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Hey England-GAF, looking for information on moving to England at some point

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I'm sure my mum would let you stay in my room when I move out to University, though it's pretty boring around here in Southampton :p

Be prepared for weird weather, lots of people moaning, casual racism wherever you go and having to give an arm and a leg to travel anywhere.

But of course, visit sometime soon before you make the decision. Some of this place is beautiful and some...on the other end of the spectrum.
 
Be sure to bring your own food, women, dental care, and blue food coloring to pour into the Thames!
 
EviLore said:
Be sure to bring your own food, women, dental care, and blue food coloring to pour into the Thames!
Click to expand...

Well, got the 2nd one of those. We probably have the 4th around somewhere as well. Have the 3rd over here, but that won't do me any good there.

The first one though, don't think food from over here would last me too long before it spoiled, eventually I'd need to take your food. Sorry.
 
Cambridge is a good place to live. It is cheap and only a 60 minute drive to London, beautiful city aswell.

Stay away from London, too expensive.


Broken Joystick said:
I'm sure my mum would let you stay in my room when I move out to University, though it's pretty boring around here in Southampton :p

Be prepared for weird weather, lots of people moaning, casual racism wherever you go and having to give an arm and a leg to travel anywhere.

But of course, visit sometime soon before you make the decision. Some of this place is beautiful and some...on the other end of the spectrum.
Click to expand...


Casual racism? Explain
 
I moved last year from Toronto, but have ancestry so the visa stuff hasn't been as complicated.

The most obvious route seems to be extending/transferring your studies to a UK institution. Employment would require a sponsored visa. They can be difficult to get, but I do know other Canadians and Australians who are teaching here on sponsored visas. I don't think the salaries are great though: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk will have more info.
Your pre-existing medical history I suspect will also cause you problems.

And you should definitely visit first.
I had the good fortune to work in London previously and that was a factor in moving.
 
ShutEye said:
I moved last year from Toronto, but have ancestry so the visa stuff hasn't been as complicated.

The most obvious route seems to be extending/transferring your studies to a UK institution. Employment would require a sponsored visa. They can be difficult to get, but I do know other Canadians and Australians who are teaching here on sponsored visas. I don't think the salaries are great though: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk will have more info.
Your pre-existing medical history I suspect will also cause you problems.

And you should definitely visit first.
I had the good fortune to work in London previously and that was a factor in moving.
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Yeah, continuing my studies seems to be the path of least resistance for right now, since that seems easier to work out from here. And that would allow me to find a job while I was over there.
 
I used to work in university recruitment - to get a job as a lecturer, as long as you're the best candidate (publications will help a lot) it's unlikely that where you're currently based will count against you. Unis want the best academics, regardless of where they come from. If you're successful, they will likely sponsor you for a tier 2 visa, however, with a phd, you may have enough for a tier 1 (although I'm not sure on this).

I think you're more likely to be successful in getting a lectureship than a teaching in schools job - we have a ton if teachers here, but few specialists in education.
 
Just some thoughts from a born and bred Londoner.....

Job market is poor right now in most areas and the only uni teacher I know had to move from London to Manchester and take a massive pay-cut to stay employed but I wish you good luck.

I know you said the NHS is not your motivation but you asked how it is and the answer is it depends greatly. As a previous poster said cancer and the like can be top notch but smaller, less urgent things can take a long time from initial diagnosis to eventual treatment.

Prescription charges will be something different in that you pay per item (£7.35 I think) or you can get a prepaid card for £104 year if you need lots of meds. I am exempt thanks to an ongoing medical condition but I am fairly certain Cancer meds are also exempt.

I second everyone who has said visit first. I lived in Japan for a year (having visited four times) but decided that although I loved the country and culture my earning potential was just too low despite being on about 40% more than the UK average here. When you visit don't waste too much time on tourist stuff as that will be an aside if you move here, use the time to scope the job market and work out your cost of living. We live in Zone 2 North London so everything is walkable and we can be in Central within 30 minutes but get little change from £1000 a month for a one bed flat.

What is your earning potential along with your wife (what are her job prospects like too) and where can you afford to live? London may be best for jobs but you will pay to live here.

