Does British Council pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, British Council employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at British Council. This rating has improved by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at British Council?

62% of British Council employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated British Council 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at British Council?

English Teacher (162) , English Language Assistant (100) , Teacher (100) , Exam Invigilator (93) , Project Manager (67) , Invigilator (64) , Teaching Assistant (55) , Manager (45) , ESL Teacher (38) , Customer Service Representative (30) , Teacher of English (26) , Language Assistant (25) , IELTS Invigilator (24) , Administrative Assistant (23) , Consultant (23)

What are the pros of working at British Council according to real employee reviews?

"Meaningful and some great colleagues" ((in 178 reviews)); "Good work life balance and focus on employee well being" ((in 120 reviews)); "Great people to work with and for." ((in 115 reviews)); "Great working environment and friendly" ((in 69 reviews)); "It's just a shame that the good culture was destroyed by bad organisational management." ((in 66 reviews))

What are the cons of working at British Council according to real employee reviews?

"Salaries are low and you have to work from the office most of the time." ((in 212 reviews)); "Low pay and insanely bureaucratic" ((in 117 reviews)); "But yes Management is Poor and Biased !" ((in 103 reviews)); "Changing leadership and poor strategy" ((in 34 reviews)); "This permeates across different offices and countries too as the managers have very often mixed a lot in past roles." ((in 30 reviews))

What are employees saying about British Council layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about British Council layoffs and their outlook for job security at British Council in 2026.

What are the top reviewed British Council locations?

Ciudad de México , Ciudad Juarez

British Council reviews

3.7

62% would recommend to a friend

(2,314 total reviews)

Ciarán Devane

57% approve of CEO

43% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

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Veteran status

British Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,314 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The British Council employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the ONG y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

2.0

Jul 20, 2015

Great ambitions, bad culture

Project manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Aims, objectives and aspirations of the organisation are good. A lot of work on the ground is delivered by passionate, committed staff who improve the lives of millions around the world. E.g. teaching, education and society programmes.

Cons

Staff hindered by cumbersome internal processes, micro-management and dreadful IT. Difficult to get things done because of 'working from home' culture and staff sickness. Risk adverse organisation: backward thinking with an unwillingness to improve or change 100s of contractors on double what their colleagues are on. Despite rigorous (and time consuming) performance management, under/over performance never acted upon. Poor pay and limited training budgets.

3.0

Mar 11, 2015

You can get addicted to the work life here.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good work life balance,

Cons

Increments are same for an entire country irrespective of individual performances

4.0

Dec 18, 2014

Excellent Colleagues

Account manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Opportunities for career progression and professional development, travel (for some), you can have a good work-life balance (but you have to make it happen yourself), modern IT, good pension, interesting work in a not for profit organisation, good equal opps.

Cons

The BC has offices in over 100 countries and like any big organisation it struggles with bureaucracy. Cuts to budgets and pressure of work leads some people to work much longer hours than they are paid for. Change is constant. It used to be the case that the organisation was more prepared to listen to expensive external consultants rather than its own staff (with often more experience.)

Viewing 127 - 129 of 2,314 Reviews

Jobs at British Council

Customer Experience Manager

Belfast, Irlanda del Norte

Language Learning Project Officer

Erasmus + Single Point of Contact(Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland)

British Council

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Great ambitions, bad culture

You can get addicted to the work life here.

Excellent Colleagues

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