www.singular.ad .com/singular.ad @singular.academia.

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At Singular, setting high standards is key to our continued success as the leading English academy in
Andorra. Upon opening, we decided to differentiate ourselves from most “traditional” academies by:
· working with small groups (4 students per group in the case of teens and adults and 5 students per
group in the case of Kids)
· only hiring fully bilingual (C2,2 level) or native English-speaking teachers
· working with a highly interactive and dynamic methodology
· offering many activities outside of the classroom (free weekly conversation classes (per level),
monthly English Nights (Movie Nights, Card Nights, Bowling Nights, etc.)

We have two offices, only 2 minutes away from each other. At the Montclar office we mainly teach higher
level teenagers preparing for FCE and CAE exams and adults, and at the Junior office we focus more on
children and lower-level teens preparing for the KET and PET exams. However, being in one office or the
other does not exclude having a variety of student profiles and levels. Both offices are located in the very
center of Andorra la Vella (Andorra's capital) in modern business centers. Apart from modern, spacious,
and well-lit facilities, we integrate technology into our classrooms: each teacher is assigned an laptop
with access to the scanned in students’ books and additional resources, and we encourage the use of
projectors and interactive material during the classes.

All of our classrooms have windows with views onto the mountains.

Here are some photos of our facilities:

Singular Montclar

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Singular Junior

The Interview Process & Grammar Assessment:

1) A preliminary interview:
A 30-minute preliminary interview to get to know you, to briefly go over Singular and Andorra to answer
any questions you may have about Andorra or the position. Grammar explanation assessment is part of
this interview and successful candidates must meet this requirement. Some example questions could
be: “In what context is the Past Simple used?” or “Which two future tenses would you focus on in a
review with an intermediate level group of students”.

2) In-depth interview
A 1-hour in-depth interview, to get to know you and your teaching techniques better. Detailed information
is provided about Andorra, how Singular is run and what we expect of our teachers.

3) Practice class or Lesson Plan

A 1,5-hour online practice class is scheduled with two students. We send the teachers detailed
information about our methodology and material is provided for the first 45 minutes of class (sent around
4 days in advance). Teachers then need to develop speaking activities based on the topic for the last 45
mins of class. If for any reason the practice class cannot be carried out, we will send the teacher some
pages from a textbook, and request the teacher so set up a 60 to 90-minute lesson plan to cover the set
topics.

4) Induction
In depth induction is carried out with teachers online over four 60 to 90-minute sessions to discuss
different elements of our internal guidelines, methodology and Cambridge exams (which play a large part
of our academic syllabus). The time put into these sessions will be paid together with each teacher’s first
salary.

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Andorra:
The official language in Andorra is Catalan, although everyone speaks Spanish, and most people have a
high level of fluency in French. The country is great for those who like nature and sports. Beautiful
mountains surround you and it is an extremely safe country (it was ranked one of the safest in the world
a few years ago). Like most European countries, Andorra is rich in culture and traditions that are
celebrated throughout the year.

It is important, though, to keep in mind that it is a very small country (with only 84,000 inhabitants) and,
as a result, it is limited in some aspects, such as nightlife. Having said that though, both the Spanish and
French borders are only a 30-minute drive from the center and nearly 10 million tourists visit Andorra
each year, meaning there isn’t a small-town feel to it as it has everything a cosmopolitan city needs.
Barcelona is 2.5 hour away (there is a bus line that runs every hour) and Toulouse, France, is also well-
connected via bus.

Andorra’s cost of living is cheaper compared to most other European capitals. We usually recommend
first-year teachers to rent an apartment in the city center, near the academy. A shared flat in this area
costs between 300-400€ a month and a small furnished studio or 1-bedroom apartment ranges between
700€ and 850€ a month, including expenses (see below for better-priced Singular housing options).

If you would like more information about Andorra, you can also have a look at the following webpages:
· General information http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-andorra
· Costs of living: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Andorra

Housing Options:
Seeing as decent, furnished apartments within walking distance have been hard to find these past years
at a reasonable price (Andorra is currently going through a real-estate bubble and rent for 1-bedroom
apartments is around 900€ + expenses), Singular has an agreement with an apartment complex owner
less than 5 minutes walking distance from the academy and apartments are usually available for our
teachers (as long as teachers commit to staying for at least one full school year, Sept-June).

