This is a review of my experiences with this company. I would prefix this by saying that I met some good people within this company and that I am sure some have had positive experiences with the school. But (and it’s a big one) I would highlight several issues:

1. Visas.
The company has very, very rarely, obtained Z visas for foreign staff. However, the vast majority, despite what was said when applying for a job, are kept working illegally on F visas. Despite constant claims from within Best Learning that this is ‘just China’ and ‘ok’, this is not the case. You are working illegally, and are a quick check from a police / visa officer away from serious problems. You will also never be able to include your time working at Best Learning on a CV and can never use it to help later visa applications, how can you have been working without a legal working visa? You will also be unable to look for work inside China, your visa was given to visit one company, you would be breaking its terms if you were to try and work elsewhere.

The vast majorities of schools, or at least those you should seriously consider working for, will help you obtain the Z visa, Best Learning is however not one of those companies.
This is all mute as, at the time of writing, Best Learning are incapable of obtaining any visas within Beijing, the travel costs of going elsewhere to do so should be taken into consideration (you will have to pay).

2. Pay / Working Hours.
You will be paid a base salary of x amount. On top of that you will make money through teaching hours, y amount per hour. The most common complaint from teachers within the company is the lack of teaching hours / a discrepancy between what they were told they would get before joining and what they actually work once in China. You will, for the most part, work between 10-14 hours a week, not the 25 or so as advertised. Stretched over a month this is a difference of around 2000 yuan. Again, this is something to consider and budget for before when deciding whether or not to join.

3. Location.
The school has a small number of centers outside of Beijing; the vast majority, are however within the capital. Be aware that, if you do ask to be located elsewhere, there is a very real possibility that you will be kept in Beijing, obviously you will only discover this when landing in China.

4. Teachers.
I will obviously mention no names, but over the last year the company has hired and fired teachers with substance abuse problems one of whom caused harm to children within the classroom. They re-hired a teacher they fired a year earlier for violence towards other staff members, he was recently fired on similar grounds.

5. Physical appearance. Basically if you are not white, then do not apply. The company went over two years without hiring a non-white employee, an unspoken rule of sorts. They recently hired a non-white teacher but gave him no teaching hours. The quote ‘any one but the black teacher’ is one I never thought I would hear but sadly now have. Whether you believe it or not, i’d strongly suggest any non-white teachers look elsewhere, like with the visa issue, there are multiple schools and companies within the city who will hire you based on your English language ability, not the colour of your skin, Best Learning is again not one of these places.