Reviews of The TEFL Academy

4.6 Rating •
1298 reviews
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Description

The TEFL Academy is the world’s leading TEFL course provider. Their courses are designed to effectively teach their students the fundamental skills to enable them to be successful at teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).

There are many TEFL course providers operating throughout the world. With so much choice, and with such a vast amount of conflicting information available on the internet, it can be hard for prospective TEFL course students to make the right choice.

The TEFL Academy’s 168 hour TEFL course aims to provide students with accurate information, skills and training to ensure they leave the academy with a sound understanding of teaching English, as well as a clearer picture of the TEFL industry as a whole.

Headquarters

The TEFL Academy

28 Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2, Ireland

Courses

Course Types

Combined TEFL Courses
Online TEFL Courses

Course Lengths

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

Certifications

TEFL / TESL / TESOL

Additional Features

Online Practicum
Stand-Alone Teaching Practice
TEFL Internships

Specialist Courses

Teaching Business English
Teaching One-to-One
Teaching Online
Teaching Young Learners

Locations

Australia

Melbourne
Sydney

Canada

Toronto ON
Vancouver BC

England

Birmingham
Brighton
Bristol
Leeds
London
Manchester
Newcastle

Ireland

Dublin
Galway

Italy

Rome

Netherlands

Amsterdam

New Zealand

Auckland

Northern Ireland

Belfast

Scotland

Edinburgh
Glasgow

South Africa

Cape Town
Durban
Johannesburg
Pretoria

USA

Boston MA
Philadelphia PA
San Francisco CA

The TEFL Academy has received 1298 student reviews and has an overall rating of 4.63 out of 5 stars based on the following criteria.

Overall Rating
Course Content
Practice Teaching
Quality of Feedback
Lesson Plan Guidance
Instructor Competency
Job Assistance
Facilities/Resources
 

Accreditation

DEAC

Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Qualifi

Qualifi Ltd

Learn more »
 

Special Offer

Save 50% off the Best Level 5 TEFL

Check out the award winning world-renowned, The TEFL Academy. Level 5 TEFL course provider running a 50% off offer this week.

 

Contact

Contact
theteflacademy.com
Address
28 Pembroke Upper
Dublin Southside
Dublin
Ireland, 7
Phone
+44 1273 806 380

1,298 reviews of The TEFL Academy

Review 10 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Julie Taylor on November 27, 2014 5:54 am
97%
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The weekend course was very enjoyable as the practice lessons were fun and interesting. Having a chance to create and teach your own lesson to the class was very valuable as it gave us an insight into what it would be like in reality.

The online course was well structured and educational. It gives the opportunity to practice writing your own lesson plans and using the internet to find material appropriate to your chosen class.

I enjoyed learning more about English grammar. Although we learn about grammar in school a lot of it is forgotten and it was interesting to refresh my knowledge. I’m really looking forward to finding a teaching job soon.

Review 9 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Nan amor on November 26, 2014 4:47 am
68%
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I really enjoyed the online part of the course and found it challenging at times but valuable. The feedback was informative and useful. There were times when I would have liked to speak to a tutor about a query and I felt that would have been more beneficial for me personally than submitting a written query. However I managed to resolve any difficulties myself in the end. I do wonder if it might be better to be assigned one tutor for the whole online course but perhaps it’s good to get a range of opinions and different marking criteria from a variety of tutors. There is little time for practising teaching on the weekend course, which is why I marked it 2 star and as I want to work locally the job placement for me is not particularly helpful, though I’m sure it would be if I wanted to work abroad. I am very glad that I have done the course and would recommend it to anyone who might be thinking about it.

Review 8 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Brittany Rex on November 17, 2014 11:03 am
93%
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I felt that the TEFL Academy Course was overall very good in content, both in the classroom and online. The instructors were excellent and gave constructive, positive feedback on assignments. They were also supportive and answered any questions regarding assignments that I had. I feel that the course has sufficiently prepared me to go out and teach English to all different levels and age groups! The price and convenience of the course was also a huge factor. I would highly recommend undertaking your TEFL course with The TEFL Academy.