The apartments all have one bedroom and Singular covers part of the monthly expenses (along with the
required 2-month deposit). In total, teachers pay around 670€ per month, including all apartment-related
expenses (heating, water, and the Internet).

Teachers may also choose to find their own housing arrangement, in which case Singular helps out
administratively (setting up the appointments and accompanying teachers to see the apartments, if
necessary). The deposit and other expenses, however, are not covered by Singular in such cases.
* At the moment pet-friendly housing is not available in the city center. Due to this, we do not consider
candidates who would like to move here with pets.

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Our team
Our team is currently made up of 15 teachers and two administrative assistants who speak English
(www.singular.ad/equip). At Singular, we believe that happy employees are great employees; job
satisfaction and staff appreciation are priorities for us. Many of our teachers have become permanent
residents due to the high quality of life here. We provide staff support through teamwork, professional
development, and open communication.

Resources and Standard Class Profile

All classroom material is provided by the academy. Most of our groups work with modern and user-
friendly student books, which are meant to serve as a general guideline, not as the sole teaching tool.

Standard class profiles:

- Kids classes run for 1 hour once a week and are general-English classes
- Teens classes run for 1,5 hours once a week and prepare students for the KET, PET, FCE or
CAE Cambridge exams, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.
o An official B2 level in a foreign language is currently a requirement to graduate from a
university in Spain. Most students would like to obtain this level in English and have the
diploma prior to going to university, which is why we place so much emphasis on the
Cambridge exams.
- Adults run for 1,5 or 2 hours a week and are either general English or Cambridge exam prep.

Students also have the option of coming to the additional conversation classes and English Nights which
are offered free of charge.

The Schedule
We offer classes Monday to Friday and mainly work with the afternoon/evening shift. Classes are
scheduled each day between a 9-hour window (typically between 12:00/12:30 and 21:00/21:30)
and teachers need to be available during this window. This does not mean, however, that every day
teachers have a class starting at 12:30 and ending at 21:30. Wednesdays and Fridays tend to be a
busier day as many schools end earlier at around 15:00.

In order to maximize teachers’ time and efforts, we try to provide classes with similar profiles, working
with the same material so lesson plans can be efficiently recycled throughout the week (e.g., A teacher
may have 5 kids groups in their weekly schedule which are of the same level and are working with the
same material).

During the school year, students can choose between group or private classes. Group classes run from
mid-September to the end of June. It is uncommon for groups to change schedules midyear although
some do start later on in the school year. Private classes can change around more and there is no set
starting or end date. During the summer months, students can do private classes or weekly intensive
courses. Kids and teens can also sign up for the Summer Camp we organize in collaboration with the
British College of Andorra.

Sample schedules:

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Contract Types
Our teachers receive a competitive monthly salary which includes:
• A base of 22 or 25 guaranteed teaching hours per week, depending on teacher preferences
• Prep time, exam corrections and student reports (twice a year)
• Meetings and professional development
• 22 paid business days of paid leave per year, divided in the following way:
o 2 weeks during the Christmas break (approx. Dec. 23rd - Jan. 6th)
o 1 week during the Easter holidays (approx. April 3rd- April 10th)
o The rest of the holidays can be taken between July & August. Extra-unpaid time off may be
requested during the summer.
• 10 paid national holidays

Contracts are initially signed for one school year. Upon completing the first year, they may be
renewed for the period of the summer (part-time at Singular with 15 guaranteed hours per week or
full-time at a Summer Camp that Singular co-runs with the British College of Andorra) and then for
the following school year (depending on professional performance and desire to continue with
Singular).

Most teachers are on a 25-hour contract and the conditions are as follow:

- A base salary is of 1,800€ (corresponding to 25 base hours per week)

o The salary for 22 base hours per week is 1.584€
- A variable salary of 22€ per hour for any additional hours worked over the base hours
- A completion bonus of approx. 900€, paid together with the June salary.

For teachers arriving from abroad, Singular reimburses the following expenses:

- Flights: Singular covers between 300€ and 600€ (depending on if it’s a European flight or an
inter-continental flight) of a one-way flight to France or Spain (there is no airport in Andorra) or
60% of a return flight if the return is as of the end of the school year.
a. Should anyone not relocate by plane, alternative forms of transportation will also be
covered by Singular in the above manner.
- 50% of all the paperwork requested outside of Andorra and 100% of Andorran paperwork (such
as immigration fees), paid with the first salary.
- Flights and paperwork are reimbursed in the following way: 40% with payment of the first salary
and 60% at the end of the academic year with the June salary.
- 100% of immigration fees in Andorra are covered by Singular, as well as the bus ticket to
Andorra (from the Toulouse or Barcelona airport).

