Frequently Asked Questions
Application & Recruitment
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Our recruitment window is typically January thru July for the following school year.
For some senior teaching positions (such as A-Level posts) and management roles, we will typically begin the recruitment process in November wherever possible.
Subscribe to 'Connect' to receive updates when vacancies are posted.
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Usually mid-August, though teachers are required to start late July for induction.
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At VAS we hire only Certified Teachers. You MUST have the following:
- Degree in Education OR
- Degree in any subject, preferably related to the subject you wish to teach, and a teaching qualification such as PGCE or teaching license from your home country
- Preferably 1-2 years' experience
Please note that candidates without a minimum of a 3-year degree from a university, will not be considered regardless of other qualifications due to the requirements of the Vietnamese Department of Labour.
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We would like to receive your:
- Latest updated CV
- Tailored cover letter
- All degrees/certificates
- PGCE/QTS/Teaching license,
You may also want to attach below documents as we would require them if you are selected to move forward in the process:
- 3 References
- First Page of your passport
- If you are in Vietnam, your current Visa or TRC
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First, our HR team will screen all applicants and select those that are evaluated to be qualified for a role at VAS. Candidates who fail the screening round will receive a general email regarding the result.
Second, one of our HR representatives will reach out to you to see if you would like to join us for an interview in-person or online.
Third, successful candidates will be invited for a second in-person or online interview with our academic management team from one of our campuses.
Fourth, if you have been successful, then our HR team will get in touch with you with a formal offer to join VAS.As a guide, we expect the recruitment process to take around 2 weeks from initial application for successful candidates.
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Please refer to our Interview Guide for general advice on how to prepare for your interview(s).
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VAS receives thousands of applicants each year. Hundreds of them are successfully shortlisted but only a small number are contacted for an interview.
If you have not received any feedback it means that you are still in our list of potential candidates.
We understand that feedback is important and try our best to communicate with all of those who have any questions.
Please feel free to write a message to any of us at any time and we will try to reply as soon as possible. -
The process of obtaining a Work Permit and TRC (Temporary Residence Card) in Vietnam can seem quite daunting at first, as there are many regulations as laid out by the Department of Labour (DOLISA) and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) that VAS, and any employer, must follow.
At the minimum you will be required to submit the following:
- Notarised and Legalised copy of your degree
- Notarised and Legalised copy of your teaching credentials
- Notarised and Legalised copy of your police background check from your home country/place of last residence that must have been obtained within 6 months of the submmission of your Work Permit application
- Legalised copy of your passport
- Legalised health check
- Photos of varying size (4cm x 6cm; 2cm x 3cm)
You may be required to submit additional documents such as your degree transcript for example.
VAS has an experienced team within the HR department who specialise in supporting teachers through the entire process. They will advise you what you need to submit and when. They will also ensure that you submit documents in the most economically viable way for you. Our aim is to make the entire process as smooth as possible for you.
The requirements of both DOLISA and MOET change from time to time, and our team aim to stay on top of all pending changes. For those applicants who have lived in Vietnam for a long period and potentially been with the same employer for a number of years, please be advised that the process you went through previously may well have changed in the intervening years.
Working at VAS
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Teaching hours are around 23-23.5 hours per week. 45 minutes per period in Secondary, 35 minutes per period in Primary and Kindergarten. Teachers often have double periods.
All classes at all campuses are on a Monday to Friday basis. The working day is typically 7:00 - 17:00, with occasional work on Saturday mornings.
Secondary classes start at 7:30 and finish at 16:30.
Primary classes start at 7:45 and finish at around 15:35.
Kindergarten classes start at 8:00 and finish at 16:00
There is normally a mid-morning break at around 9:45-10:00, lunch is usually 11:30-13:00, and afternoon break around 14:30-15:00.
Campuses expect teachers to be there at 7:00, but most campuses will allow teachers leave at 16:30, unless there are some mandatory activities after that time.
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All our classes are capped at 25 students. Typically, but not always, Upper Secondary and High School (A-Level) classes may be smaller.
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This will vary based on Grade, Subject, and Level, but typically between 4-5 groups of students.
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The only Homeroom teachers we hire are local, Vietnamese MOET teachers. All Cambridge teachers, both Expat and Vietnamese, will move between the different Homerooms of their classes.
