The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026

This 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026 article was last updated on February 24, 2026.

There are numerous Online TEFL/TESOL certification courses advertised online, and the pandemic was a catalyst for a tremendous surge in newly-established, fly-by-night companies, offering low-quality, dirt-cheap TEFL/TESOL courses.

In the past few years, Trusted TEFL Reviews has witnessed a significant increase in complaints from consumers who have purchased a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL course for less than US$100. These verified student reviews report that such courses don’t properly prepare you for teaching and that they tend to be unrecognized by employers and government visa agencies/offices.

It is, therefore, essential that you choose to take a TEFL/TESOL certification course that is legitimately recognized worldwide – for all online and abroad/overseas English teaching jobs.

The following Online TEFL/TESOL programs are on this Best Of list due to their consistently positive customer feedback, their better business practices, and because the certification awarded is recognized internationally by online and abroad/overseas employers and government visa agencies/offices.

These are the 5 best online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs in 2026:

1. TEFL Online Pro

Top of our list is TEFL Online Pro. Students consistently rate their courses, customer support, and teaching online and abroad job-finding services as being excellent. All TEFL Online Pro courses come with 24/7 online tutor support, and there are no hidden fees.

TEFL Online Pro has won the Teachers’ Choice Award for the past 7 years in a row – it is the highest-rated Online TEFL/TESOL certification course program in 2026.

Is TEFL Online Pro accredited? Yes. The certifications awarded are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Courses start from US$149.

TEFL Online Pro website: https://teflonlinepro.com/

TEFL Online Pro verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-online-pro-reviews-in-2025/

TEFL/TESOL online programs that win the Teachers’ Choice Award are granted the ability to enjoy a whole year’s free exposure on Trusted TEFL Reviews, where they may post, for example, any current course discounts or promotions.

TEFL Online Pro | Limited-Time Offer | Get $100 Off TEFL/TESOL certification + free shipping on hard-copy certificates! Ends 23:59 on February 28th | Get Discount >

2. OISE University of Toronto TEFL

In second place on our list is OISE University of Toronto TEFL. Student feedback on this program is consistently positive, and one of the standout positive points of feedback is the program’s links to the University of Toronto. All OISE University of Toronto TEFL courses come with online tutor support, and there are no hidden fees.

Is OISE University of Toronto TEFL accredited? Yes. The certifications awarded are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Courses start from US$995.

OISE University of Toronto TEFL website: https://teflonline.teachaway.com/

OISE University of Toronto TEFL verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/oise-university-of-toronto-tefl/

3. CIEE TEFL

In third place on our list is CIEE TEFL. Student feedback on this program is consistently positive, and all their courses come with online tutor support and international job guidance services. CIEE TEFL offers job placement support for countries such as Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and there are no hidden fees.

Is CIEE TEFL accredited? Yes. The certifications awarded are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Courses start from US$270.

CIEE TEFL website: https://www.ciee.org/

CIEE TEFL verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ciee-tefl/

4. Maximo Nivel TEFL

In fourth place on our list is Maximo Nivel TEFL. Student feedback on this program is consistently positive, and one of the standout positive points of feedback is their ability to provide job placement services for the Central/South American teaching markets. All Maximo Nivel TEFL courses come with online tutor support, and there are no hidden fees.

Is Maximo Nivel TEFL accredited? Yes. The certifications awarded are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Courses start from US$395.

Maximo Nivel TEFL website: https://maximonivel.com/

Maximo Nivel TEFL verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/maximo-nivel-tefl/

5. Vantage TEFL Certification

In fifth place on our list is Vantage TEFL Certification. Student feedback on this program is consistently positive, and all their courses come with online tutor support. Graduates highly rate this program for job-finding support services within Thailand. Vantage TEFL Certification also offers a 4-week (in-class) TEFL/TESOL course.

Is Vantage TEFL Certification accredited? Yes. The certifications awarded are Accredited.

Courses start from US$1,295.

Vantage TEFL website: https://www.englishatvantage.com/tefl-combined-class-thailand

Vantage TEFL verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/vantage-tefl-certification/

For clarification of the fundamental differences between ‘Accredited‘ and ‘Fully Accredited‘, please refer to the TEFL Accreditation Guide:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-accreditation-guide/

How do I know I can trust the reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews?

✓ All reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews are verified.
✓ We require contact information to ensure our reviewers are real.
✓ We require proof of course completion to ensure our reviewers took the course.
✓ We use intelligent software that helps us maintain the integrity of reviews.
✓ Our moderators read all reviews to verify quality and helpfulness.

Online TEFL/TESOL course scams exist- be wary of any programs not listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews. A program not listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews might be a scam.

If an Online TEFL/TESOL certification course program doesn’t have a company Facebook page, or if it does and has the Reviews tab disabled, be likewise wary.

The Online TEFL/TESOL industry (yes, it is an industry) is highly competitive. Online TEFL/TESOL schools writing misleading trash about their competition online is a common occurrence. Verified customer reviews are your friend. Anything else is probably just mudslinging by a business competitor.

Online and abroad employers expect you to have either a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate or a 140-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate if it includes 20 hours of teaching practice.

You do not need more.

Some TEFL/TESOL programs offer 168-hour TEFL courses and even courses with 170+ hours. These course lengths are unnecessary and will not increase your chances of employment.

If you already have TEFL teaching experience, a 60-hour refresher course will be enough.

If you don’t have TEFL teaching experience, a 120-hour or 140-hour course will be enough.

For the ranking of all Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews, visit the TEFL Course Directory page:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-course-directory/

This ‘The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026’ article was written by Mia Williams, co-owner of Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) | Best Featured TEFL Articles

New! Click here for the online TEFL/TESOL international certification course Teachers’ Choice Award winner. International Online TEFL/TESOL course certification at its best.

Verified Online TEFL/TESOL certification course program reviews, ranked in order of customer satisfaction: TEFL Course Directory

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The post The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026 appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

Selecting a TEFL course is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make before launching (or upgrading) your teaching career. With so many providers online—and with some noisy misinformation floating around—prospective teachers often end up comparing the same two programs: TEFL Online Pro and The TEFL Academy.

To simplify that process, this guide presents a clear, independently written comparison based on public course data, accreditation details, student review trends, and overall transparency. The goal is simple: help you understand how each program actually performs in 2025/2026, without the marketing fluff.

Course Options & Structure

TEFL Online Pro — Course Overview

1. 60-Hour Fast-Track Certificate
Designed for teachers with previous classroom or online teaching experience who want a quick, credible TEFL/TESOL upgrade.

