I wouldn't even be able to rent a bedroom in a shared apartment for that.

Oh gosh you do the tube to heathrow? I can't bear it. I did it once and never again. I always shell out at least for the heathrow connect nowadays, and occasionally the express.

More on point, ksand is totally right about living outside London. I live in Cardiff and I've only ever flown through heathrow. It's just 2 hours to Paddington for me in central London, then a 15 minute or half hour train from there to the airport. There is a Cardiff airport, but I don't know anyone who has actually flown through it. It's never worth the extra connecting flight on the continent.

Oh gosh you do the tube to heathrow? I can't bear it. I did it once and never again. I always shell out at least for the heathrow connect nowadays, and occasionally the express.

Yeah - I've done it a couple of times now, usually because the tube ticket was included in the train fare. I don't find it too bad - I just get off the train at Kings Cross, walk straight onto the tube and stay on it until I get to Heathrow. I've actually never even considered the Connect or the Express .

It depends where I'm travelling from though as to how I get to Heathrow - if I'm down in Bristol, then I'll just get a National Express bus directly to the airport, which takes 2 hours and is usually much cheaper and easier than the train.

However, when I'm travelling from Lincoln, the train is easiest - as I mentioned, about 3 hours if I take the tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow - while the National Express bus takes 4.5 to 5 hours.

I live in Cardiff and I've only ever flown through heathrow. It's just 2 hours to Paddington for me in central London, then a 15 minute or half hour train from there to the airport. There is a Cardiff airport, but I don't know anyone who has actually flown through it.

Yeah, I've looked into flying to the US from both Bristol and Cardiff before, and it just wasn't worth it - the flights were £200 or £300 more expensive than flying from Heathrow and involved an extra connection  .

Yeah - I've done it a couple of times now, usually because the tube ticket was included in the train fare. I don't find it too bad - I just get off the train at Kings Cross, walk straight onto the tube and stay on it until I get to Heathrow. I've actually never even considered the Connect or the Express .

It depends where I'm travelling from though as to how I get to Heathrow - if I'm down in Bristol, then I'll just get a National Express bus directly to the airport, which takes 2 hours and is usually much cheaper and easier than the train.

However, when I'm travelling from Lincoln, the train is easiest - as I mentioned, about 3 hours if I take the tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow - while the National Express bus takes 4.5 to 5 hours.

Yeah, I've looked into flying to the US from both Bristol and Cardiff before, and it just wasn't worth it - the flights were £200 or £300 more expensive than flying from Heathrow and involved an extra connection  .

That makes more sense then if you're going through kings cross. I just can't handle the tube with all my luggage. Plus since the Cardiff trains go to Paddington it is really easy for me to do the express or connect.

Weirdly enough I looked into doing national express from heathrow to Cardiff when I moved, but it worked out to be the same price as the train so I went for the train.

Next time I go home I think it will be with the future in laws who will be driving to heathrow. or at least Twyford where the future SIL lives and taking a train from there. It'll be a nice treat haha.

Thanks for the info!  I would prefer not to be in London - too touristy and crazy.  Being that I will be poor, at least for awhile...a car will be out of the question.  Being that I"m from Texas, I've had a car since I was 16.  While I won't really miss it, I want to be some place I won't need a vehicle.  I guess my mind just went directly to big cities.

When I've flown in to see my sister, I typically took the train to Paddington, then the tube from there on. 

Seems I need to expand my horizons. 

Thanks for the info!  I would prefer not to be in London - too touristy and crazy.  Being that I will be poor, at least for awhile...a car will be out of the question.  Being that I"m from Texas, I've had a car since I was 16.  While I won't really miss it, I want to be some place I won't need a vehicle.  I guess my mind just went directly to big cities.

When I've flown in to see my sister, I typically took the train to Paddington, then the tube from there on. 

Seems I need to expand my horizons. 

London is huge-659 square miles-not every place is touristy.  You can live away from Central London without a car and it will be cheaper.

London is huge-659 square miles-not every place is touristy.  You can live away from Central London without a car and it will be cheaper.

Thanks