Egg School Review Summary

Egg School is a new online ESL company from South Korea. They pay Native Speakers with degrees $16-18 per hour to teach children 1v1. There are no minimum hours, the application process is simple with no interview, though booking rates are around 50%, and student cancelations are unpaid.

Egg School Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Reasonably high pay for a Non-China company
• Don’t over-hire, so teachers maintain classes
• Still accepts applications when not ‘officially’ hiring – review applications in order of submission once rehiring begins
• Simple 3-step application process with no interview
• Hours start earlier than some Asian schools
• Can cancel 24 hours in advance without penalty
• Lesson materials are provided and are well structured

Cons:

• As a start-up, only 50% of open classes are booked currently
• Teachers are not paid for student cancelations at any time, leaving gaps in schedules
• Don’t constantly hire (to protect teachers’ classes) so application reviews can take time
• Transitioning from company-booked to parent-booked classes
• Unpaid time watching videos before and writing feedback after class

Is Egg School Legit?

Egg School is a legitimate online ESL company, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. They are a relatively new start-up, having begun in March 2021, with around 40 teachers (at the time of writing), whilst drawing upon the existing customer base of their parent company English Egg. Egg School English classes are one-on-one with Korean elementary students between the ages of 5-12 years, lasting 25 minutes and focusing on communicating like a Native Speaker through pronunciation correction and intonation practice.

Egg School Pay / Salary

Egg School pay a base rate of US$8 per 25-minute class. Teachers who possess a TEFL/TESOL certificate and Master’s degree earn an extra $0.50 for each of those qualifications. This makes the hourly rate between $16-18.

If you pick up a short-notice class (24-hour cancelation) from the waiting list, you will earn an extra $2 on top of the base rate. These opportunities are first come-first served, and very few appear at the moment as the company is still growing.

Additional bonuses/incentives are available if you teach more than 40 classes in a month. This amounts to $0.50-$2 per class (above the threshold), depending on how long you’ve taught with Egg School and the tier level. There is also a bonus of $2 if you teach at least 6 classes in one day.

One negative of Egg School is that teachers are not paid at all for student cancelations, which are allowed at any time. Teachers may themselves cancel at least 24 hours in advance without penalty; cancelations within 2-24 hours receive a $2 penalty and less than 2 hours notice costs $10, though this may be waived (up to 3 times a month) if paperwork is provided demonstrating an emergency.

Egg School pay their teachers no later than the 15th of each month via PayPal.

Egg School Hours

Egg School hours are 1-9pm (Korea Standard Time), Monday to Friday, and 9am-3pm on Saturdays. No classes are on Sunday. South Korean schools finish at 1pm, meaning Egg School online classes are available earlier than in many other countries and companies.

There is no minimum hours requirement, though you are expected to open slots regularly. Currently, classes are booked by the company on the 1st for the whole month, so your availability must be set by then, though Egg School is transitioning towards parent-booked classes.

Unfortunately, student cancelations are allowed at any time, which can leave gaps in teacher schedules. Teachers may cancel at least 24 hours in advance without penalty ($2 for 2-24 hours and $10 for 0-2 hours notice).

The Egg School booking rate is currently around 50% due to it being a start-up, though they are rolling out a trial program in the hope that this might increase.

Most students take classes twice a week due to Egg School’s story-based curriculum, where there are two lessons (one language acquisition and one free-talk) attached to each animated/live action episode that students watch ahead of time. As teachers must be familiar with these stories too, viewing time is unpaid, as is feedback (3-5 sentences) which must be submitted within 24 hours.

Egg School Requirements

Egg School English teachers must meet the following requirements:

• Be a Native English Speaker with a neutral accent (not California tax payers)
• Possess a Bachelor’s degree in any subject
• Have an energetic, positive and self-motivated attitude
• Be tech savy

A TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificate and teaching experience is preferred but not essential (though will help in what is an increasingly-competitive applicant pool).

Egg School Technical Requirements

• Wired, high-speed internet connection of 25 Mbps (you can test your internet connection here)
• Google Chrome browser
• HD integrated webcam
• HD microphone (headset strongly recommended)
• Each class must be recorded
• Clear, white light that brightens the whole room and is on the tutor’s face
• Dedicated, private, quiet, organized workspace without background distractions
• Child-friendly backdrop
• Props

Egg School Application Process

Prospective Egg School teachers can apply by visiting the Egg School website and selecting ‘Join’ to create an account with an email address or by linking their Google or Facebook account (be aware that Yahoo is incompatible).

There are then 3 main steps to the Egg School application process:

1. submit an application form and introduction video
2. record and submit a mock class
3. sign a contract and submit supporting documents

You can submit the application form once you’ve registered and logged into the website, by completing the following details:

• Last name
• First name
• Email address
• Nationality
• Time zone
• Cell/mobile phone number
• Highest level of education
• Certificate of teaching (if applicable)
• Teaching experience (if applicable)
• Upload self-introduction video (include 1-2 interesting facts and answer either ‘Tell us the reason why EGG SCHOOL should hire you’ or ‘What do you think is the most important attribute for being a good teacher to your students?’).

Egg School hires based upon need, so as to preserve existing teachers’ booking rates, though even when they’re not ‘officially’ hiring they will still accept applications and review them in order of submission once hiring recommences.

An advantage of Egg School is there is no formal interview, only a mock class.

Egg School Demo Class

Once your application form has been accepted you will be invited to submit a pre-recorded 25-minute mock class with an imaginary student. To help you prepare, you will be provided with the unit video, lesson plan and a sample mock class video, and you will have access to a practice room where you can experiment with the class tools (Egg School uses a web-based platform with basic functionality including clicking, drawing, typing and a timer).

It helps some teachers to print a stock photo and name your ‘imaginary’ student, in order to aim your teaching at ‘someone’. Use of props and TPR are encouraged.

You will be evaluated on the following:

• general teaching and communication skills
• how well the lesson plan is followed
• methods of encouraging and building rapport with a student
• ability to generate student interest
• how clearly and effectively student questions are answered
• method when correcting student mistakes
• ability to use repetition as a teaching tool
• time management
• attitude
• positive energy levels

Egg School suggests that you can ‘shine by’ having:

• A warm smile
• A welcoming atmosphere
• Specific praise for the student
• Non-verbal communication (facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, tone of voice)
• Techniques for drawing attention (toys, characters, singing, humor, props)

You can record your video as many times as you want, but may only submit it once for review.

Egg School Reviews

As the company has only been operating since March 2021, there are few Egg School reviews available online, though this is what one Egg School tutor had to say:

Conclusion – Is Egg School Worth It?

Egg School is a promising non-Chinese option in the online ESL space. What makes them worth considering is their pay rate is one of the highest we’ve seen outside of China, with a fair teacher cancelation policy, and a simple application process with no interview. However, as a relatively new start-up there are issues to consider, such as the absence of employee reviews, the fact that student cancelations are unpaid even at short-notice, a mediocre booking rate of around 50%, and the company’s moves towards parent-booked classes.

You can apply on the Egg School website.

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