2. 120-Hour Professional Certificate (Most Popular)
A full TEFL/TESOL course suitable for beginners.
No experience required; includes modules on:

• Teaching Business English
• Teaching Young Learners
• Teaching English Online / One-to-One teaching + groups

3. 140-Hour Hybrid TEFL/TESOL Certificate
Combines online study with a 20-hour in-person practicum (observed teaching).
Ideal for teachers who want hands-on experience before applying abroad.

No experience required; includes modules on:

• Teaching Business English
• Teaching Young Learners
• Teaching English Online/ One-to-One teaching + groups

Pricing: $149 / $299 / $549
Support: 24/7 tutor access
Extras: CV/resume editing, visa advice, job placement, lifetime support
Recognition: Accepted worldwide by online schools and onsite school employers

The TEFL Academy — Course Overview

1. Level 3 (120 hours)
A basic entry-level TEFL qualification designed mainly for the UK/Ireland framework.

2. Level 5 Diploma (168 hours)
Marketed as a higher-tier credential, though recognition outside the EU/UK varies significantly.

3. Add-On Modules (€180 each):

• Business English
• Young Learners
• Online/One-to-One teaching

Pricing: €413 / €610 / €180 per add-on
Support: Standard
Extras: General claims of “industry-best support,” but without clear deliverables

Accreditation & International Recognition

TEFL Online Pro — Fully Accredited (ACTEFLC)

TEFL Online Pro is accredited by ACTEFLC, an organization that evaluates:

• Course structure and assessment quality
• Tutor qualifications
• Academic standards
• Student outcomes
• Feedback trends

This provides straightforward, global recognition under the common TEFL/TESOL hour-based system (60h, 120h, 140h).

Graduate impact:
Employers worldwide accept the certificate
No need to explain qualification “levels”
Meets all major online and onsite teaching company requirements

The TEFL Academy — Recognized, but Not Fully Accredited

The TEFL Academy promotes affiliations with QUALIFI, AQC, and DEAC.
Important distinction:

These bodies recognize aspects of the courses, but do not accredit the training provider itself.

Additionally, the Level 3/Level 5 framework is primarily understood in the UK and parts of Europe—not globally.

Employer Confusion

Many international employers use standard TEFL metrics:

• 60-hour
• 120-hour
• 140-hour

Outside Europe, “Level 3/Level 5 Diploma” often requires explanation, which is a recurring complaint found in publicly posted reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

Job Placement & Career Support

TEFL Online Pro Jobs

• Round-the-clock tutor availability
• Guaranteed teaching job (typically within 4 weeks)
• Personalized job placement assistance
• CV/resume consultation
• Visa guidance for overseas hires
• Lifetime job support

The TEFL Academy Jobs

The company advertises:

• “More support than any other TEFL provider”
• “The best TEFL job resources”

…but does not provide measurable outcomes or guarantees.

Student Reviews & Complaint Patterns

TEFL Online Pro Reviews

• No confirmed negative reviews from actual graduates
• Positive feedback consistently appears on Trusted TEFL Reviews and Facebook
• Isolated negative posts online trace back to competitor activity, not genuine customers

The TEFL Academy Reviews

Common public complaints include:

• Difficulty explaining Level 3/5 qualifications to employers
• Certificates receiving mixed acceptance outside Europe
• Confusion over accreditation statements

These reviews are verifiable on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

Terms, Conditions & Transparency

TEFL Online Pro Transparency

Clear and fully visible Terms & Conditions
Upfront pricing with no hidden fees
Policy pages available on every page of the website

The TEFL Academy Transparency

✘ Terms are not easy to access on-site
✘ Additional costs (e.g., add-ons) are not always obvious in early browsing

Final Comparison: Which TEFL Course Is Better for 2025/2026?

Both organizations offer legitimate TEFL training, but they serve different types of students.

Choose TEFL Online Pro if you want:

Full accreditation
Globally recognized TEFL certification
Transparent, fair pricing
Lifetime job support
A guaranteed teaching position after graduation
A choice of 60h, 120h, or 140h hybrid programs

Choose The TEFL Academy if you want:

A Level 3 or Level 5 certificate specifically aligned with UK/Ireland qualification frameworks
A more academic “level-based” system
Optional specialist courses (paid separately)

Bottom Line

For teachers aiming to work online or anywhere beyond the UK/Ireland, TEFL Online Pro offers broader recognition, more transparent support, and a clearer path to employment.

If your goal is to remain within the British/Irish qualification ecosystem, The TEFL Academy may still fit your needs—but worldwide, hour-based TEFL/TESOL certifications remain the universal standard.

TEFL Online Pro Enroll: https://teflonlinepro.com/enroll/

The TEFL Academy Enroll: https://www.theteflacademy.com/tefl-courses/

Thank you for reading this Trusted TEFL Reviews TEFL Online Pro vs. The TEFL Academy comparison article.

Leave a Reply if you would like to add a comment!

The post TEFL Online Pro vs. The TEFL Academy: A Fresh, Unbiased Comparison for 2025/2026 appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

This ‘The TEFL Academy certification review’ article uncovers the extremes that this program will go to, to present and maintain a positive public image. Fake Reviews | Affiliate Links | Ambassador Program | False Accreditation Claims.

The TEFL Academy certification review. This article was last updated on September 14, 2025.

The TEFL Academy (TTA) is not a legitimate online TEFL/TESOL certification company.

The TEFL Academy (TTA) is not a fully accredited online TEFL/TESOL certification course program.

Despite its website claims, TTA The TEFL Academy is Unaccredited. This is a TEFL scam.

Trusted TEFL Reviews recommends avoiding The TEFL Academy (TTA).

Think about it. Would you employ someone who presents a TEFL certificate at a job interview that isn’t accredited?

After reading this article, we recommend reading:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2022/05/19/tta-the-tefl-academy/

Trusted TEFL Reviews’ advice is to invest in a Fully Accredited TEFL/TESOL certificate that will be recognized for all online and abroad teaching English jobs.

Essential TEFL Tip!

Are you worried about being scammed? TEFL course scams are becoming more sophisticated, and (TTA) The TEFL Academy has been proven to be a scam!

Protect yourself from TEFL scams.

We strongly recommend choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs in 2026:

The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026

By choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Certification Course Programs, you are guaranteed not to be scammed.

Choose a fully accredited and internationally recognized online TEFL/TESOL certification course that you can use for all online and abroad teaching English jobs.