Review 7 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Aaron Blake on November 4, 2014 9:02 pm
85%
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From the beginning of the 20 hour classroom portion of the course to the end I’ve felt in very good hands, which says a lot considering the majority of it was done from the comfort of my own room. The Assignments were varied well and gave me a taste of what to expect from life as a EFL teacher. From the lesson planning to being introduced to different teaching styles I believe it has given me a great foundation on which to build on. With that said nothing, especially an online course, could totally prepare me for the challenges that await after TEFL.

I would have liked for the course to have some sort of open dialogue between teachers and the teachers-to-be; throughout the online course I wasn’t encouraged to respond to feedback, even if I felt a point need clarification.

The 50% deal I came across at the time of applying was a major plus and now it definitely feels like I got more than my moneys worth considering many teaching placements abroad ask for a 120 hour teaching certificate. Certainly one of the better purchases I’ve made this year. (100 hours online isn’t as time consuming as it first sounds, it took me 3 months and a couple of weeks at a relaxed pace)

Review 6 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Martin Graham Walker on October 31, 2014 12:43 pm
71%
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Not Applicable
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I have been a qualified EFL teacher since 1990 and have taught in 7 countries (Greece, Japan, Spain, Poland, Turkey, the UK and South Korea). A few years ago potential employers started demanding to know how many hours I had studied on the course, which nobody ever thought about in those days – so the most experienced teachers were ineligible for such jobs. Ho, hum – that’s the way the world works at times. Anyway, once back from Korea I decided to do a refresher course to get a certificate with the number of hours on it which I could wave at potential employers, especially in Korea, to where I want to return. I went online and very quickly saw the TEFL Academy course and got it at the reduced rate, which I thought was impressive. The course had both on site and online elements, which is good. The on site part took place at the Maid’s Head Hotel, Norwich. The facilities were reasonable, the customer service at the hotel was awful (but that’s nothing to do with the TEFL Academy) and the tutor, Kelly, was never anything short of absolutely superb – VERY well prepared, she had lots of resources and clearly had thought through her aims very carefully and stuck to them – not legalistically but conscientiously.

As regards the online part of the course, far from just repeating stuff I’d studied in 1990, I found a lot of new, useful, well-researched material. There was clearly something for me to get my teeth into, despite being a teacher of over 20 years experience. The course tutors’ feedback was generally helpful, with just one or two glaring exceptions – but one or two bad apples don’t make a bad tree. The TEFL Academy’s failure to check that their course materials were suitable for people using Open Office Writer, as well as Word, cost me 3 weeks in terms of finishing the course, which was slightly irritating – but overall, well done the TEFL Academy. You have a very good course – if you pay attention to the things above, and make sure that all tutors work to a universally accepted and agreed standard, you will undoubtedly have an excellent course.

The on site part of the course was at the start of April and I finished the course at the end of June. As far as I am concerned, it was three months well spent.

Review 5 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Isabelle Henton on October 26, 2014 10:39 am
86%
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Not Applicable
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Having seen my friends at university begin their TEFL course, I thought why not give it a go!

I researched The TEFL Academy, turned up for the weekend and never looked back. It was a fantastic experience and I have learnt so much. The content is great – maybe a bit more focus on grammar would help but otherwise I can’t fault it. When completing your 100 hours online, there is support whenever you need it and the feedback from your assignments are brilliant. I did fail one of my modules and the feedback given to resubmit got be a distinction which proves how useful it was!

I haven’t found any placements (hence no rating) as I am still at university but I do intend on using their facilities to get a placement over summer.

Great value you for money and something I will recommend to anyone!

Review 4 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Daniel Richardson on January 8, 2014 6:15 am
100%
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I wanted to do a TEFL course because I wanted to earn some money while I did some travelling for a few years and then maybe move abroad permanently one day. I knew someone through my current job who had done a course previously with The TEFL Academy and found it really enjoyable and then left as they found work teaching English in Italy. When I looked online The TEFL Academy were offering a £50 discount for a double booking so in the end both my girlfriend and I decided to do it together and take advantage of the discount. The weekend section of the course (did it in Croydon) was very good and we both found it very interesting. There is a lot to learn in just a weekend but I think this makes me feel it is good value for money. The online course was also good and I finished it fairly quickly (although my girlfriend is taking her time with it) and although I haven’t started applying for jobs yet because I am waiting for my girlfriend to finish, the TEFL Academy have been very helpful with making my CV and explaining how I go about starting the job application process. Hopefully soon I will get to use my qualification and start teaching somewhere warm!