On the visa issue my wife and I went through that as she is from Japan, we paid about £4000 in total and that was easy as I am a British citizen but with her coming from outside the EU it is more expensive and getting more each year so you will need to plan that. Not saying it will be the same as you'll go the highly skilled migrant rather than spouse route but it's not going to be insignificant. Sponsorship will help though.
 
Come to Wales. Both Cardiff and Swansea are medium size (by UK standards) cities and there's lots to do in them. Both (especially swansea) are close to the countryside and provide some epically stunning scenary. Just look at pictures of the Gower for goodness sake!

04rhossili1.jpg


gower2.jpeg
 
Regarding my cancer, it's not really that bad (as far as cancers go anyway), it was operated on and removed, and have had some clean follow-up scans since then. Mainly just have to go for periodic CT scans and MRIs to make sure it doesn't come back (and if it does - although it has a very low recurrence rate - obviously would have to deal with that).

Still kind of getting over the stroke/dealing from issues with that. Obviously my risk for another stroke is raised since I had one, and they said that if they have to operate after a second one, that I would have a 30% chance of being paralyzed or in a coma. So, that's not a pleasant thought. But, doing my best not to think about it, since there isn't really too much that I can do about it.

So, other than the CT scans and MRIs, I don't really have too much "active" medical stuff going on, it's more a matter if one of them comes back/happens again.
 
London: Expensive, crowded but diverse.

Manchester: (imo) A student city, hustling and bustling, really well developed.

Birmingham: Like above, really.

Leeds: North Yorkshire! Really nice city, and like everywhere in Yorkshire (except maybe Harrogate) very cheap living (relatively).

Sheffield: South Yorkshire! Very diverse, alot of green! One of the greenest cities in Europe. Has the Peak District nearby.

Liverpool: Good luck trying to understand what they're saying ;)

York: Again, really nice and quite touristy.

One thing to remember with each city in the UK there's a wide and obvious divide in wealth. So you might find very cheap living in say "Manchester", and then realise your living in Salford and get stabbed/shanked/shot/lynched.
 
pulsemyne said:
Come to Wales. Both Cardiff and Swansea are medium size (by UK standards) cities and there's lots to do in them. Both (especially swansea) are close to the countryside and provide some epically stunning scenary. Just look at pictures of the Gower for goodness sake!

04rhossili1.jpg


gower2.jpeg
Click to expand...

Wales is beautiful, but there's nothing here except scenery and sheep. Decades of neglect by successive governments mean Cardiff is the only half tolerable place to live, and Cardiff isn't that great either.

Source: Me. I've lived here for 25 years.
 
Sheffield's crap, I went to school there for 18 years... Just no. Now I live in leicester... That's also crap. We want to move to london, but I'm on a good wage up here and saving quite easily... To put it in perspective, we pay £550 in rent up here for a month for a terraced house with a nice garden. For the equivalent in london, it would be at least £1,500 a month. But it's worth it for a better lifestyle. Things to think about.
 
Frustrated_me said:
Dude umm visit the place before moving, duh.
Click to expand...

Jesus...this this this.

Never been there yet want to move there? Visit first for an extended stay (2 to 4 weeks) and also try and get some informational interviews with places while there. Don't just put it into your head you are definitely doing this.
 
Napoleonthechimp said:
I recently went to Bristol for a job interview and thought that it was one of the nicest cities in England I've been to, but I have no idea what your job prospects are like.

It also happens to be on Wales' doorstep.
Click to expand...

Where I grew up. One of the great cities. Expensive place to live in some areas. Certainly more so than where I am now outside Cardiff.
 
xxracerxx said:
Jesus...this this this.

Never been there yet want to move there? Visit first for an extended stay (2 to 4 weeks) and also try and get some informational interviews with places while there. Don't just put it into your head you are definitely doing this.
Click to expand...

terrisus said:
Now, the most obvious thing is that we should go there to visit (which we never have) before going to live there, I know that, just we don't really have the money to do that at the moment. It definitely is something that we'll do first though, so there's that. But, I spent the first 28 years of my life in Massachusetts, and the past 2 years in Connecticut, and we've never travelled internationally. So, yeah, some stuff to do first, that's obvious.
Click to expand...