Mia Williams – Trusted TEFL Reviews

8th June 2022 UPDATE:

TTA The TEFL Academy – Fake TEFL Accreditation | Fake TEFL Awards | Fake TEFL Reviews | False TEFL Advertising:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2022/05/19/tta-the-tefl-academy/

The main reasons for this Buyer Beware Warning:

1. This program has attempted, on several occasions, to get reviews written by their staff employees published on Trusted TEFL Reviews. Trusted TEFL Reviews only publishes verified Online TEFL/TESOL customer reviews – we don’t publish fictitious reviews, self-written by Online TEFL/TESOL programs.
2. The TEFL Academy (TTA) claims to be accredited by a bunch of “external bodies” but these are only regulatory bodies – AQC | DEAC | OfQual | QUALIFI. The TEFL Academy (TTA) is only regulated by the bodies that it claims accredit them.

The TEFL Academy (TTA) provides unaccredited Online TEFL/TESOL certification courses, that are only recognized within the United Kingdom and Ireland. This is further backed up by the poor The TEFL Academy (TTA) verified student reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-academy/

Instead, we recommend choosing to take your international TEFL/TESOL certification course with a program offering a fully accredited course that is far more recognized internationally than The TEFL Academy’s.

The four highest-rated TEFL Academy TTA fully accredited alternative course options, listed in order of customer review ratings:

1. TEFL Online Pro – https://teflonlinepro.com/
2. OISE Toronto TEFL – https://teflonline.teachaway.com/
3. CIEE TEFL – https://www.ciee.org/
4. Maximo Nivel TEFL – https://maximonivel.com/

CIEE TEFL, Maximo Nivel, OISE Toronto TEFL, and TEFL Online Pro are Level 5 and CELTA-equivalent Online TEFL/TESOL certification programs.

TEFL Online Pro verified customer reviews:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-online-pro-reviews-in-2025

OISE Toronto TEFL verified customer reviews:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/oise-university-of-toronto-tefl/

CIEE TEFL verified customer reviews:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ciee-tefl/

Maximo Nivel verified customer reviews:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/maximo-nivel-tefl/

CIEE TEFL, Maximo Nivel, OISE Toronto TEFL, and TEFL Online Pro certificates are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized. The TEFL Academy TTA certificates are not fully accredited and are not internationally recognized.

TEFL Online Pro has won the Teachers’ Choice Award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/teachers-choice-award-winner-2019-2/

All 56 Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs are currently listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews, ranked in order of customer satisfaction: https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-course-directory/

More on The TEFL Academy scam: https://trustedteflreviews.com/2021/07/26/common-tefl-scams/

The TEFL Academy certification review.

19th May 2021 UPDATE:

The TEFL Academy has been exposed by The TEFL Watchdog, for falsely claiming to telephone inquiries from prospective students that The TEFL Academy is accredited by Ofqual. When further questioned on this false claim of Ofqual accreditation – in two separate telephone calls – both TEFL Academy sales reps put the phone down on The TEFL Watchdog.

It does need to be clarified that the TEFL Academy sales reps assumed that they were having a conversation with real prospective students, and had no idea that they were speaking with members of The TEFL Watchdog.

Further details can be read in the ‘X TEFL Watchdog’ section of Trusted TEFL Reviews:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/x-tefl-watchdog/

Trusted TEFL Reviews would like to repeat that The TEFL Academy (theteflacademy.com) is not a fully accredited and internationally recognized TEFL certification program.

If you telephone The TEFL Academy and ask who accredits them, they will reply that they are accredited by Ofqual. This is a lie. Ofqual is a regulatory body and not an accreditation body.

If you press The TEFL Academy further on this bogus accreditation claim, they will likely put the phone down on you.

The TEFL Academy Level 5 TEFL certificates are only recognized within Ireland and the United Kingdom. Try using the certificate anywhere else, and you will likely be met with puzzled looks by school employers and government work visa officers.

25th April 2022 UPDATE:

A distraught customer sent Trusted TEFL Reviews a carbon copy of an email from The TEFL Academy, which explicitly states that TEFL Academy certificates are not recognized in Ireland. They also state that its certificates are not recognized in Malta.

Given that the TEFL Academy’s main office is in Dublin, Ireland, it puzzles us as to why its certificates are not recognized in the country in which it is headquartered.

Go figure!

The TEFL Academy Certification review.

This is a long, informative article that we recommend reading through from start to finish before purchasing a TEFL Academy/TTA ‘Level 5’ Online TEFL/TESOL course.

We will be looking at this program’s “accreditation” claims, how this program floods the internet with fake reviews, this program’s ‘Brand Ambassador’ program, and the dirty tricks that The TEFL Academy employs to inflict damage on its competitors.

The TEFL Academy certification review.

The TEFL Academy Certification Review Part I: Fake Reviews and the Spreading of Misinformation.

1. The TEFL Academy (TTA) brought in a new Marketing Director, Thomas Gibbons, in 2021.
2. Not long afterward, Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) began receiving a lot of unverified TTA reviews, supposedly written by students of TTA. None of the reviewers could prove course participation. TTR took the correct decision not to publish the reviews because there was no way of knowing if TTA graduates had written the review, or whether employees of TTA had.
3. These reviews have since been published on other TEFL review websites, where there exists little or no verification process. Such websites include TrustPilot and Reviews.co.uk
4. Thomas Gibbons contacted TTR to ask if we could delete a (verified) TTA negative student review on TTR. When we said that we wouldn’t, Thomas began pressuring TTR for a face-to-face video call. TTR politely declined the request.
5. In March of this year, an individual left a review for TTA on TTR. The review was flagged for containing commercial content, and we soon discovered that the individual works for The TEFL Academy as one of their ‘Brand Ambassadors’ – earning 20% of all TTA courses purchased through their website. When we took a look at their website, we saw a website set up to sell TTA courses and a website full of exaggerated promises and misleading facts – such as the claim that teachers can earn $100 per hour teaching English online, and the claim that teachers don’t need a college degree to teach in South Korea. This Brand Ambassador has since branched out – reviewing TEFL programs that they have zero first-hand knowledge or experience of and earning a 20% affiliate’s fee on each referral in the process.
6. In response to our refusal to publish the aforementioned reviews, TTA decided to attack TTR. They have done this in two different ways:

1. Through Black Hat SEO. As a direct result of our refusal to publish the aforementioned reviews, TTR has been receiving a large number of spam emails from x-rated websites. We know that this is because of TTA because we began receiving these emails exactly from the time just after we exposed their Brand Ambassador for submitting commercial content to TTR.
2. TTA has begun spreading the lie, via one of their Brand Ambassador’s websites – the Brand Ambassador whose review was flagged for commercial content – that TTR is run by TEFL Online Pro. This is a blatant lie and is one more inaccuracy on their commercial website. With regards to this second point:

Ian Leahy from ESLinsider was the person who first started spreading the lie that TTR is run by TEFL Online Pro. ESLinsider has also claimed that TTR is run by OISE University of Toronto.