Review 3 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Student on December 13, 2013 8:40 am
53%
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I decided to do a TEFL because I’m keen to work abroad. This course is often £175 (half price), so that swayed my decision. I was expecting a basic course that gives you the qualification to get employed abroad, rather than an advanced qualification in teaching.

I went to London to attend the class – that was fun, not being from London. The classroom was small, freezing cold and under equipped. It felt like a last minute, emergency class rather than an established place of teaching.

The course itself was OK, a little rushed, and I felt none the wiser as to how to teach. Although I was in not really expecting much more in 20 hours.

The online part is what I was most interested in, and I was committed to completing it, and getting a good mark, to ensure I had the best possible options once I decided to hunt for work abroad. This is where it went down hill:

This course is based on Wikipedia pages (many of which are not cited), and About.com articles. For an academic course, how can Wikipedia content be used as a basis for essay based questions?

This seems a complete rip off. I was expecting to log into unique guides and resources to tackle the questions, not purely a selection of online links to questionable sources.

Again, although I had limited expectations from the outset, I was expecting much more from the online part of the course. Maybe I got a little unlucky with the classroom, but I would have been extremely unhappy had I payed full price for this course! If you just want to be able to say you’ve ‘got a TEFL’, then the TEFL Academy is probably fine. However, if you’re looking for a course which will allow a career change, a lot of learning, and a thorough starting point in teaching, then I’m certain they’re must be other courses which are more suitable.

Review 2 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Susan West on December 4, 2012 3:40 pm
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I’ve just started applying for jobs and have had a couple of offers from China & South Korea, but am holding out to find the right school. Now that I have experience looking for work all I can say is I’m so glad I chose to do a 120 hour course. All the schools ask for it!

I completed the course in 5 weeks which I think is pretty much the average. Overall I was pretty impressed with the tefl academy. Our tutor on the weekend course, her name was Liz, was absolutely great. You could tell she had so much experience and totally enjoyed trying to motivate others in to becoming teachers. To be honest I can’t believe how much I actually learnt in just 2 days, at first it’s quite daunting, but by the end of the 2 days it all seems to come together.

Getting the motivation to complete the online course is tough, but i think it depends on how much you really want it. I found whenever I started I couldn’t stop and ended up working stupidly late because I wanted to finish the module. My tutor was pretty good, but I was disappointed it wasn’t Liz because she was just so good! Don’t get me wrong he was good, but just didn’t seem to have the same passion :/

Overall great course and I’m not having any problems using it to get work so yeah 9.5/10 I would say…

Review 1 of 1298 The TEFL Academy

Written by Lauren Blackhall on October 12, 2011 5:25 pm
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I`ve wanted to do a TEFL course for years, but never really got round to it, I think I had looked at loads of courses before I came across The TEFL Academy. I can’t usually be bothered to write reviews, but I’ve been so impressed with my experience with the TEFL Academy I thought I should write my first review and share my experiences! I finally booked my place on a course in August this year (2011). To be honest the price was the main thing that made me chose The TEFL Academy, but I did also find their website quite informative and it confirmed a lot of things I had found out independently through my years (literally) of research on TEFL.

I booked my course for the end of August and was really exited to finally do what i`d put off for so long!

I believe The TEFL Academy do courses in lots of locations, but I did mine in Brighton near Hove Park. On arrival we were greeted by the tutor and straight away we were doing activities to get to know each other. This is really how the course continued, with lots of activities and teaching practice. The time went really quickly and I definitely enjoyed myself. Thankfully I also felt I was really learning something!

I completed the course and got my certificate on the last day, which was a big bonus for me, as I was discussing a job with a school in South Korea, I had told them I was doing a course but they wanted to see the certificate.

The school were more than happy with the certificate when I emailed it over, but due to personal circumstances I didn`t go on to take the position, but I`m still planning to use my qualification soon!

All in all if you want to get a TEFL course that`s fun and gives you the chance to meet new people, will get you jobs and won`t cost the earth then I think The TEFL Academy`s course is a good choice!

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