Reviews of i-to-i TEFL

3.2 Rating •
195 reviews
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Description

Discover teaching English abroad with i-to-i TEFL.

We’re TEFL experts with over 27 years’ experience in making teach English abroad dreams a reality!

We start by helping you qualify as a confident TEFL teacher, before pointing you in the right direction to our TEFL Internships in epic locations such as Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea.

Here at i-to-i TEFL, we’re proud to say we’ve trained over 182,000 TEFL graduates. And because our courses are English-Government regulated, once you’re qualified, employers prefer candidates with an i-to-i certificate.

Courses

Course Types

Online TEFL Courses

Course Lengths

Mini Courses (<30 hours)
Short Courses (40-100 hours)
Standard (120-140 hours)
Long Courses (150+ hours)

Certifications

TEFL / TESL / TESOL

Additional Features

Online Practicum
TEFL Internships

Specialist Courses

CLIL
Teaching Business English
Teaching Exam Preparation
Teaching One-to-One
Teaching Online
Teaching Young Learners

i-to-i TEFL has received 195 student reviews and has an overall rating of 3.22 out of 5 stars based on the following criteria.

Overall Rating
Course Content
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Instructor Competency
Job Assistance
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195 reviews of i-to-i TEFL

Review 20 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Benjamin Crompton on November 15, 2010 10:27 pm
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I understand the negative comments from those of you who have failed elements (or the whole of your course), but if you review the errors you’ve cited it’s quite clear there is something lacking in your answers. Bob – the point of that particular question was to make you prove that you’re aware of the importance of never shouting in a classroom.

A TEFL certification is not going to get you a full time job in the better academies and centres around the world. But, that doesn’t make it useless. Our weekend tutor emphasised that the course would be perfect for working on a summer school. Which it was – I managed to land a 2 month contract with a British Council accredited school in London (although note that when I applied I already had several months’ experience leading a class in Ghana and working as a private tutor).

When I did my 120 hour course there were lots of comments and questions on the i-to-i forum about the tutors, and how effectively they mark. If I’m honest, I always put this down to confusion or anger on the students’ part; people who were getting activities right and passing each module were frequently happy.

As for the course, I thought it was well structured and interesting. The 20-hour weekend element was excellent. Followed by 100-odd hours of online work, you do feel like you’ve accomplished something. At the end of the day, this is only a certification. If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know that a CELTA or Trinity ESOL are the qualifications you need to find well-paid EFL work abroad (and with two or three years’ experience, work in the UK). You’ll also know that most academies and schools around the world will ask for a CELTA or equivalent and a BA/MA at undergraduate level.

The bottom line is that the i-to-i TEFL is perfect for people who are considering a career in teaching, but don’t have the time or money to commit to an intensive month-long CELTA training program. Again, if you’ve done your research, you’ll know the i-to-i fee of around £400 is nowhere near the average CELTA fee of £1000.

If you want to start teaching English as a foreign/second language, a TEFL cert. is a great way to start; to test the water, if you will. i-to-i’s TEFL certification is a great way to do that.

Review 19 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Hector on October 19, 2010 11:08 am
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Aside from all the comments from above I personally think that this would help NEW people entering the teaching area.

I do empathize with the idea that some questions are not ad-hoc for the course or to develop one’s english teaching proficiency.

But overrall I thank everyone on the team for the great character and constant support.

Review 18 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Bob on September 14, 2010 6:11 am
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If you want to pass the online course, you have to second guess what answers the tutor wants.

The marking, IMO, is too subjective. They want answers that are short (quicker to mark?) and are what the tutor her/himself would write. If your answers are short, they split hairs and have a go at you for what you didn’t say!

Eg: ‘describe when a teacher should shout, and why’.

I don’t think shouting is a good idea at all, but you have to say something, so I said in an emergency, or if it is needed for role play.

Response?

You shouldn’t shout, because that is bad discipline and students won’t respect you!

