Online TEFL Reviews

When you want to go out to a restaurant for a meal, or perhaps to the cinema to see a film, the logical thing to do before you go is to look at reviews of the restaurant or the film. By looking at reviews you are able to find out what experiences people have had regarding the restaurant or film in question, in order to make a decision as to whether you want to repeat that experience or not. Choosing an online TEFL course should be no different. You look for TEFL reviews.

You are about to embark on a journey that will definitely change your life. The good news is that there are so many options for teaching english as a foreign language out there. Becoming TEFL qualified will totally boost your chances of scoring the best paid jobs with the best working conditions. You will also become a super competent teacher in the process! 

But, naturally you have many questions. We figured you would! You might be wondering if you are better off to study online or maybe you think that a mix of classroom and online study might suit you better? 

Online TEFL course reviews

There are so many different online TEFL courses to choose from that it can be overwhelming to decide which one is the right one for you. Besides, if you have never done an online TEFL course before, then how are you supposed to know what you should be looking for?

That’s where the online TEFL community comes in. The TEFL community is a very tight-knit community. Once you are involved in the world of TEFL you will become familiar with all the names of schools and service providers. When you are working in a TEFL environment you will find the people you work with are always happy to contribute their two cents to a discussion on good TEFL books, amazing TEFL jobs or horrible TEFL employers. So we can use this to our advantage.

Online TEFL Forum

Find an online TEFL forum and you’ll be sure to find someone with an opinion they want to share. Look for TEFL reviews of a particular online TEFL course or, if you can’t find any (which is highly unlikely!), post a question. Soon you will have a whole group of TEFL teachers giving you their opinions. It’s up to you then to keep an open mind, listen to what they have to say and make up your own mind.

Remember, though, that there are always going to be people who don’t have a positive word to say about anything. These people are out here in the TEFL review space too. If you ever read any Tripadvisor reviews you’ll know what I’m talking about. Some people are very difficult to satisfy so they will complain about anything and everything. This is fine, but maybe what bothers them actually wouldn’t bother you. However, if you find the negative reviews overwhelming, then there probably is some truth to them.

Thing to Remember With TEFL Reviews

It is really important to bear in mind that TEFL reviews are people’s opinions. They are definitely a valuable resource when trying to gauge what TEFL courses are like. But they may only tell part of the story. Many can be overly negative or overly positive.

This can start to become a frustrating process when you are trying to decipher which reviews are accurate or not. After all, there are a raft of TEFL course reviews out there. Having a TEFL course that ticks all of the legitimacy boxes is what you really want. Starting out it can be hard to identify what is good or bad. So here are a few things to remember when you are looking at TEFL reviews and researching TEFL more generally.

Does the TEFL course from a provider that is established? 

New course providers enter the TEFL course market all the time. It is pretty clear what these companies are looking to do. Make a quick buck and get out. These kinds of courses are not wise to get TEFL certified with. It is hard to trust super low cost course providers that sell many other things besides TEFL courses.

The TEFL Academy are truly specialists and nothing else. It is our raison d’etre. TEFL is at the core of what we do and the backbone of the academy. Every single one of our TEFL trainers are highly experienced EFL professionals. They all have years of experience in teaching classrooms or individuals and are now passing that knowledge on to you! 

Accreditation 

Accreditation, ie. how the course is regulated and who the course is regulated by. This is a really important point. You really do not want not to get caught out by doing a course that is not accredited by an official body. We are accredited by Qualifi, an Ofqual (The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, a UK government department) regulated awarding body. Qualifi have robust quality assurance systems and procedures in place which all course providers must successfully pass in order to be accredited under the scheme. The top schools and recruiters require the source of your TEFL certificate to come from a provider that is accredited to this standard.

Level 5 Courses

Many TEFL providers extol the virtues of the 120 hour course. The truth is that Level 5 qualifications are the only show when it comes to the highest level of TEFL out there. To explain the idea of “levels”, this means that the UK government’s framework for qualifications. As a framework it allows learners to understand where their qualification lies in comparison to other qualifications. For example our Level 5 TEFL Certificate (168hrs) is the same level as the following qualifications: a diploma of higher education (DipHE), a foundation degree and the CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL qualifications. The reason that the course is 168 hours and not 120 hours is because the minimum requirement for a course to be deemed Level 5 is 168 hours.

TEFL Course Review Sites

As we have mentioned there are a multitude of places that you can find TEFL reviews online. Here is a flavour of some well regarded site options.

Reviews.co.uk believes that “word of mouth has evolved over the years” and is a well regarded platform for reviews of all manner of products and services out there. A great source for TEFL reviews

GoAbroad is a leading provider of travel and teaching info. A de facto search engine for international travel programs. Go Abroad is particularly geared towards the meaningful traveller that TEFL teachers are. They have an extensive amount of reviews that you can browse on their platform.

GoOverseas is another exceptional travel and TEFL advice platform. It provides rating, reviews and personal accounts from people that have been there and bought the t-shirt! They have lots of info to help you find a program that suits you.  They can help you visualize what it will really like on the trip.

Teflcoursereview.com wants you to “find the TEFL course that’s right for you” You can read reviews written by graduates and hear what they liked and disliked about their program before you dive in.

Community-mindedness

And that’s it. Finding online TEFL reviews is easy. You can utilise the community-mindedness of the Internet to find out what people think about the particular online TEFL course you are considering. Instead of guessing whether or not you think it’s a good online TEFL course, you can rely on the opinions of people who have already experienced it and who know what they are talking about. When you have completed your online TEFL course, you will be able to pay back the favour by posting your own review and letting other future TEFL teachers know what they are getting themselves into.