The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Marta.
I’m not a person who normally gives a one-star review, but by the looks of it, I’m also not the only person with deep grievances with The TEFL Academy Dublin. And I just can’t fathom why this company has so many excellent reviews on other TEFL review websites. I have also experienced issues using the Level 5 TEFL certificate issued by this company because the organizations they claim accredit them – QUALIFI, Ofqual, AQC, TQUK, and the DEAC – are only regulatory boards and are not accreditation bodies. If I wanted to work in the UK, I’d stand a good chance with these brand names listed on my certificate. As it stands though, every single teaching job I’ve applied for overseas has never heard of any of them. The TEFL Academy is not an accredited school outside of the UK. So now I will just need to swallow the $400 I spent on their Level 5 course and take a course that is internationally recognized. I’ve been recommended to take the teflonlinepro.com course because they are fully accredited by ACTEFLC and several employers mentioned this accreditation body in my interviews. I really can’t see how the TEFL Academy has such great reviews on other platforms when people can’t use their certificate for teaching overseas. It all smells like one big smelly scam to me.
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Marta,
Trusted TEFL Reviews agrees with your recommendation to avoid The TEFL Academy.
The TEFL Academy – https://www.theteflacademy.com/ ] claims that they are fully accredited, but their certificates are only recognized within the UK – if you plan on teaching online or abroad, a TEFL Academy certificate just won’t suffice.
The TEFL Academy also claims that they are a cheaper (equivalent to) CELTA certification option.
There is a simple way to debunk this claim. Anyone can contact any school offering the CELTA qualification and ask that school whether a TEFL Academy certificate is accepted for a job position at that CELTA school. I am willing to bet that 10 times out of 10, the CELTA school will reply that a TEFL Academy certificate is not recognized as a CELTA qualification equivalent.
We don’t write so openly so often in terms of labeling certain TEFL schools as being scam operations, but The TEFL Academy is 100% a scam operation. Avoid.
Mia Williams
TTA (The TEFL Academy) is a shady company! They must have partnership deals with other review websites because there is no way they’re getting 10+ real positive reviews a day. Do they own r/TEFL also? That subreddit was trying to (heavily) convince me to take a TEFL Academy course. In the end I had to leave the group and block the moderator from contacting me any more. The Testimonials page on their website also looks sketchy. I agree: TTA The TEFL Academy is one to avoid folks.