Ian is notorious within the TEFL world for spamming the internet with his conspiracy theories. Pick any Online TEFL program – Ian will have written some trash about it in the past.

This is likely the reason why Ian Leahy and his ESLinsider TEFL program have been banned from Facebook.

Ian Leahy from ESLinsider is also famous in the TEFL world for his scams and deception. Just Google ‘ESLinsider Scams Asia’ and you will discover a treasure trove of complaints and warnings.

This, btw, is the same (Ian Leahy) ESLinsider that has been exposed for making illegal purchases with the credit card details of some of his clients and being indirectly responsible for the imprisonment of Western teachers in China.

You can read all about Ian Leahy’s ESLinsider well-documented scam here: https://trustedteflreviews.com/2020/02/03/eslinsider-reviews-scam/

It just makes us feel so frustrated when TEFL programs behave this way – spreading false rumors about TTR online – because we originally established TTR to be a genuine source of trusted TEFL reviews. Some TEFL programs are so used to being able to manipulate the review websites, where they have affiliate marketing agreements, that they don’t seem to know how to behave when they are faced with an authentic review website.

TTR has noticed a pattern in behavior: A TEFL program asks for a (verified) negative review to be deleted from TTR, TTR refuses to delete the review, and the TEFL program responds with attempts at reducing the credibility of TRR – thereby, hoping to reduce the credibility of the negative review.

A few TEFL programs have chosen this path: ESLinsider, Henry Harvin Education, ITTT TEFL, MyTEFL, TEFL Fullcircle, The TEFL Academy, World TESOL Academy.

TEFL Online Pro seems to be the favored target of these attacks, given that TEFL Online Pro is an award-winning program on TTR. OISE University of Toronto TEFL, CIEE TEFL, and Maximo Nivel TEFL have also been the targets of similar claims. What do all these programs have in common? They are the highest-rated Online TEFL TESOL programs on TTR.

It is rather coincidental that when some Online TEFL programs receive negative reviews on TTR, they claim that the site is biased against them. And it is rather coincidental that the top-rated Online TEFL programs are the ones that are claimed to be the owners of TTR.

TTR is an independently run Online TEFL/TESOL reviews website. We are not affiliated, in any way, with any of the Online TEFL/TESOL certification programs listed on this site.

If an Online TEFL/TESOL certification program has a high rating on TTR, it means that they are doing something right when it comes to the product it offers and how it treats its customers.

If an Online TEFL/TESOL certification program has a low rating on TTR, it means that they are doing something wrong when it comes to the product it offers and how it treats its customers.

The TEFL Academy Certification Review Part II: False Claims Regarding Accreditation and the Recognition of The TEFL Academy Courses.

TTA TEFL boldly claims that their Level 5 TEFL courses are Ofqual and TQUK accredited. They also claim that they are ‘Accreditation Partners’ with QUALIFI, DEAC, and AQC.

QUALIFI, DEAC, and AQC are organizations that simply confirm that a course meets certain criteria, whereby the student can be assured that they are receiving the education that is advertised by the course provider, i.e. they check if what TTA claims they are teaching in their courses is what TTA is providing to their customers. So whilst TTA claims that they are accredited by these organizations, they are not. At most, they should state that they are loosely regulated by them.

TTA also claims, on the TTA school website, that TTA is accredited by Ofqual and TQUK, and that a ‘Level 5’ TEFL certificate is the same as taking the 4-week, in-class CELTA certification course.

Ofqual and TQUK are often (incorrectly) claimed to accredit Online TEFL programs offering a ‘Level 5’ certificate. Some Level 5 programs even go as far as to claim that the Level 5 TEFL certificate is the same as the CELTA certificate. ‘Level 5’ refers to one of the levels on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In other words, it’s a United Kingdom qualification that means very little to anyone outside of the UK. Furthermore, a qualification assessed at Level 5 doesn’t mean that it is “equivalent to the CELTA qualification”. Instead, it means that the level of education, knowledge, and skills required to complete the course is the same as that required to complete the CELTA, i.e., to be over 18, and to have a level of English and education that is equivalent to the average UK high school graduate.

Ofqual and TQUK are regulatory bodies, not accreditation bodies.

A TEFL program can be regulated by Ofqual and be accredited or fully accredited by an external accreditation body, but this is not always the case.

Several Ofqual-regulated TEFL programs blatantly lie to their customers by claiming that they are Ofqual accredited, or lie and claim that they are Ofqual regulated and fully accredited by another body that only regulates courses.

The TEFL Academy is a good example of this.

The TEFL Academy – https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-academy/ – claims to be accredited by Ofqual, QUALIFI, and DEAC.

All three of these bodies are regulatory, not accreditation bodies. The TEFL Academy is neither accredited nor fully accredited. They are Unaccredited.

Ofqual and TQUK-regulated courses should provide you with a high level of TEFL training (although this is by no means guaranteed) but Ofqual and TQUK are by no means of the stretch of the imagination accreditation bodies.

The TEFL Academy, though, carries out its business practices in such a shady manner that we can see that they fail to follow the most basic of the strict guidelines that you would expect an Ofqual-regulated course should follow.

More information on Online TEFL/TESOL accreditation can be found in The Accreditation Guide: https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-accreditation-guide/

Part III: Affiliate links/Brand Ambassadors.

Since the arrival of Thomas Gibbons, TTA has aggressively adopted the affiliate’s marketing model.

Like some other Online TEFL programs, such as MyTEFL, TTA also uses ShareASale to gain an advantage in the market.

If you Google search ‘The TEFL Academy reviews’ you will find unverified reviews on the reviews websites that we have already mentioned at the beginning of this article, and you will also find websites that have been created solely to sell TEFL courses through affiliate marketing.

There are two types of TTA affiliate marketing websites:

1. A travel blogger writes articles about many different TEFL course providers and agrees to also write an article about TTA. This person has never been a TTA customer and, therefore, knows nothing about the TTA customer experience. This person writes an article about TTA, and included in the article is a promo code – where the reader can get a TTA course discount when they use the promo code at checkout. The blog owner receives a commission on each sale when their promo code is used.
2. A TTA Brand Ambassador – a sales rep for TTA – creates a website in the guise of someone wanting to help people with useful teaching tips and other TEFL/Teaching-related information. They begin reviewing other TEFL programs and also some online teaching platforms. The sole purpose of the website is to get people to click on a link, where the ‘Brand Ambassador’ receives a “small commission” for recommending TTA courses. This small commission is 20% of the sale. This means that if you pay €448 for your TEFL Academy course, you are paying The TEFL Academy €358 and you are paying the Brand Ambassador a finder’s fee of €90.

The big problem with people writing about a product that they may or may not have taken when they are motivated by the money that they could be receiving from what they have written is that they tend to exaggerate what the product or service can do for you. We have witnessed this with posts and websites created for TTA courses – unrealistic claims, and outright lies, about the results of taking a TTA certification course.

TTA’s Brand Ambassadors have two roles:

1. Sell TTA courses through affiliate links and receive a 20% commission on every sale.
2. Write negative things about the TTA competition, and in doing so strengthen the brand awareness of TTA courses and earn a 20% commission if someone believes what has been written and decides to buy a TTA course through the Brand Ambassador’s website. The Brand Ambassador knows that by writing a critical post about a TTA competitor, it will show up in search results for that competitor. And TTA helps the post climb to the top of the search results by asking all of their affiliate partners to link to that particular post in their travel blogs. This is what is known as ‘link farming’. And this last point now leads us to the final part of this article – the part where we dish out some karmic justice.

Trusted TEFL Reviews recently published a TEFL Affiliate Marketing Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2022/02/07/tefl-affiliate-marketing-scam/

Part IV: The TEFL Academy vs. TEFL Online Pro.

Since The TEFL Academy insists on carrying out a prolonged attack on Trusted TEFL Reviews – claiming that we are owned by TEFL Online Pro – we thought it only fair to dish out a bit of karmic justice and briefly compare TTA with the TEFL program competitor whom they are currently spreading false information about online.

Having extensively looked through both The TEFL Academy and TEFL Online Pro school websites, we can conclude that:

1. Both programs offer identical courses in terms of what is included in each course syllabus. This means that the information taught in TTA’s ‘Level 5’ 168-hour course is equal to the information taught in TEFL Online Pro’s 120-hour TEFL/TESOL course.
2. Both programs appear to offer identical support services.
3. The TEFL Academy is ‘Unaccredited/Regulated’ and TEFL Online Pro is ‘Fully Accredited, and internationally recognized’.
4. TEFL Online Pro has won the Teachers’ Choice Award seven years in a row – 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |2024 | 2025.
5. The TEFL Academy relies on affiliate marketing to win new customers. TEFL Online Pro doesn’t use affiliate marketing.
6. TEFL Online Pro is a more affordable option than The TEFL Academy.

If we had to choose between The TEFL Academy and TEFL Online Pro, we would choose to take our international TEFL/TESOL certification course with teflonlinepro.com.

Visit the TEFL Online Pro school website

TEFL Online Pro reviews on Facebook

Read TEFL Online Pro verified trusted TEFL reviews

Part V: The TEFL Academy and it’s close business comptitors

You can tell a lot about a person by the friends they have.

The TEFL Academy acts more like a cartel than a professional online TEFL certification program.

It’s sicarios are its affiliste marketers; two of which are Caitriona McTiernan and Megan Boroccoli.

This ‘The TEFL Academy Certification Review’ article was brought to you by Mia Williams at Trusted TEFL Reviews.

Related article: https://trustedteflreviews.com/2021/03/30/6-tefl-red-flags/

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Accreditation Watchdog: The TEFL Academy vs. TEFL Online Pro, submitted by The Trusted TEFL Reviews TEFL Watchdog.

Yesterday afternoon, The TEFL Watchdog decided to contact, via telephone, both The TEFL Academy and TEFL Online Pro, to see how their (virtual) face-to-face customer service support measures up against the scrutiny of some basic questioning.

We took the role of prospective students, interested in what each course has to offer.

We chose these two particular TEFL/TESOL course providers because one is the highest-rated program on Trusted TEFL Reviews, and the other is notorious for misleading its customers with regard to false accreditation claims and is notorious for launching clandestine attacks on its TEFL TESOL business competitors.

The former: teflonlinepro.com

The latter: theteflacademy.com

1. TEFL Online Pro.
In under a minute, The TEFL Watchdog was connected with a TEFL Online Pro office staff member – willing and able to answer any questions that we had. At the end of our conversation, they asked us if we had any further questions for them. The entire conversation was polite, knowledgeable, and professional.

2. The TEFL Academy.
After waiting for more than 5 minutes, we were finally connected to a TEFL Academy staff member that seemed like it was their first day on the job. When they were unable to answer any of our questions – the exact same questions that we put to TEFL Online Pro – they then redirected our phone call to a second TEFL Academy staff member, that also came across as clueless. Both staff members apologized for not being able to sufficiently answer our basic questions – basic questions that any prospective TEFL student would consider rudimentary.

One of our questions asked was, “Are your courses accredited?”

TEFL Online Pro answered in the affirmative.

The TEFL Academy also answered in the affirmative but provided us with false information.

The TEFL Academy stated that its courses are accredited by Ofqual and TQUK. They also mentioned a few other organizations which apparently accredit them. When The TEFL Watchdog noted that the organizations quoted are only regulatory bodies and not accreditation bodies, the second TEFL Academy staff member put the phone down on us!

Conclusion:

1. In the event that something goes wrong with your TEFL/TESOL course, or if you just need some support, our money would be on TEFL Online Pro to fix the issue and/or find a solution. If you are wanting to take a fully accredited and internationally recognized TEFL/TESOL certification course program, TEFL Online Pro provides this service.

2. In the event that something goes wrong with your TEFL/TESOL course, or if you just need some support, our money would not be on The TEFL Academy to fix the issue and/or find a solution. If you are wanting to take a fully accredited and internationally recognized TEFL/TESOL certification course program, The TEFL Academy does not provide this service. If you ever needed to contact The TEFL Academy directly, via telephone, our first-hand impression is that you will likely be lied to and likely locked in a never-ending telephone loop – passed from one uninformed staff member to another.

Final assessment:

TEFL Online Pro: 9/10

The TEFL Academy: 3/10

TEFL Online Pro is a Fully Accredited and internationally recognized TEFL TESOL course provider – accredited by ACTEFLC – Accreditation Council for Teaching English as a Foreign Language Courses: https://www.acteflc.com/

TEFL Online Pro clearly and transparently note this on their school website:
https://teflonlinepro.com/accreditation/

The TEFL Academy claim that they are accredited by a bunch of regulatory bodies, but we couldn’t find any examples of actual accreditation.

Final thoughts?

TEFL Online Pro came over as approachable and professional.

The TEFL Academy came over as evasive and disorganized.

TEFL Online Pro answered all our questions in a polite and detailed manner.

The TEFL Academy dodged questions and ultimately put the phone down on us.

Perhaps this explains why TEFL Online Pro is the highest-rated TEFL TESOL certification course program, and why The TEFL Academy is the 55th lowest-rated TEFL TESOL certification course program:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-course-directory/

More TEFL TESOL program comparisons will appear sporadically throughout the remainder of 2025.

Read more about TEFL TESOL accreditation in the TEFL Accreditation Guide, and in TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-accreditation-guide/

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2021/03/28/tefl-tesol-accreditation-101/

Accreditation Watchdog UPDATE: 18th May 2021.

Trusted TEFL Reviews (again) tried reaching The TEFL Academy, to ask basic questions which TEFL Academy students would likely need to ask, should things go south with their TEFL Academy course.

Again, after waiting on hold for approx. five minutes, we were put through to a company sales rep, that failed to answer any of our questions.

When we persisted in our questioning, we were duly informed that The TEFL Academy would no longer be answering our questions.

All we asked, was which accreditation body accredits the TEFL Academy courses.

When we did eventually get through to somebody who was willing to answer our question, the young gentleman on The TEFL Academy switchboard relayed to us that The TEFL Academy is accredited by Ofqual.

When we confirmed for this particular gentleman that OfQual is a regulatory body and not an accreditation body, he decided to put the phone down on us.

It was a straightforward question, responded with a less than straightforward response.

Extremely shady behavior.

Try it for yourselves: contact The TEFL Academy’s main customer line (+353 1554 62 27) and see how you feel about their customer service experience. Oh, and please ask them about their accreditation. They begin by claiming such and such accreditation, but the moment you question the legitimacy of those accreditation claims, they hang up on you and block your telephone number.

If you are wanting a personal TEFL TESOL course experience, and one that is fully accredited, Trusted TEFL Reviews recommends avoiding The TEFL Academy.

We also (again) contacted TEFL Online Pro – teflonlinepro.com – and they came over as transparent and ready to answer all of our asked accreditation questions.

Why is this so?

theteflacademy.com is regionally accredited (within Ireland and the UK) but is not fully accredited; nor internationally recognized.

teflonlinepro.com is Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Accreditation Watchdog, in association with The TEFL Watchdog

Related article: https://trustedteflreviews.com/2021/03/30/6-tefl-red-flags/

Essential TEFL Tip!

Are you worried about being scammed? TEFL course scams are becoming more sophisticated.

Protect yourself from TEFL scams.

We strongly recommend choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs in 2026:

The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026

By choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Certification Course Programs, you are guaranteed not to be scammed.

Choose a fully accredited and internationally recognized online TEFL/TESOL certification course that you can use for all online and abroad teaching English jobs.

Mia Williams – Trusted TEFL Reviews

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tefl online pro review, submitted by Kaylee.

The online (120 hours) course was very well organized. It’s divided into 12 core modules with 2 bonus modules at the end. The bonus modules were on teaching youngsters and teaching business English. It’s a Fully Accredited TEFL & TESOL course, which means the quality level of the content and support was high. Every time I asked a question, I got a reply within minutes or a few hours max.

My online tutor looked after me throughout the course and also helped me with my job search after I completed the course. There was no extra charge for this and it made the transition from course completion to starting a teaching job smooth.

The thing that stood out for me about the course was that there wasn’t one exam at the end. Instead, there were multiple-choice quizzes after each module (they were fun to do) and these helped me remember the content of the modules much better than if I had waited until the end of the course to be tested. Plus, I hate all-or-nothing exams at the end of courses.

I’m teaching online for the time being and that’s going well. The money is good and I’m able to arrange my students so that I don’t have any long periods in the day when I’m waiting from one lesson finishing to the next one starting. This frees up a lot of my time that would otherwise be spent in limbo.

I strongly recommend the 120 hours https://teflonlinepro.com/120-hour-professional/ Fully Accredited TEFL & TESOL course.

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tefl online pro Fully Accredited review, submitted by Lillian B.

I recently completed the TEFL Online Pro Fully Accredited TESOL program and have begun teaching English online.

Would just like to request that Trusted TEFL Reviews could perhaps implement a 10-star-rating option, instead of the 5-star-rating.

I think TEFL Online Pro is deserving of 9/10 and yet I only have the option of rating them out of 5. So, treat this review as a 4.5 star /5 rating for this program (not 4/5).

The customer service has been consistently excellent from start to finish and Paul and Angela were the perfect online tutors.

By this, I mean they answered my emails and picked up the phone every time I had a query.

This impressed me because other companies I’ve worked for or have been a customer of had a window of a week or more before they bothered to get back to their customers. If at all.

When you are taking an online training course, you need someone to get back to you quickly, or else you get stuck in the same place and quickly lose motivation.

It was really simple to purchase the course. I paid online with my card via their secure payments page.

After I paid, I received my login username and password right afterward.

I began the course 5 minutes after I had paid for the course.

There wasn’t any waiting around for someone to manually input my details into a system and manually organize access to the course.

When I completed the course, I was sent my Fully Accredited international TEFL/TESOL certificate.

It looks very professional, is printed on high-quality (heavy) certification paper, has its unique identification number, and doesn’t mention anywhere that the course was taken online. I’ll be able to use it anywhere in the world because TEFL Online Pro certificates can be legalized and authenticated for all teaching English jobs.

I chose TEFL Online Pro partly for the reason that their certificates are so well-known internationally.

I feel comfortable applying for jobs with the certificate.

I’ve watched all of their graduate videos and read all their reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

It is a no-brainer to take a course with this program.

It’s Fully Accredited, has awesome student support, and the certificate will be accepted for teaching jobs online and overseas.

All in all, fantastic value for money if you ask me.

The only one niggle from me was that I have zero interest in teaching kids.

You are expected to complete the extra module on this and also on teaching Business English (which I’m also not interested in teaching anytime soon.)

I would have preferred to opt out of this module but it wasn’t possible to.

I guess I may change my mind in the future about teaching kids and suits so maybe I can use it anyway later on down the road.

The TEFL Online Pro Fully Accredited course delivers and I have already recommended the course to some of my friends who are looking for a change in their lives.

I really can’t wait to get started teaching overseas!!!

Paul has already said he will help me with this process.

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tefl online pro review, submitted by Randall.

tefl online pro must be one of the best, if not the best companies to take your TEFL certification course through. I chose this company because of its excellent reviews across various online platforms. Trusted TEFL Reviews included. Initially, I confess I was concerned that the low price of the course might be an indication of quality but based on all the positive reviews I decided to give it a try. I can report back that all the positive reviews represent the true course experience with tefl online pro. I have been extremely impressed every stage of the way and the communication and support have been excellent. I would highly recommend this provider and I look forward to continuing my professional development with them.

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TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101

TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101.

This article has been updated on December 21, 2025.

TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101.

(A list of institutions providing Online TEFL programs ‘Fully Accredited’ status appears towards the bottom of this article.)

This is quite a long article. It is an honest, factual, serious look at the question of Online TEFL/TESOL/TESL accreditation.

If you are researching which Online TEFL/TESOL/TESL course to take, this article should be essential reading for you.

For sake of convenience, and to avoid repetition, we will use the generic term ‘TEFL’ instead of mentioning ‘TEFL/TESOL/TESL’ each time these terms require a mention. These terms do have their differences in meaning, but for all intents and purposes, they essentially refer to the same type of training and this is why most teacher-training programs advertise their courses with one or more of these acronyms listed.

One of the most common misconceptions about Online TEFL courses, and one of the main areas that permit room for the peddling of misinformation, is the heated topic of accreditation.

Over the past few years, Online TEFL programs have discovered that it is much easier to sell their courses if they claim that their courses are accredited.

The result of this ‘accreditation fever’ has been the mushrooming creation of “accreditation bodies” that have been created by savvy business people with little or no background in education.

Some TEFL schools have also jumped on the bandwagon; creating fictitious accreditation websites, in order to make their courses seem more credible – all the while deceiving their customers and perpetuating the ‘accreditationspiracy’.

In addition to the above, some Online TEFL programs try to convince consumers that their programs are more credible because they are “accredited and regulated” by AQC, Ofqual, QUALIFI. These are not accreditation bodies, they are regulatory bodies. There is, a major difference, and the “Level 5” TEFL course brand (which was only recently created) is just another marketing gimmick to try to convince the consumer that you should take their Online TEFL program.

The truth of the matter is that there isn’t one international accreditation body for Online TEFL courses.

Therefore, we begin this article with the plain unadorned fact that the Online TEFL industry is completely unregulated, and the term ‘accredited’, when applied to Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs, is purely a marketing gimmick. This, in turn, has created a snowball effect, whereby most people who are looking to take an Online TEFL course now place accreditation status high on their tick box list that a TEFL program must include.

Some government visa agencies, and some language schools, have also bought into the accreditation fallacy; stipulating that their teachers must hold an accredited TEFL certificate if they want to work for them and if they want to be able to legally teach in their country.

I have been teaching for over ten years now, and I have not once been asked whether my TEFL certificate is accredited or not. I have also never been asked whether my TEFL certification was taken online or in-person. I live and work in Austria, where the authorities are sticklers for correct documentation.

So if accreditation means relatively very little, is it completely worthless?

And which accreditation bodies are more trustworthy than others?

Accreditation is important when it provides the customer with an extra layer of consumer protection.

Accreditation can be divided into four main camps:

1. An Online TEFL program simply chooses not to capitulate to the pressure of being accredited and remains an Unaccredited provider.
2. An Online TEFL program creates an accreditation website itself, for the sole purpose of convincing consumers that they are a credible institution. This is usually a short-term fix because no amount of convincing can hide a subpar product and poor customer service. Trusted TEFL Reviews classes these Online TEFL programs ‘Unaccredited‘ and such programs should be avoided. They should be avoided because the training will be poor, you will have very little (if any) consumer rights, and you could become a victim of fraud.
3. An Online TEFL program capitulates to the pressure of being accredited and pays an annual fee to an accreditation body, and in return, they can claim that they are an accredited Online TEFL program. The accreditation body may, or may not, follow through on their promises that they maintain high levels of accountability regarding the Online TEFL programs that they accredit. Trusted TEFL Reviews classes these Online TEFL programs ‘Accredited‘ and such programs should be chosen after due diligence is carried out regarding their (verified) customer reviews on trustedteflreviews.com.
4. An Online TEFL program capitulates to the pressure of being accredited and pays an annual fee to an accreditation body, and in return, they can claim that they are an accredited Online TEFL program. The accreditation body ensures high standards of culpability and follows through on their promises that they maintain high levels of accountability regarding the Online TEFL programs that they accredit. Trusted TEFL Reviews classes these Online TEFL programs ‘Fully Accredited‘ and such programs tend anyway to receive consistently positive student feedback. This is not always the rule, though, so always check the (verified) customer reviews on trustedteflreviews.com.

Institutions providing Online TEFL programs Fully Accredited status include:

ACCET – Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training | https://accet.org/

ACTEFLC – Accreditation Council for Teaching English as a Foreign Language Courses | https://www.acteflc.com/

OISE – University of the Toronto Faculty of Education | https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/

TESL Canada | https://tesl.ca/

University of Cambridge’s English Language Assessment | https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/

Online TEFL courses that are directly accredited by a Ministry of Education also enjoy Fully Accredited status.

The following Online TEFL/TESOL programs (in alphabetical order) are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized:

Bridge TEFL | https://bridge.edu/tefl/ | Bridge TEFL verified trusted TEFL reviews.

CIEE TEFL | https://www.ciee.org/ | CIEE TEFL verified trusted TEFL reviews.

Maximo Nivel TEFL | https://maximonivel.com/ | Maximo Nivel verified trusted TEFL reviews.

ontesol | https://ontesol.com/ | ontesol verified trusted TEFL reviews.

OISE University of Toronto TEFL | https://teflonline.teachaway.com/ | OISE TEFL verified trusted TEFL reviews.

Oxford Seminars | https://www.oxfordseminars.com/ | Oxford Seminars verified trusted TEFL reviews.

TEFL Iberia | https://tefl-iberia.com/ | TEFL Iberia verified trusted TEFL reviews.

TEFL Online Pro (Teachers’ Choice Award winner, 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025) | https://teflonlinepro.com/ | TEFL Online Pro verified trusted TEFL reviews.

