How to Teach English Online: Remote Jobs to Make Money (2025)

Pursuing a remote working career path could be ideal if you’re eager to branch out beyond the daily nine-to-five routine. While commuting to the office every day used to be the norm not so long ago, today, a growing number of workers are passing over traditional workplace roles and are, instead, looking for a job that allows them to reap the benefits of working from home.
There are a surprising number of possible remote careers to choose from, ranging from vlogging and blogging to dropshipping or online transcription. Still, one of the best and most profitable ways to do this is to teach English online.
What Does Teaching English Online Involve?
While most people associate teaching with working in a physical classroom environment, there is an increasing demand for online education opportunities. Busy lifestyles make it hard for would-be students all around the world to access real-world lessons, and therefore, more aspiring learners than ever before are turning to the internet to find the courses they need to progress.
Online English teaching involves delivering classes virtually to individuals, small groups, or whole classes of students who may be located anywhere in the world. Teachers can enjoy all of the rewarding benefits of imparting their knowledge and skills but without any of the time-consuming hassle of having to go in person to a school or college.
Why Teach English Online?
The benefits of remote working for employees are becoming more widely recognised these days. The flexibility that virtual English teaching can offer is hard to beat. As there are people who are eager to learn English located all around the globe, it’s possible to find teaching work at any hour of the day or night to fit your lifestyle, responsibilities or preferences. Thanks to the flexible nature of the work, it’s also possible to work as many or as few hours as you wish.
There are other advantages to remote English teaching, too. As there’s no need to commute to a workplace, you can save a lot of time and money on travel to and from work. You can also work from any location you choose, which makes it possible to teach while you travel. If you’ve always wanted to see the world, working as an online English teacher is the ideal solution for you. You can just as easily deliver classes from a hotel room, rental apartment or even campervan as you can from your own bedroom or kitchen table. All you need is a good internet connection, a laptop, and a headset.
What Do I Need To Start Remote English Teaching?
First things first: If you’re keen to become an online English teacher, you’ll need to know more about the qualifications needed to teach English online. The good news is that while having a degree may give you an advantage, there are still plenty of teaching opportunities out there for those who have never attended university. It’s still a good idea to have a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certification though, as this will make you stand out from the crowd and demonstrate that you have all the right skills, knowledge and experience to teach others in the most effective way.
Do I Need Special Equipment?
One of the best things about teaching English online is that there are extremely low start-up costs. Often, you’ll already have everything you need to begin as soon as you’ve obtained your TEFL certification. As long as you have a strong internet connection that allows you to stream video and audio seamlessly, a laptop to work from, and a functioning headset to allow you to hear and speak to your students, you’re good to go.
Of course, there are a few other things that you might want to invest in to make delivering lessons even easier. A light to ensure your face is well illuminated for your learners and some teaching props like posters, a whiteboard, or flashcards are useful additions to your virtual classroom, but they usually aren’t essential. Many online language schools will provide teaching materials as standard anyway, so you won’t even need to worry about lesson planning or preparation of resources.
How Do I Find Online Teaching Jobs?
There are several options when it comes to finding online teaching jobs. The first and simplest option is to sign up for online teaching platforms and language schools where you can connect easily with students. While some will require you to market yourself to prospective learners, others will offer you classes at times that are suitable for you, making it easy to launch yourself into work. Additionally, some online English teaching platforms may offer EOR (Employer of Record) services to handle payroll, taxes, and other administrative tasks, making it even easier.
Other options include joining social media TEFL boards to source teaching positions or registering as a freelancer on sites like Upwork and seeking out students that way. You can even combine all of these approaches to give yourself maximum opportunities to obtain work.
Is Online Teaching Profitable?
Like most remote jobs, online teaching is only profitable if you’re prepared to put the effort in. However, if you obtain a TEFL certificate, actively seek out online teaching opportunities, and deliver excellent classes, you’ll find that working as a virtual English teacher can certainly be a profitable career path. This is especially the case if you opt to specialise in niches such as teaching business English, offering examination preparation classes or coaching for English language job interviews as you can typically command higher rates for these lessons.
Depending on the number of hours you choose to work and the type of work you wish to do, you can make a comfortable wage and with the added benefit of being able to work from any location you choose, and to the schedule of your choice. So if you’re ready to embark on your new career path, it’s time to earn your TEFL certificate now, so that you’re in the best position to enjoy maximum profits from your new and rewarding virtual role.