TEFL means Teaching English as Foreign Language
TESOL means Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
The terms mean the same thing and are often used interchangeably.
See our accreditation page for more information on why getting the right accreditation is important.
No. Although many of our students do have degrees, we welcome applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds. ‘A’ levels, a HS diploma or significant life experience in teaching, business or some contact with children is advantageous. Some employers may wish you to have a degree and in certain countries (such as Korea) it will be needed so that a work visa can be issued. However our Travel and Teach section gives more advice of what you need for each country and should be a good starting point for information gathering before you travel.
We have a wide range of trainees from a wide variety of different backgrounds. Some examples from our current students include:
- Existing state sector/further education teachers looking to broaden their teaching base
- Gap year students or ‘teacher travellers’
- People wishing to teach ESL to immigrants
- Mature students looking for a change of career
- People who plan to move or retire overseas
- Non native English teachers or foreign teachers abroad
- English people already living overseas who wish to teach EFL locally
Yes, of course! We welcome applications from people whose first language is not English. However, non-native speakers should possess a high standard of both written and spoken English. As a general guide, if you have English to one of the following international exam levels then you should be successful on a GE course:
- IELTS 6.5 or above
- TOEFL iBT 110 or above
- TOEIC 880 or above
- CEF C1
- pass at Cambridge CAE (Certificate in Advanced English).
- have studied and passed a degree level course where the medium of instruction is in English.
While we do not test applicants on their level of English, should submitted work contain a significant number of errors and understanding is impeded, at our discretion, it will be passed back to the student for re-working until it is of an acceptable level. Marks are deducted for poor use of English in responses.
If you do not have an acceptable level of English to succeed on the course then we reserve the right to cancel your course and refund your course fees.
If you don't have an IELTS qualification or any of the others listed above, please visit our Test my English quiz, where you can take a short English test. This will give you a score and we will be able to say whether or not the course is suitable for you.
If you are thinking of working in the TESOL industry, but are a non-native speaker with a good level of English, then this is quite possible. We have trained over a thousand non-native English speakers as they have sought entry into this area. However, you might like to take a look at our blog post on this here in Can non-native speakers find TEFL work? where you will see a realistic view of work opportunities and lots of comments from others who have done this before.
Call or chat with your tutor via your student login page.
The depth and quality of the tutor response and marking generates the most positive student comments on our returned course quality questionnaires, which are sent out to students on course completion.
While we won't necessarily provide you with the correct answer, we will point you in the right direction.
On our accredited courses there are stop and think tasks throughout. These may take the form of simple multi-choice answers or require more in-depth responses that are tutor-assessed. You might be asked to map out the seating arrangements for a class of 12 students or comment on the choice of material for a group of young learners. There is sample material on each of the course pages. We aim to provide tasks and material that will be of real, practical use to you in the classroom.
The grammar courses are all multi-choice response with explanations following each question, with further tutor support if required. All our courses come with access to a personal tutor and the forum, where you can share ideas with other trainees.
You are graded by continuous assessment. In this way you always know how you are doing and we know your strengths and can help you with any potentially weak areas.
Your marks are added up as you proceed through the course and there are more marks for the latter modules, so you have the chance to make up any marks you may have missed out on in the earlier ones.
So that you can check the level you are at, you need to get 50% for a Pass, roughly 67% for a Pass with Merit and 83% for a Pass with Distinction. You’ll receive individual comments on all of your tutor-marked assignments sections. Not just ticks and crosses but feedback designed to be of real help to you as you progress.
You can start any time and you will receive access to the student login page just as soon as you sign up and make payment.
We will assign your tutor within 24 hours or on the next working day.
In this unlikely event, simply email us that you have decided to withdraw within 14 days. Providing no work has been completed on the course, you will receive a full refund. See our Terms and Conditions (Section 7) for more details.
Upon successful completion of our online courses you will receive the appropriate Global English certificate in PDF format, free as a part of your course. A printed version is available via our Bookstore page for a small extra fee.
Weekend course students will receive a TEFL certificate. We will also let you know when schools contact us looking to recruit our graduates through our regular emails.
TESOL CV help is provided in the modules but for more individual help in your search for work, contact our office via your student login page.
UK: