UK’s loneliest school on remote island offers FREE accommodation & £41k salary – but you have a long way to get there
THE UK’s loneliest school is offering free accommodation and a generous £41,000 salary – but it requires a 8000-mile commute to the Falklands.
The 26-pupil primary is looking for a teacher to bring “personal resilience and a sense of adventure” to the role on the remote island.
Mount Pleasant Primary School, around 30 miles from the Falklands capital Port Stanley, is looking for a new teacher – and the role has lots of benefits.
Not only does the successful applicant get a job paying between £30,000 to £41,333 at the far-flung outpost – the role also comes with free accommodation for a whopping five years.
It’s run by the Ministry of Defence with the job ad revealing: “If you are an inspiring teacher with a passion to empower all to thrive, have personal resilience and a sense of adventure then this is an opportunity for you!”
The ad explains how accommodation is free for the first five years of the “MOD employment overseas with subsided utilities.”
After this “a reasonable modest rent is payable.”
The school says online: “Mount Pleasant School can be found at the heart of the Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands – 8000 miles from the UK!”
The remote primary is “the most southerly MOD school in the world” and welcomes children “from Service, MoD and entitled families who are posted to Mount Pleasant Complex on continuity tours.”
The school has just 26 kids on its roll, with the number varying “according to military assignments.”
There is also only one other teacher plus a head and their assistant.
It’s a primary school for kids aged 3-11 and is situated within the community, conveniently near family housing.
In 2019 the school moved into a new purpose-built building with a new hall, playgrounds and classrooms for the children.
After a year in the role, the teacher will qualify for a free return flight to the UK and a “respite” flight to Chile – more than six hours away.
As of 2021, the Falkland Islands had an estimated population of 3,662 people – compared to the 500,000 sheep there.
Keen teachers need to get their applications in fast as the deadline is at the end of Tuesday September 17.
It comes after a teacher at one of the most northerly schools on mainland Britain could have been paid more than £50,000 to teach just four kids.
Candidates for the position in the Scottish Highlands were urged to “think outside the box” and make full use of the area for their lessons.
The full-time post was at Durness Primary School in Sutherland — the most north-westerly mainland village in the UK.
A council spokesman explained at the time: “We are looking for a dedicated, passionate teacher who loves working in a forward-thinking, exciting and engaged community.
“With only four pupils on the roll, we are looking for a teacher that loves to think outside the box and will use the rural landscape to inspire young people.”
A salary of between £32,217 and £48,516 was on offer along with a remote allowance of £3,237 a year.
There was also a “comprehensive” relocation package worth up to £6,500.
What was the Falklands War?
ARGENTINA's dictator General Galtieri ordered his troops to invade the British-owned Falkland Islands in 1982.
The Falklands are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from Argentina – where they are known as Islas Malvinas.
Galtieri’s invasion was a cynical bid to distract Argentines from his brutal rule and the country’s tanking economy.
A Royal Navy task force set sail from Portsmouth to take back the south Atlantic islands.
Tragedy struck when the Argentines sank HMS Sheffield with a French-made Exocet missile, killing 20 British sailors.
But the task force eventually landed on the island – before getting bogged down in hand-to-hand fighting.
British troops battled through the Argentine lines at Goose Green in punishing Antarctic conditions.
They cut off the Argentine garrison, finally raising the Union Flag at Port Stanley.
Power-mad thug Galtieri was humiliated – and civilian rule returned to Argentina the following year.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.
Many of the Argentine troops who died were on board the Belgrano warship.
A Royal Navy submarine sunk the Belgrano as it sailed away from the Falklands, sparking controversy back in the UK.