Figured I'd emphasize this part of the OP, since this sort of thing has been said a couple of times...
 
terrisus said:
Figured I'd emphasize this part of the OP, since this sort of thing has been said a couple of times...
Click to expand...

I read that, but still, you need to get the money together and visit before starting all of this planning. I know it is a tough situation and a lofty dream but this really cannot be said enough.
 
I've entertained this thought briefly, ever so briefly, since my wife lived a year there and enjoyed it. It's probably the only place in Europe left I could live since I've had my fill of central Europe. Unfortunately..the British..

But, if I'm reading your post right, you're about to get a doctorate in a field you've never worked in.. and you're in retail. Make the primary priority in your life actually getting real work experience. If you haven't been able to do that in your native country, the thought of doing it in a foreign one.. in that sense you might as well just move to Asia to teach English now.
 
EviLore said:
Be sure to bring your own food, women, dental care, and blue food coloring to pour into the Thames!
Click to expand...

That's right. We are absolutely not going to share our fine food, women or dental care (well... only the NHS stuff) with Johnny Foreigner so he better bring his own.

It isn't to be mean you understand, oh no... the excellence of those things would completely ruin your taste for anything else. It's for your own good.

I'm an expert said:
I've entertained this thought briefly, ever so briefly, since my wife lived a year there and enjoyed it. It's probably the only place in Europe left I could live since I've had my fill of central Europe. Unfortunately..the British..
Click to expand...

What a splendid individual you are. I imagine your attitude would make you unwelcome here anyway.
 
xxracerxx said:
I read that, but still, you need to get the money together and visit before starting all of this planning. I know it is a tough situation and a lofty dream but this really cannot be said enough.
Click to expand...

Well, when it's something I said in the OP that I already know (that I need to visit there first and save up money, not to mention when I said this is all a couple of years off), it's kind of redundant for people to keep saying it.
 
Napoleonthechimp said:
That's right. We are absolutely not going to share our fine food, women or dental care (well... only the NHS stuff) with Johnny Foreigner so he better bring his own.

It isn't to be mean you understand, oh no... the excellence of those things would completely ruin your taste for anything else. It's for your own good.
Click to expand...

I understand. And, my wife is a bit concerned that I love a British accent and have a bit of a thing for Englishwomen... But, she'll keep me in line.
 
Napoleonthechimp said:
What a splendid individual you are. I imagine your attitude would make you unwelcome here anyway.
Click to expand...

IT'S A JOKE MAN.. er.. MATE.

I've worked with the British/Aussies/Kiwis for years. And years. and years. One of the best girlfriends I ever had was British too.

Btw..how do you pronounce "been"..

daviyoung said:
what do you mean?
Click to expand...

Man, I have a friend from Bristol with the exact same Davey Young nickname. Scary.
 
Kaisersalsek said:
Out of interest OP, what is it that you love about the uk (apart from the MUD involvement)?
Click to expand...

Fair question, and I'll admit that much of it is due to a romanticised view, and probably stuff that I could find around here as well.

I like everything being so close together (seriously, Great Britain is roughly the same size as the state of Minnesota). I like the transit system that exists in many areas. I like that there are so many areas with walkable town centers/streets with so many shops around. I like the many scenic areas and places to walk around and explore and such. And, honestly, I like that they don't just let anyone in, which might keep me out of there as well.

There are probably plenty of other things as well, that's just off the top of my head.
 
Thought about teaching secondary/college? (11-18 btw). There are a ton of jobs in mathematics, TES is the place to look at: http://www.tes.co.uk/secondary-teaching-jobs/mathematics-10538/

This gives you an idea of what payscale you will get: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6000186

Anywhere in the UK is a good place to live on what you have described, looks like you want to be in a city and go out to the country in the weekends so that's pretty feasible with railway/car.

NHS - It really depends, it works, it's just the fact it takes a lot longer than the health system you are used to.

EDIT: GET EXPERIENCE IN A SCHOOL, this is really important, you must have at least been placed in a school during the primary education phase?
 
