I think my PGCE was very much related to the subject, or , I suppose more accurately, the age range. Granted mine was not secondary so I don't know about that. I did a Primary PGCE but took the Early Years specialism. We had classes very much focused on the Early Years curriculum, phonics, teaching methods for young children, learning through play, how to teach science, history, maths, writing etc. We even had adult level classes on maths and grammar to brush up our own skills! Perhaps it's different for secondary, but even then you do enrol in the PGCE according to the subject you want to teach- usually what you have a degree in.

I was then awarded QTS which is an all encompassing any age qualification. Even though technically I could teach any age (and have a BA degree in a main subject) I doubt anyone would employ me. I know nothing of the curriculum or what to do with teenagers. My training was very specific to primary and even more specific to foundation to year 2 pupils. But legally, I could be a secondary school teacher.

I think some British international schools are now able to let you complete your NQT year. Check out the council of British international schools (cobis).

I was like you and had taught ESL overseas before. But I ended up doing a few years in the UK after my PGCE Primary (Early Years). I really found them invaluable as I felt confident and more experienced with my teaching by the time I went overseas. I was able to get a job at my first choice international school too. Don't forget, as an NQT in the UK you get a lot of extra support, extra non-contact time etc. It's really helpful for your development as a teacher as well as your sanity! I can't imagine being thrown in the deep end at a poor international school where there is the potential to have no support, a poor curriculum/resources etc.

If you really want to go straight abroad that is, of course, your personal choice. So I would definitely research which British schools allow you to complete your NQT there.

If it is a British or American international school, you should still get Christmas off in China. We got 3 weeks off for Christmas, as did the other big international schools.

I'm sorry about the job problem for teachers in Canada. I've heard that from some other teachers and it sounds awful. As you're Canadian, are you eligible for one of those work exchange/working holiday visas for the UK? You could teach in the UK to get a year or two under your belt before applying for a better international school? I mostly met Australian teachers doing this when I was teaching back home in London but I thought Canadians could get a similar visa? There are tons of jobs if you stick to London.

I'm not sure if you'd be entitled to an NQT year as an overseas teacher- but if you were, even better as you'd get extra support and extra non-class time for planning and preparation. Maybe it's not possible... but if it is, it could be a good way to get experience. You have to wonder what kind of support and professional development you'd get as a new teacher in a bilingual school if a lot of the other teachers are also new.

I also know that some areas of Canada have accredited schools overseas. Not sure if yours is one of them. I'm also not sure if they are any different to being bilingual schools for local children but it could be worth looking into to see if the support/curriculum/resources and so on are any better because of being accredited in some way.

Excuse me for butting in here, but I'm finding this topic very interesting. In the UK Early Years teachers actually have the same qualifications and are paid the same salary as teachers from any other year group (be it primary or secondary school). When choosing a PGCE prospective teachers can choose to do an Early Years focussed PGCE. Though technically they are qualified to teach any age group, they specialise and do their teaching placements in Nursery-Year Two (which is age 3-7 in the UK as school starts earlier). They are just as qualified as any other teacher and paid the same.

In fact, all teachers are paid on the same salary scale. We don't have a different scale for teachers of secondary, primary or EY. I find it quite shocking that in other countries EY teachers don't have the same level of qualifications and are only paid minimum wage. Many UK state schools have a nursery attached and they legally must hire a proper qualified teacher (e.g someone who has done a PGCE or a B.ed).

So for British EY teachers it is not a jump up in wages to go international. However, I have certainly noticed that internationally there are more EY teachers that would not be qualified to teach EY in a UK state school. It's a shame.

At my international school in Asia the vacation days were significantly different to local schools. The government did have a rule for how many days international schools had to spend at school but this was not the same as local schools (local schools had more school days and completely different vacation periods). We had 13 weeks off in total at the international school (actually slightly more. Those were the full weeks off but there were a few local national holidays we had off too). Students got an extra week or two off as prep before the school year started/training days were in addition to this. We didn't come to school in our vacation time! This is the same number of weeks off as a state school back home, but several weeks shorter than a private school back home.

Forgot to add that my old school always advertised on TES for these late jobs. You could check there if you're still looking.

My old school in E.Asia advertised "last minute" positions every year in the Primary/Early years stages (summer term advertisement for August start, whereas they actually start recruiting in October/November). This was because enrollment was growing and they suddenly needed an extra class or two across year groups. Or sometimes a new leadership role or specialist role was created and a class teacher would get promoted, so a new teacher was needed to take over in the classroom. A couple of other times pregnant teachers decided to leave rather than take only the limited 2-3 months maternity leave (compared to what they would get in the UK- it was a British school). Just to illustrate that positions do come up for genuine reasons- of course it can't be guaranteed. Good luck, I hope you find a great position.

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The main issue would be the visa. You would have to have the right visa as they wouldn't sponsor you to come over. I only know one American working here and she is married to a Brit and trained here.
There are plenty of Australians working in London (they are able to get working holiday/ancestry visa) and they don't seem to have any problems with having trained abroad under a different curriculum. I know many who started out doing day to day supply until they got used the curriculum and took on a long term position.
This all related to primary. I don't know about secondary.

Edited. We got the correct visa, no problems. The HR turned out to be slow.

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Edited. It was simply an HR screw up. No problem with the school.