Medical insurance & Taxes

All medical and social benefits are through "CASS" (the Andorran Social Security system). 6.5% is
retained from employee’s salaries towards CASS and the employer (Singular) pays an additional 15.5%
(not deducted from the salary). CASS offers medical coverage (75% of the majority of medical-related
expenses, including eye and dental care) and funds towards retirement. To get 100% medical coverage,
an additional insurance plan may be contracted privately (starting at approx. 30€ per month).

No taxes are applied to salaries below 24,000€ a year. A 5% tax applies to salaries between 24,000€
and 50,000€ a year (only to the amount above 24,000€) and a 10% tax applies to those above 50,000€
(only to the amount above 50,000€).

Professional Development
Various teacher training sessions are provided by Singular throughout the academic year. Some
examples include:
• Teacher trainers from various ELT centers provide customized training sessions to the Singular
staff focusing on a wide range of topics from Business English, Grammar Explanations,
maximizing speaking activities to the Kinesthetic Classroom.
• Idea Exchange sessions: brainstorming sessions in order to target specific teacher needs and/or
share helpful tips and ideas to improve teaching methods.

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 • Coaching and Mentoring: By sitting in on teachers’ classes, teachers can enhance their
competencies in specific skills areas by a process of observation, reflection, and action.

We consider professional development to be an important responsibility as a Singular teacher and as

part of the Singular team. While participation in every training session is not mandatory, engaging in
proactive learning and improvement of teaching skills is regarded highly. Any suggestions for training
sessions, workshops or other forms of professional development are welcomed and appreciated.

Dress Code
Respecting individual style and comfort, Singular´s dress code policy asks that teachers dress in
accordance with the clientele profile. The general dress code is business casual.

Dress-code for men: Dress code for women:

- Top: Formal t-shirt (neat and single-
colored), shirt or polo
- Bottom: Jeans* or trousers
- Top: Blouse, sweater, cardigan, or blazer
+ t-shirt/top
- Bottom: skirt (not a mini skirt), jeans* or
trousers
- Or a business casual dress

*Jeans are allowed, as long as teachers wear something a little more formal on top. For example, a more
casual t-shirt wouldn’t be suitable, unless a blazer was worn over it.

Singular also provides teachers with the following navy-blue long-sleeved polos (available in a number of
different sizes). Use of the polos is optional. Those who would like to wear the polos more regularly may
ask for various polos.

Teachers who mainly teach adults or give in-house training classes need to have more of a
professional/formal dress code, particularly for the “upper” part of the clothes.

These items are not allowed:

▪ No sweat suits or any parts thereof.
▪ No torn shirts or heavily torn pants/jeans.
▪ No tank tops or low-cut tops.
▪ No miniskirts.
▪ No very sporty shoes or shower-like flip-flops (summer sandals are all right).
▪ No visible large tattoos (if you have a small tattoo, that’s fine).
▪ No facial piercings or ear spacers.

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Paperwork:

Principal document checklist (All documents need to be handed in within 3 months of being
authenticated).
☐ A clean background check (with The Hague Apostille stamp*) from country of origin
(the Immigration department is unable to process a background check with any type of record on
the background check)
☐ Completed Bachelor’s university degree (with The Hague Apostille stamp*)
☐ Academic transcript of the Bachelor’s university degree (with The Hague Apostille stamp*)

☐ Marital status:
· If single = signed declaration you have never been married (done in Andorra)
· If separated = Photocopy of separation sentence
· If divorced = Photocopy of divorce sentence
· If widowed = Photocopy of spouse’s death certificate

If married, “family re-grouping” for those with nationalities other than Spanish, Portuguese, or French, is
only possible if 1) the teacher’s spouse also receives a job offer in Andorra 2) once the teacher has been
actively working in Andorra for 3-months prior to his/her spouse moving here. Due to this, we are not
currently considering candidates who would like to move here with other family members.

* Hague Apostille stamp

Here is the list of countries part of The Hague convention:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention#States_that_are_party_to_the_convention
If your country isn’t on the Hague convention list, documents will need to be authenticated by a public
notary or lawyer.
* The paperwork request process tends to take 3 weeks in total, including shipping. Most teachers have
the final documents sent directly to Singular. Ideally, teachers should have the documents ready upon
arrival to Andorra, however, there is some flexibility as an automatic 3-month visa is issued upon
crossing the border.