For subjects such as Sciences, ICT/CS, Music etc, as you will be teaching predominantly in subject specific rooms, often - but not always - the students will come to you. These facilities are still shared however, and thus are not a 'Homeroom' per se.
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This depends on what you are teaching and our needs at the start of the school year. The majority of teachers are assigned to one campus, but travel between campuses can be included in any teacher schedules. We will always try to minimise travel between campuses and also allow sufficient time to do so when required. If you do teach at more than one campus in any given day, a Travel Allowance is payable.
Regardless of whether you are teaching at more than one campus, you will always have one person who is your designated Line Manager. This will usually be the Grade Head at the campus where the majority of your classes are taught.
Currently, most Art, Music, Modern Foreign Language, and PE teachers work on a peripatetic basis, travelling between the 6 campuses.
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A typical school year at VAS runs approximately as follows:
- Term 1 : Mid-August until Mid-December
- Christmas Vacation (approx 2 weeks)
- Term 2 : January to May with an (approx) 2 week vacation for Lunar New Year (Tet) that is typically somewhere in the window of 'late January to late February. Tet moves annually so we can never be 100% certain of the dates until the school year starts
- The school year ends 31st May
- Summer Camp runs mostly in June and July for 6-7 weeks, although currently our Kindergarten Summer Camp runs from end of May through to early August
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All campuses have dedicated teachers' rooms, with most having separate Kindergarten/Primary and Secondary teachers' rooms. You will find dedicated printing facilities and materials applicable to the age group you are teaching.
Classrooms are fitted with a minimum of a desktop computer, projector, speakers and air-conditioning.
For subject specific classrooms such as for Sciences, Art, Music, and ICT/CS, we have fully fitted out facilities/labs with technicians to support the teachers.
For PE, some campuses are better equipped than others, primarily due to the physical site on which they are located. There are sports halls at all campuses and swimming pools at 4.
Teachers can get free meals from the school canteen.
Free parking is available onsite at all campuses.
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We have a School Director/Principal in charge of Cambridge, MOET, and Operations at each campus (in some cases one Cluster Head will oversee 2 campuses).
For teachers who are campus based, your line manager is the Campus Head of Kindergarten/Primary/Secondary as appropriate to the grade you are teaching.
Depending on the specific structure at the campus, we have Subject/Grade Leaders for each subject at the campus (or one Subject Leader for two subjects, if there are just a few teachers for each subject).
We also have Coordinators for each subject/grade. They are based in the Central Academic Division and work across the entire school system, as opposed to the Subject Leaders, who are only working at a specific campus.
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Many! The vast majority of our Heads, Coordinators and Subject Leaders have been promoted internally.
Salary & Benefits
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Like most schools - and, indeed, most employers in any sector - we operate a system of pay scales (Steps) based on 2 primary factors - Qualifications and Relevant Experience.
From these criteria, we will assign you a pay rate at the time of your initial offer.
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Our standard teaching contract for expats is 2 years, typically running from July to end of May 2 years hence. For example, teachers joining in July 2025 will sign a contract that concludes at the end of May 2027.
In exceptional situational circumstances, we occasionally offer shorter contracts but for 99% of hires, it will be 2 years or 'to the end of the school year following the school year in which you joined'.
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Payment is made in Vietnam Dong by bank transfer to a Vietcombank/HSBC (Vietnam) account on the last working day of the month.
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You package is comprised of the following:
- Monthly Base Salary
- Housing Allowance
- Health Insurance
VAS will also sponsor:
- Work Permit
- Temporary Residence Card
Additional benefits such as Overtime, Flight Allowances, Relocation Benefits, and Tuition Exemption are applied on situational basis.
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No, VAS only pays into Vietcombank or HSBC (Vietnam) accounts.
When you join VAS, one of our HR team will support with contacting your chosen bank and ensuring that they support your account opening.
Note that per Vietnamese law, until you have obtained your Work Permit and TRC, you will not be able to get a debit card, you will have to go to the bank to withdraw funds directly and/or use online bank transfers.
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No, VAS does not cover the cost of Dependent Visas. We will support with the paperwork, but the cost will be borne by the employee. Note that you can only get a Dependent Visa for immediate family, typically spouse and offspring.