Educastream Review Summary

Educastream is a French company providing virtual math and language lessons to children and adults. The 55-minute classes can be 1v1 or in groups of up to 6 students, the pay is between £9-£11 an hour, and Educastream tutors must be UK or US-based Native English Speakers with at least 1 year of teaching experience.

Educastream Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Flexible work hours
• Curriculum and course materials provided
• Small class size, maximum of 6 students per class
• Generally pleasant students

Cons:

• Frequent student cancellations
• Curriculum is dated and repetitive
• Poor communication from management
• Must commit to 12+ hours a week
• Not always hiring

Is Educastream Legit?

Educastream was founded in 2006 in Paris, France, by Pierre-François Pétrignani, who has over 20 years of experience in digital education. It is known as a pioneer in video conference tutoring, which began with a math program and has expanded to offer a range of language classes for individuals, schools and companies. Within France, Educastream has a reputation for being a premier online school for ESL, and students mention that they have achieved their learning goals using the platform and have benefitted from Educastream’s tutors. The company has been featured and interviewed in several newspapers and television programs in France.

Educastream delivers 55-minute online classes to individuals or groups of up to 6 students, from 5-years-old to adult, in the following subjects: 

• Math
• English 
• French 
• Spanish 
• German 
• Italian 
• Portuguese
• Dutch

The company’s website and social media content is in French, and is thus a little tricky to navigate if you do not know the language (ask your browser to translate). Educastream has mainly French students, but has expanded into other international student markets over recent years.

Teaching materials and course outlines are provided, though they are reportedly old and quite repetitive.

Here is an Educastream English tutor sharing some of her experience of teaching for the company:

Educastream Pay

The Educastream pay rate is between £9-£11 for a 55-minute tutoring session. Tutors are still paid if a student cancels less than 3 hours before the lesson start time.

Educastream Hours

Educastream tutors work a minimum of 12 hours per week over the following hours: 9am-12pm, 12pm-3pm, 3pm-6pm, 6pm-9pm (Central European Time).

Educastream Requirements

To begin your Educastream career, you must meet the following requirements:

• For English teachers:
  • Be a Native English Speaker who lives in the UK or USA
  • Involved in a modern language, literature, or business studies qualification (current student or graduate)
  • Have 1+ year of teaching experience
  • Open-minded, enthusiastic, and reliable, with excellent communication skills
  • Own a computer and headset with access to a wired broadband Internet connection (not wifi)
• For French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch teachers:
  • Be a qualified language teacher
  • Possess teaching skills developed through previous professional experiences tutoring
  • Open, rigorous, and dynamic, with the know-how to arouse the interest of learners
  • Motivated by Educastream’s unique learning method
  • Own a computer connected to high-speed Internet and comfortable with new technologies (no advanced computer knowledge required)
• For Mathematics teachers:
  • Be a practicing mathematics teacher, a student in a major engineering school, or preparing for the CAPES or the Aggregation
  • Possess teaching skills developed through previous professional experiences tutoring
  • Open, rigorous, and dynamic, with the know-how to arouse the interest of learners
  • Motivated by Educastream’s unique learning method
  • Own a computer connected to high-speed Internet and comfortable with new technologies (no advanced computer knowledge required)

Educastream Jobs Application Process

You can request to apply for a remote teaching position with Educastream through this page.

If they are currently hiring, you will then be invited to complete an Educastream application form, including a cover letter and your resume/CV.

Educastream Interview

Should you pass the company’s initial screening, you will be invited to a group interview conducted online via Skype. This should last around 30 minutes, and includes a mock demo where you will be expected to teach one of the other candidates. Material is sent in advance to help you prepare for this, and there is a script available to read, if necessary.

Here is a list of Educastream interview questions that have been asked of previous candidates:

• Why do you want this job?
• Why do you want to be an English Tutor?
• What is your previous ESL teaching experience?
• How would you deal with an abusive/misbehaving student?
• How can your course help students learn?

The interview is also used to provide candidates with additional information about the company and position.

Successful applicants are required to attend online training.

Working for Educastream Reviews

The Educastream Glassdoor page gives the company an overall rating of 3.1 out of 5, with 57% willing to recommend them (at the time of writing). The Educastream Indeed page provides a comparable rating of 2.9 out of 5 (though from a smaller sample of 9 reviews).

Educastream reviewers talk positively about the flexible hours, remote work, and generally friendly students. However, there are a number of negative comments regarding the management and its interactions with tutors, limits to the aforementioned flexibility when one is ill or an emergency situation arises, and a curriculum which is outdated and repetitive.

These reviews mention how the company is slow to respond when contacted by employees and, once hired, there is very little to no contact from management or superiors. Educastream tutors are often asked to teach lessons at short notice, and can get penalized if they cancel several classes even if it is due to illness or emergency. Educastream lessons are rated on a points basis, and former tutors mention that these points can be taken off with no way of getting them back.

Here are some of the most useful recent Educastream tutor reviews that have been posted on Glassdoor and Indeed:

Conclusion – Is Educastream Worth It?

There is little to make Educastream stand out as a better teaching option than what other online companies offer. Schedule flexibility, small class sizes, pre-prepared teaching materials, and nice students are not that uncommon to find elsewhere. The opinions of existing tutors do appear to be more negative than positive, with the pay rate, management and curriculum being especially criticized. Still, online teaching jobs outside of China are in high demand right now, so this is still an option to consider, especially for those wanting European hours.

You can apply via the Educastream sign up page.

A full list of online teaching companies can be found here.