I hadn’t said shout for discipline. If you shouldn’t shout! why ask such as stupid question?

Other resources are needed to give you more examples and better explanations about TEFL terminology and how it works in the classroom, to enable you to answer the questions.

I struggled with some of the questions Anon (August 24) mentions, and hey presto! Type the question in to web search, and you’ll find you’re not alone.

It has some good points though: videos of a teacher in action, with a nice big self-advertising screen in the background, and constant repetition of the English-learning students being rewarded with the word ‘excellent’.

Excellent is something this course is not, and I recommend finding another one, with better reviews.

Review 17 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Mark on September 10, 2010 10:47 am
23%
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I took a 20 hour weekend course just as a taster to see if I would enjoy TEFL. I didn’t really get much of a chance to find out.

There didn’t seem to be any structure to the course and I’ve no idea what the learning outcomes were or how these were assessed. At the end none of the students seemed at all prepared to go into a classroom and teach and I was shocked to learn that there would be no more teaching practice, even for those on the 140 hour course.

And they spam you constantly with new offers. Their business strategy seems to be to draw you in with cheap offers then tempt you to keep topping up your training, which you will need to do because of the deficiency of training you receive.

Review 16 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Anon on August 24, 2010 10:06 am
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Complete waste of time, effort & your money. Your resources would be better spent looking at doing a practicle course with a reputable provider.

Let me offer a working example, here we see the assessment question;

Devise concept questions to check student understanding of the sentences. Write 3 or 4 questions to each sentence. Make sure all your questions are useful, i.e. they check the essential meaning of the grammatical structure.

I wish you wouldn’t smoke so much.

Answer:

Does the person smoke often?

Is the person happy when he/she is smoking?

Do you think his/her’s cloths smell?

Does he/she smoke regularly?

Below is the feedback

Comment: Mostly correct but you’d also have to establish that the speaker wants the smoker to smoke less.

My point being that the course question is asking for concept questions in relation to the statement made, I cannot get my head round what the tutor mean’s by his/her comment.

Also be prepared for further nonsense as follows;

Since this is your final attempt at checkpoint 3, I have to fail you on the Online TEFL Course. We often allow an extra attempt for those students who are on a learning track but still a little short of the required level. However, in your case I am not inclined to do so, because you have not followed my explicit instructions in some tasks.

Despite 3 attempts and writing the answers to the fairly simple questions, spending an awful lot of time and money the Tutor here tries to say I fall below the required standard.

Read the response carefully before you make your mind up, hardly worded very well for a DOS, is it?.

What a complete load of non-sense I will be asking for the DOS to either re-consider their decision or refund on my course, if not expect an unbelievable website to appear about i-to-i horror stories where there are no holds barred.

Anyone even signing up to this course should be aware that if your answer does not agree with the tutors you will get some pedantic, useless feedback!

Review 15 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Nick Pellatt on July 7, 2010 10:30 am
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One star rating for all categories….Can you say zero stars? I dont know!

I did a 40 hour course prior to taking a paid job in China, and realised very quickly that employers who accept an i-i qualification will normally accept you without any qualification if you have a BA/BSc. This is true for many countries where the only requirement is a degree.

In order to continue teaching, I had to complete a recognised course later (I’ve also reviewed that course with St Giles Eastbourne on this site) and so the i-i course was a waste of time and money. So much so that I actually omit it from my resume now as it detracts rather than adds to my qualifications.

I would advise everyone to avoid courses like this, and invest the money into a couple of textbooks instead that will teach you just as much at a far better price. Likewise for the reviewers who say ‘i-i is a good introduction to EFL’, well, books like ‘Learning Teaching’ by Scriverner is just as good an intro at a far lower price.

Anyone who is confused by the mixed reviews on here should just look at some job adverts on a site like TEFL.com and see what employers actually want from candidates. A quick look there will quickly show you that in some regions, a degree is enough, in other regions, a Master is the minimum. When EFL qualifications are required, Trinity/CELTA etc are normally the industry minimum.

