TEFL Accreditation – TeacherTee’s Guide on Finding the Perfect Accredited TEFL Course

Hello there, handsome! We know exactly what you feel light right now: excited about starting your online English teaching career, eager to get your hands on that TEFL certification of yours. You’ve been searching for the perfect TEFL course online and, well, it seems like you just can’t figure out which course to choose. You will be aware of the sheer endless amount of TEFL courses being almost aggressively marketed to you once you type “TEFL course” into Google (assuming you don’t know about TeacherTee’s TEFL courses yet). Due to a lack of legal regulations, basically everyone can go ahead, create a TEFL course and try to sell it. It goes without saying that not all of them are worth the money. So, how to avoid falling for low-quality courses with unqualified trainers? This is where TEFL accreditation comes in. 

 


Wanting to become an online English tutor? A TEFL will come in very handy! Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash 

 

What is TEFL accreditation?

 

In order to stand out from the competition, TEFL course providers often turn to external organisations to have their TEFL courses accredited. The external organisations create their own standards concerning courses and topics, trainers, processes, etc. and then accredit courses that meet these criteria, aiming at guaranteeing a high quality training and providing the client with a certification recognised by employers. 

 

You want to be sure that your TEFL provider is at least 1 of the below official accrediting bodies (preferably 2):

  • Training Qualifications UK (TQUK)
  • Accreditat
  • WTEFLAC (The World TEFL Accrediting Commission)
  • ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe)
  • British Council
  • OFQUAL (The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation)
  • ACCET (Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training)
  • IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)
  • ODLQC (Open and Distance Learning Quality Council)
  • ACTDEC (Accreditation Council for TESOL Distance Education Courses)
  • TESL Canada

 

Some teachers get a little carried away with the accreditations though, and try go for the course with the most accreditations, or believe one accreditation is better than the other because they’ve heard this somewhere, but ultimately compensate with other factor which are just as important like prices, speed and aftercare (will this TEFL course provider actually help you get a job at the end of the course – that’s why your taking the course right?).

 

“Okay”, you think, “can’t I then just simply Google ‘accredited TEFL course’?” When looking for an accredited TEFL course, you’ve probably seen those low-cost Groupon/ Wowcher TEFL courses you probably have seen on Google Ads for around £19. These course providers may market themselves as ‘accredited’ but are the biggest offenders when it comes to faking TEFL course accreditations (or having an accreditation which is not up to scratch). They use these tactics because it’s draws students in. Many employers will not accept these accreditations and you may have to re-do a course with an accredited provider, so best to to avoid these. 

 

As you can see, TEFL course accreditation can help you find the perfect TEFL course, thus saving you from investing time and money into something that’s just not worth it. In addition, it can help you prove to both your employer and your students that you are perfectly qualified to teach. 

 

A good way to spot a dodgey course is the price, TEFL providers that can significant undercut their competition will no thave the same quality of learning, and 99% of the time wil not be accredited. 

Make sure the accreditation organisation’s standards meet your own expectations. Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash 

 

How to find the perfect accredited TEFL course

An organisation that sets itself high standards, does everything to meet these high standards, and aims at earning their clients trust by offering great courses with qualified teachers is willing to transparently communicate these standards to you. If they are not able to do so, that’s definitely a red flag! In addition, you might want to check whether their website looks professional, whether they list courses they accredited on their website, and when the organisation has been founded. 

 

To make this supe straightforward for you, we at TeacherTee have prepared a list of trustworthy, reputable course providers! Just read through our list below and find the TEFL course that suits you best! Once you have finished your course, maybe you would like to head over to our Job Board, providing you with loads of ESL jobs to choose from. You may also follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or contact us directly in case you have any questions – we are always glad to help!

TeacherTee’s Top Accredited UK Course Providers with more than 2 official accreditation bodies:

TEFL UK (tefluk.com) are TeacherTee’s official UK partner – one of the largest TEFL organisations, they offer a range of courses to meet your needs. Included with in TeacherTee Job Placement Service for teachers looking for additional mentoring support through your job search. They have the best Level 5 courses we know of in terms of price, speed and accreditations. Also their courses are 100% online – visit our TEFL page for a discount code too. 

 

Premier TEFL – (premiertefl.com) another official partner of TeacherTee. They offer a range of courses and great tutor support through your course. 

 

Let’s TEFL (letstefl.com) TeacherTee’s last official partner, probably the best Level 3 course on the market, offering great aftercare with finding job placements.

 

TEFL ORG LTD (TEFL.org) commonly mistaked for the ‘official TEFL provider’ because of the .org – they are actually a private company based in the UK. Albeit a great course, we do not offer the our job placement services as part of the course because they are not of of our official partners. 

 

The TEFL academy (theteflacademy.com) are a UK based course provider with a great Level 3 and 5 course, but their course options are limited and do not include TeacherTee’s job placement services.