I don't think that's too romanticised! That's pretty much true of every city in the uk, even london's super quick to get around with the tube. Our cities are all pretty compact :-) and we do have some nice countryside. But we also have loads of rain, miserable and rude people and most towns are virtually clones of the others :-( Europe is super cheap to get to from here too, we are really lucky to have such a diversity of cultures with cheap airfares.
 
MRORANGE said:
Thought about teaching secondary/college? (11-18 btw). There are a ton of jobs in mathematics, TES is the place to look at: http://www.tes.co.uk/secondary-teaching-jobs/mathematics-10538/

This gives you an idea of what payscale you will get: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6000186

Anywhere in the UK is a good place to live on what you have described, looks like you want to be in a city and go out to the country in the weekends so that's pretty feasible with railway/car.

NHS - It really depends, it works, it's just the fact it takes a lot longer than the health system you are used to.

EDIT: GET EXPERIENCE IN A SCHOOL, this is really important, you must have at least been placed in a school during the primary education phase?
Click to expand...

Nifty, thanks for the resources, I'll definitely check them out.

And, yeah, I have "experience in schools." I did two pre-practica and a practicum/student teaching, so I've been in a classroom a decent amount. Just, not "my own class" so to speak, which most places (understandably) want.
 
if u want fast city life then go london or maybe manchester (a lot cheaper than london)

if u want a more chilled lifestyle u need to go further north... york or durham have a lot of history, if u are into that


if u want a bit of a mix then leeds is ok (north leeds is nice) and also newcastle


if u want country... i dunno north east is cheapish (northumberland) and its close to scotland which is beautiful
 
terrisus said:
Nifty, thanks for the resources, I'll definitely check them out.

And, yeah, I have "experience in schools." I did two pre-practica and a practicum/student teaching, so I've been in a classroom a decent amount. Just, not "my own class" so to speak, which most places (understandably) want.
Click to expand...

Someone correct me if im wrong, but to teach at primary or secondary level, you would need to complete a year long training course in the UK first.
 
Eoin said:
Someone correct me if im wrong, but to teach at primary or secondary level, you would need to complete a year long training course in the UK first.
Click to expand...

That's correct you need to gain QTS status, I'm not sure how that works out for oversea students who did their teaching elsewhere.

In the UK the most common way to get into teaching is to do a PGCE in your specialist area for a year and pass two exams (these are easy.) to gain QTS.

You are then classified as a NQT, and you can teach in a school and get paid, pass the NQT year and you will be a fully qualified teacher.
 
terrisus said:
Fair question, and I'll admit that much of it is due to a romanticised view, and probably stuff that I could find around here as well.

I like everything being so close together (seriously, Great Britain is roughly the same size as the state of Minnesota). I like the transit system that exists in many areas. I like that there are so many areas with walkable town centers/streets with so many shops around. I like the many scenic areas and places to walk around and explore and such. And, honestly, I like that they don't just let anyone in, which might keep me out of there as well.

There are probably plenty of other things as well, that's just off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are Daily Mail readers out there that would argue that point......
 
MRORANGE said:
That's correct you need to gain QTS status, I'm not sure how that works out for oversea students who did their teaching elsewhere.

In the UK the most common way to get into teaching is to do a PGCE in your specialist area for a year and pass two exams (these are easy.) to gain QTS.

You are then classified as a NQT, and you can teach in a school and get paid, pass the NQT year and you will be a fully qualified teacher.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as of right now I'm licensed to teach in the state of Massachusetts (which has their own specific licensure tests which aren't good in any other state). I'll probably get my Connecticut license this year as well (and those tests are good in 30 other states as well). But obviously all of that doesn't do me all that much good in England, so that's something else that I'll have to deal with as well.
 
MRORANGE said:
That's correct you need to gain QTS status, I'm not sure how that works out for oversea students who did their teaching elsewhere.

In the UK the most common way to get into teaching is to do a PGCE in your specialist area for a year and pass two exams (these are easy.) to gain QTS.

You are then classified as a NQT, and you can teach in a school and get paid, pass the NQT year and you will be a fully qualified teacher.
Click to expand...

They will fast track some understaffed subjects. Ie maths/physics with a shorter qualifying period for NQT. You'd have to be really bloody good though. I would definitely figure for having to wait a year and also paying (not cheap for foreigner) to do a PGCE.
 
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