Companies which process the paperwork

US citizens:

Background check:
The standard background check procedure via the FBI takes up to 4 months so we recommend
processing it via a company which can expedite it, such as http://accuratebiometrics.com/ (if you say
you’re applying on behalf of Singular, you’ll get a slight discount).

A fingerprint form (with fingerprints which have been taken at a police station) needs to be submitted to
the company: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/standard-fingerprint-form-fd-258-1.pdf/view.

· Authentication (background check, university degree and transcript):

http://www.usauthentication.com/index.php.
Keep in mind that, apart from the background check, you will also need to send your university transcript
and your university diploma (if you say you’re applying on behalf of Singular, you’ll get a slight discount).

Canadian citizens:

The following page provides more information about companies which process the background check:
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/where-do-get-a-criminal-record-check.

A fingerprint form (with fingerprints which have been taken at a police station) needs to be submitted to
the company: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/standard-fingerprint-form-fd-258-1.pdf/view.

· Authentication (background check, university degree and transcript):

Seeing as Canada is not part of the Hague convention, there are a few additional authentication steps: I
recommend working with the following agency: https://www.idocscanada.ca/workforms/

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The agency explains the 2 step process quite clearly:
https://www.idocscanada.ca/about-the-authentication-legalization-process/document-authentication/
https://www.idocscanada.ca/about-the-authentication-legalization-process/document-legalization/

**If you work with another company, keep in mind that once the documents are authenticated, they need
to be sent to the Spanish embassy in Ottawa or Toronto to be legalized prior to shipping them to
Andorra.

South African citizens:

The following websites provide information about the process:

www.apostil.co.za: Prices are varied but they do have an actual package specifically for teachers who
are going to work abroad. They do an apostilled SA qualification including the SAQA and it takes 4-8
weeks.
www.easyapostille.co.za: they also specialize in documents for ESL teachers going abroad.

You'll also need a Schengen visa for entering Spain or France, which lasts for 90 days and there's no
requirement to enter Andorra. It's a good idea to get your passport stamped at both the Spanish, or
French, and Andorran borders when entering Andorra, so that you can show that you've left the
Schengen area (Andorra isn't part of it) and the 90 days stop counting on the Spanish side, so that when
you re-enter Spain you can demonstrate you haven't overstayed your tourist visa there.

Once you get your Andorra work/residency permit, you can go to the Spanish embassy in Andorra, and
they emit a Schengen visa which has the same duration as your Andorran work permit (the 2 ones are
given for 1 year).

UK citizens:

· Police check:
The following pages provide more information about how to get a police/background check:
https://www.gov.uk/copy-of-police-records
https://acro.police.uk/

· Authentication (background check, university degree and transcript):

The following page provides more information about the procedures to get the Hague apostille:
https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised .

Final documents can be shipped directly to the academy. Here is our address:
Singular Acadèmia d'Anglès
Att: (teacher’s name)
Edifici Montclar - Bonaventura Armengol 10, Bloc 2, Office 7
AD500 Andorra la Vella
Andorra

Immigration steps once in Andorra

1) All documents are handed in to immigration (authenticated stamped documents have a maximum of
3 months before expiration).

2) The university documents are sent (by Immigration) to the Ministry of Education and the background
check is sent to the Police Department for verification.

3) Assuming everything is approved (in all previous cases, every application has been approved), 5-10
days later, Immigration calls the office to say the medical check-up can be scheduled.

4) The medical appointment is scheduled for the following business day. It is a very standard check-up
(teachers are asked a series of basic questions, i.e., if they smoke/drink regularly, etc.) and the eyesight
is checked.

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5) The following business day the residency card is ready to be picked up and is valid for 1 year. After
that, only a few forms need to be handed in and it is renewed for 2 more years.

Opening a Bank Account in Andorra

A bank account can be opened once teachers have their residency permit. The following documents are
needed:
• Contract from a previous job or any document proving previous employment (such as
social security payment extract or a tax statement)
• Statement from a previous bank account (from your home country ideally)
• (If previously filed) tax statement from home country
• Your employment contract with Singular
• Your passport and Andorra residency/work permit
The compliance department needs these documents to rule out possible money launderers.