AK Teaching
AK Teaching is a Sunderland-headquartered education recruitment firm founded in 2012 that supplies teachers and teaching assistants to schools across the North and Midlands of England. Since January 2026 it has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zen Educate.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSunderland, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What AK Teaching does
AK Teaching is a Sunderland-headquartered education recruitment company founded in 2012 by Anthony Kirtley. It supplies teachers and teaching assistants to primary and secondary schools across the North and Midlands of England, operating on a transaction-fee placement model. The company runs as a regional staffing specialist with offices distributed across its target geography and serves a single customer segment — schools — addressing staffing gaps, supply teacher needs and recurring recruitment challenges.
On 28 January 2026, AK Teaching was acquired by Zen Educate, a London-based technology-driven education staffing platform founded in 2016. Under the deal terms — which were undisclosed — AK Teaching's senior management, including founder Anthony Kirtley, was retained, with the business now operating on Zen Educate's infrastructure and technology platform. The Zen platform itself consists of a web-based job marketplace connecting educators with schools, a mobile application on iOS and Android, and a schools recruitment service covering teacher, TA, cover supervisor, invigilator and SEN roles. Zen Educate reports serving 2,000+ UK schools and 13,000+ educators, claims £50m in annual savings to schools versus traditional agency fees (35-38% of cost), holds B Corp certification, and is the only tech-enabled supplier on the Crown Commercial Service framework for supply teaching. Zen Educate reported £13m in revenue and has raised over $70 million since 2024 at a $400 million post-money valuation to fund organic and acquisitive growth across the UK and internationally.
The acquisition positions AK Teaching as Zen Educate's North of England foothold, layering regional recruiter relationships and management expertise onto a scaled digital platform. The combined entity's revenue model is transactional placement fees, monetised through lower agency markups than legacy competitors, and the integration thesis appears to be regional density plus platform scale rather than product reinvention.
AK Teaching firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AK Teaching
- Legal name
- Zen Educate Limited
- Website
- https://akteaching.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- AK Teaching is a Sunderland-headquartered education recruitment firm founded in 2012 that supplies teachers and teaching assistants to schools across the North and Midlands of England. Since January 2026 it has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zen Educate.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AK Teaching industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Staffing
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Instructional Delivery & Pedagogy (School-Led) (EDAJAFAB)
Keywords
Where AK Teaching is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sunderland
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
AK Teaching business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Education recruitment services: Placement of teachers and teaching assistants in schools across the North and Midlands.
Go-to-market motion1 record
AK Teaching product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AK Teaching is an education recruitment firm that places teachers and teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools across the North and Midlands of England. The company supplies cover for teacher absences, ongoing teaching assistant placements, and broader school recruitment. Following acquisition by Zen Educate in January 2026, it operates under Zen's digital staffing platform while retaining its regional brand and senior management team.
Product overview
AK Teaching, acquired by Zen Educate in January 2026, operates as part of Zen Educate's digital staffing platform ecosystem. The core offering consists of the Zen Educate Platform (web-based job marketplace connecting educators with 2,000+ UK schools), the Zen Educate Mobile App (iOS/Android for job searching on-the-go), and the Schools Recruitment Service. AK Teaching, as an acquired brand, continues operating with its existing management team under Zen Educate's technology infrastructure, expanding the platform's presence in the North of England education staffing market.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Education Staffing Service Recruitment and placement of qualified teachers, teaching assistants, and school support staff for primary and secondary schools across the North of England and the Midlands. Covers supply teaching, longer-term placements, and broader school staffing needs.
- Supply Teacher Cover Service Placement of supply teachers to cover staff absences and short-term vacancies at primary and secondary schools in the North and Midlands of England.
- Teaching Assistant Placement Service Placement of teaching assistants into primary and secondary schools across the North and Midlands of England for ongoing classroom support roles.
Companies that use AK Teaching
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
AK Teaching technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AK Teaching partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
AK Teaching competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Protocol Education: Protocol Education is a UK-wide education recruitment agency placing teachers, TAs and support staff into primary and secondary schools; directly comparable to AK Teaching in service offering and customer base, with overlapping coverage across English regions.
- Simply Education: Simply Education is a UK supply teacher and teaching assistant recruitment agency serving primary and secondary schools; comparable offering, scale and target customer to AK Teaching, particularly in regional English markets.
- Aspire People: Aspire People is a UK education recruitment specialist placing teachers, TAs and support staff into schools; directly comparable to AK Teaching in service mix, with national coverage that overlaps with AK's North and Midlands footprint.
- TeacherActive: TeacherActive is a UK education recruitment agency placing teachers and support staff into schools across multiple regions; directly comparable business model and customer base to AK Teaching, with overlapping regional coverage.
- Teaching Personnel: Teaching Personnel is a UK education recruitment specialist supplying teachers, TAs and support staff to primary and secondary schools nationwide; a direct head-to-head competitor to AK Teaching's supply-teaching and TA placement model.
Broad incumbents
- Reed Education: Reed Education is the education-recruitment arm of Reed, a major UK staffing group, placing teachers and support staff into schools nationally; comparable offering to AK Teaching but part of a much broader generalist staffing portfolio.
- Zen Educate: Zen Educate is the direct parent of AK Teaching and operates the same digital staffing platform for teachers and TAs into UK schools; it is the most directly comparable business, but at significantly larger scale and broader geographic coverage across 2,000+ UK schools.
- Hays Education: Hays Education is the UK teaching-recruitment division of Hays, a global staffing group, placing teachers, TAs and SEND staff into schools; comparable service lines to AK Teaching, though operated within a wider multi-sector staffing business.
Regional players
- Step Teachers: Step Teachers is a London-focused education recruitment agency supplying teachers and TAs to schools in and around the capital; comparable service model to AK Teaching but primarily serving a different UK geography.
Emerging players
- TES (Times Educational Supplement): TES runs one of the largest UK education job boards and recruitment platforms connecting teachers with schools; an indirect competitor to AK Teaching's recruitment services and a digital-channel adjacency to Zen Educate's marketplace model.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
AK Teaching social profiles
Digital presenceAK Teaching compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
AK Teaching financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AK Teaching leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
AK Teaching subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
AK Teaching funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AK Teaching M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AK Teaching
What does AK Teaching do?
AK Teaching is an education recruitment firm that places teachers and teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools across the North and Midlands of England. The company supplies cover for teacher absences, ongoing teaching assistant placements, and broader school recruitment. Following acquisition by Zen Educate in January 2026, it operates under Zen's digital staffing platform while retaining its regional brand and senior management team.
Is AK Teaching a public or private company?
AK Teaching is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was AK Teaching founded?
AK Teaching was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is AK Teaching based?
AK Teaching is headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does AK Teaching make money?
One revenue line is on record: education recruitment services.
Who are AK Teaching's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Protocol Education, Simply Education, Aspire People, TeacherActive and Teaching Personnel. Broad incumbents are Reed Education, Zen Educate and Hays Education. Step Teachers is listed as a regional player. TES (Times Educational Supplement) is listed as an emerging player.
Does AK Teaching have an API?
No public API is recorded for AK Teaching.
What industry is AK Teaching in?
AK Teaching's product category is Education Staffing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAJAFAB, Instructional Delivery & Pedagogy (School-Led). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.