This leaves i-i and similar programs as being superfluous. Avoid.

Review 14 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Amy Robin on June 21, 2010 2:43 am
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I was surprised to read Mic’s comment on 15 June. My experience of the i-to-i TEFL course so far has been nothing but overwhelmingly positive. I’ve completed the Weekend Course and am thoroughly enjoying working my way through the online component (I’m doing the 120 hour combined course). My expectations have been exceeded in every area so far. I’ve been particularly impressed by how quickly the assignments are marked and how comprehensive and helpful/constructive the feedback is. If only university tutors were as good at providing timely and useful feedback! The quality of teaching on the Weekend Course was second to none and I’m rapt with the wealth of TEFL resources now at my fingertips. I taught English in Japan with no qualifications or experience a few years back, and had a good experience.When I return to Japan next year, having completed i-to-i’s 120 hour combined course, I know that I’ll be equipped with the knowledge, tools and confidence to have an even better TEFL experience. An outstanding one, in fact. So thank you, i-to-i. Keep up the fantastic work.

Review 13 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Mic on June 15, 2010 7:07 am
32%
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I would stay away from i-to-i. I had a terrible experience with them. They advertised their internship in China claiming that you would get a chance to select your region. Initially they offered a choice of four regions, but then, only AFTER the money had been paid, they informed me that in fact there were only 2 regions to choose from, which were something like ‘North’ and ‘South’ China, regions so large they could realistically include anything.

I also found them unhelpful in moving dates and in making changes. Their 120 hr course, also, is a bit of a joke. It’s intuitive, and you learn very little new. I’d stay away.

Review 12 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by simon on June 8, 2010 3:12 am
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I feel obliged to write a review of i to i here as I feel there are far too many negative one’s being written. I am 46 years old with no degree, but I have 3 college diplomas from the early 80’s (which is where a university degree would have been from should i have one). I did the i to i course purely to see if teaching english would suit me rather than just going into a job abroad with all guns blazing and no teaching experience / certificates.

Doing this course made me realise that it would be something i could and will enjoy doing. It has taught me the basics ie lesson planning, grammar amongst other things. It has also given me a brief outline of teaching one to one, large classes, limited resources, business english and teaching young learners. This course has never pretended to be the be all and end all, I have always known i could get a job in thailand with just a tefl certificate albeit not in bangkok necessarily because of the university degree and the ageism aspect, but, i could get a job elsewhere there and cambodia, vietnam etc should i desire to.

My intention has always been to take a celta course in which ever country i choose to teach in, as well as having my tefl cert i would bet i can find a decent job and get a proper teaching licence without a degree.

The tutor feedback was excellent, I now know how to lesson plan which was something i could not do before the course, the grammar module has reminded me of all those dark days back at school doing english, overall the course content was very good, no teaching experience but this can always be gained on the job or even one to one private lessons in this country.

ODLQC are a british government backed accreditor, many people have slated them, but i think it is a very good accreditor, not as good as celta admittedly, but if you want celta then pay the extra money and do it. I to i is a good start in the tefl world and will get you a job and a teaching licence in most cases, so please stop putting it down so much, I enjoyed doing the course and as such will be moving abroad to teach within the next year.

Review 11 of 195 i-to-i TEFL

Written by Danny on May 16, 2010 7:53 pm
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As somebody going with EPIK (English Program in Korea), having a 100+ hour certificate qualifies you for around $100 extra/month pay raise. Considering it is a year-long contract and they do not care on the type of certificate you have, $500 for the i-to-i 120hour TEFL certificate is without a doubt worth it. Besides making my money back after five months abroad, I also feel more confident and prepared to teach English.

I also think the interactive structure of the online course is very good. Nobody here seems to be talking about that component of the course. The modules are actually fun to do (if you think that’s possible. haha).

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