Last reviewed: 21 September 2026

Teaching English in Greece requires more than a TEFL certificate. Teaching in a frontistirio, foreign-language centre or as a home tutor is a notified activity, so every teacher must file a commencement announcement with the Ministry of Education and be entered on the national teacher register. It is free, online and legally required.

Key takeaways

• Irish and EU citizens need no visa or work permit for Greece, but the register is separate from immigration and applies to everyone teaching in the sector.
• The procedure is the announcement of commencement of professional teaching in tuition centres, foreign-language centres and home tutoring, listed by the Ministry as procedure 881208.
• Since a joint ministerial decision in February 2026 it is filed entirely online through gov.gr. It costs nothing and the stated implementation deadline is three months.
• You need a recognised degree, a criminal record extract, medical opinions from a pathologist and a psychiatrist, and solemn declarations under Law 1599/1986.
• If your qualifications do not match those of a Greek public-school educator, you also need a certificate of competence in foreign-language teaching.
• Degrees earned outside Greece are recognised through DOATAP, SAEP or SEAITTE depending on the qualification and the route.

Why is there a register at all?

Greece regulates private tuition more tightly than most of Europe, because the frontistirio sector is large, it teaches minors, and its results feed directly into university entry. Teaching in it has been a controlled activity since Emergency Law 2545/1940, and the modern framework comes from Law 4093/2012, which replaced individual teaching licences with a notification system. You announce that you are commencing practice, the Ministry checks you meet the conditions, and your details go on the register.

The practical effect for a foreign teacher is that the academy cannot lawfully put you in front of a class until this is done, and reputable academies will ask about it at interview. It is the most common reason a September start slips to October.

What does the Ministry actually require?

The Greek point of single contact publishes the full procedure as 881208, under the Ministry of Education, Sports and Religious Affairs. It sets five conditions: that you hold the corresponding qualification, that there is no conflict of interest, that a criminal record extract for judicial use is available, that your health and integrity are established, and that you are permanently established in an EU member state.

The supporting documents run as follows.

Document list as published by EUGO Greece for procedure 881208. Requirements can change; confirm against the live listing before you file.

What is the certificate of competence, and do you need one?

This is the requirement that catches people out. Greek public-school foreign-language teachers hold a specific kind of degree, typically a Greek university degree in English language and literature. If your qualification does not match that profile, and an Irish degree in history or business plus a TEFL certificate does not, the Ministry requires a separate certificate of competence to teach a foreign language in a foreign-language centre. The criteria for granting it are set out in Ministerial Decision 6117/A5 of 2017, published in the Government Gazette.

In practice that means two Irish graduates with identical TEFL certificates can be in different positions: an English graduate may have a direct route, while a graduate in an unrelated subject will need the competence certificate. It is worth establishing which category you fall into before you commit to a September start, rather than discovering it in week one.

How does degree recognition work for an Irish qualification?

Greece recognises foreign higher education qualifications through three bodies, and which one applies depends on what you are asking for. DOATAP handles academic recognition of the degree itself. SAEP, the Council for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, handles recognition of a professional qualification under the EU professional qualifications framework. SEAITTE deals with professional equivalence of higher education qualifications.

For most Irish teachers the professional route is the relevant one, because the question is not whether your degree is academically equivalent but whether you may practise. The European Commission’s regulated professions guidance explains the general framework and links to the database that shows how a profession is regulated in each member state. Build recognition time into your plan: it is the slowest element and it cannot be rushed at the Greek end.

What else do you need before your first class?

Three practical registrations sit alongside the Ministry step and are usually done in the first fortnight after arrival. An AFM, the Greek tax number, is needed for a contract, a bank account and a lease. An AMKA, the social security number, is needed for payroll and for health cover. And if you are staying beyond three months as an EU citizen, a residence registration certificate.

The Ministry register itself is now filed through the gov.gr Register of Teachers in Tutorial Schools, Foreign-Language Centres and Home Tuition, following the digitisation introduced by joint ministerial decision 24350 of February 2026. The Ministry lists it as available only digitally, at no cost, with a three-month implementation deadline.

Does any of this apply to online or summer work?

Partly. The announcement covers teaching in tuition centres, foreign-language centres and home tutoring, so private one-to-one tuition delivered in Greece falls inside it. Teaching students abroad online from a Greek base is a different activity and is generally handled as self-employed business income rather than through the education register, but it still needs an AFM and proper declaration. Summer camp and resort activity work is usually structured as seasonal hospitality or activity employment rather than as language teaching, which is why those roles rarely raise the register question. Our guide to English teaching jobs in Greece sets out how the four employer types differ.

Frequently asked questions

Where this sits in our Greece guides

This post covers the legal and administrative requirements. For the wider picture start with our pillar guide to teaching English in Greece, then read what the job pays after tax and our city guide to teaching English in Athens. Every destination we cover sits on the teach English jobs pillar page.

Ready to qualify?

The Ministry looks at your degree, but Greek academies look at your TEFL certificate first, and a regulated qualification is easier to evidence in a recognition process than an unaccredited one. Our accredited 120-hour TEFL course is the standard entry route, and our Level 5 TEFL diploma gives you an Ofqual-regulated qualification with a traceable record. Both are studied online from Ireland.

Sources: EUGO Greece, procedure 881208, announcement of commencement of professional teaching in tuition centres, foreign language centres and home tutoring; gov.gr, Register of teachers in schools, language centres and at home; European Commission, Your Europe: regulated professions.