TEFL/TESOL online programs that win the Teachers’ Choice Award are granted the ability to enjoy a whole year’s free exposure on Trusted TEFL Reviews, where they may post, for example, any current course discounts or promotions on the Trusted TEFL Reviews website.

You can check to see whether an Online TEFL/TESOL Program is Unaccredited, Accredited, or Fully Accredited by clicking on their category in the sidebar. The mention of which accreditation status they hold is clearly stated at the top of their category page, above the program’s review(s).

Unaccredited courses are identified with the statement, ‘Is [Online TEFL Program] accredited? No.‘

Accredited courses are identified with the statement, ‘Is [Online TEFL Program] accredited? Yes. The certification awarded is Accredited.’

Fully Accredited courses are identified with the statement, ‘Is [Online TEFL Program] accredited? Yes. The certification awarded is Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.‘

If you are having difficulties locating a program’s category page, you can easily locate it by clicking on their live link in the TEFL Course Directory: https://trustedteflreviews.com/tefl-course-directory/

Important information about Ofqual and TQUK-regulated courses:

Ofqual and TQUK are often (incorrectly) claimed to accredit Online TEFL programs offering a ‘Level 5’ certificate. Some Level 5 programs even go as far as to claim that the Level 5 TEFL certificate is the same as the CELTA certificate. ‘Level 5’ refers to one of the levels on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In other words, it’s a United Kingdom qualification that means very little to anyone outside of the UK. Furthermore, a qualification assessed at Level 5 doesn’t mean that it is “equivalent to the CELTA qualification”. Instead, it means that the level of education, knowledge, and skills required to complete the course is the same as that required to complete the CELTA, i.e., to be over 18, and to have a level of English and education that is equivalent to the average UK high school graduate.

Ofqual and TQUK are regulatory bodies, not accreditation bodies.

Ofqual and TQUK are regulatory bodies, not accreditation bodies.

A TEFL program can be regulated by Ofqual and be accredited or fully accredited by an external accreditation body, but this is not always the case.

A number of Ofqual-regulated TEFL programs blatantly lie to their customers by claiming that they are Ofqual accredited, or lie and claim that they are Ofqual regulated and fully accredited by another body that only regulates courses.

Ofqual and TQUK-regulated courses should provide you with a high level of TEFL training (although this is by no means guaranteed) but Ofqual and TQUK are by no means of the stretch of the imagination accreditation bodies.

One final point is that the accreditation industry in itself is highly competitive.

An argument that we often see is that a certain accreditation body should be taken more seriously than another simply because they have been in operation for longer.
This is absolute hogwash.
It doesn’t matter if an accreditation body has been in operation for one month or ten years.
What matters is whether the main accreditation members of the body are master’s-degree educated (in the field of Education), have years of credible experience in the field of TEFL and whether the accreditation body honors the rights of consumers.
Too many self-proclaimed “established” accreditation bodies have been set up by private individuals, with no university education and little to no experience in TEFL, and with just one mission: to make money and to hell with standards.

And our last (important) point:

When you apply for an English teacher job, online or abroad, IF your employer does ask whether your certificate is accredited, they sure as hell won’t ask WHICH company accredited your certificate.

What DOES matter, and what is ESSENTIAL, is that the Online TEFL course that you took actually taught you how to teach English.

Help with finding teaching work after the course should also be a priority, but NEVER pay any company to help find you a job. And NEVER accept a job placement agreement. There is so much work available and an Online TEFL program that will help you find work, as a free service when you pay for the course, is the preferential route.

Yes, you can save your money and buy a 120-Hour Online TEFL course for under $100 US, and you can enjoy the short-term-lived, feel-good emotion that you “got TEFL certified”, but the real proof of the pudding comes when you are sat in front of an experienced interviewer or stood in front of an actual class of students, and when you will very quickly realize that the course you completed in under a day has, in no way, whatsoever, prepared you for any of this. And then, inevitably, you won’t hear back from the school and you will, inevitably, have to begin a new search for another Online TEFL course to take – one that will properly prepare you for the job you want to train for.

Therefore, in conclusion to this TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101 article, always aim for a fully accredited Online TEFL program.

Quality 120-Hour Online TEFL courses begin from around $150 US. Pay anything less and you will be selling yourself and your future students short.

This ‘TEFL TESOL Accreditation 101’ article was written by Mia Williams, co-owner of Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) | Best Featured TEFL Articles

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tefl online pro review, submitted by Ashley.

I have just finished my 120-hour study course in TEFL, and the journey of learning was just awesome. I studied online using my phone whenever I had time and was able to finish the course in two weeks. Considering some TEFL courses cost almost $1,000, I was glad to find this fully accredited one for only $200. The content of the program was satisfying as it was right on the spot and I discovered so much more than expected about different teaching and learning styles/methods. I received my digital certificate as soon as I finished the course, which was also awesome. The course helped me take the first step into teaching and has helped in my career boost. One of the common complaints I read about online TEFL courses, in general, is that they don’t live up to the mark and fail to properly train you for real-life teaching. This course was the exact opposite. I was confident in my job interviews because I knew the subject material and all of the major teaching techniques, and I felt eager to start teaching and felt properly prepared for my first online classes. To top it all off, I know that I can teach English in any country in the world because the certificate is fully accredited. That’s incredible value for a $200 investment.

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tefl online pro review, submitted by Jocelyn Holroyd.

One of the conclusions I reached, after researching which TEFL course to take, was that there are two types of TEFL courses. Some are a quick short-term fix, and a select few will train you to be a proficient English teacher. This program belongs to the latter group.

Pros:

1. They reply to you very quickly. I sent emails to the school administration, private messages to my tutor, and requested a couple of callbacks so I could speak to someone in person. I never had to wait more than 12 hours for a response. When I read that some other programs take days (or even weeks) to get back to their students, I consider the TEFL Online Pro customer service superb.
2. It was easy to enroll. I enrolled at 4:28 pm and by 4:30 pm I had received my course login details and a receipt for my purchase. Within 30 minutes of this, I received a welcome email from the administration. It was personally addressed to me.
3. I paid through PayPal, but they also accept credit and debit card payments. I have a long history with PayPal and know that if a company has been using them for years as their preferred payment method, PayPal has faith and trust in that company. So, I knew that I wasn’t going to get scammed and that my consumer rights would be protected. Plus, the program is accredited, so that is one more layer of consumer confidence.
4. The course is divided into 12 easy-to-digest, user-friendly study modules. The course starts off on an easy level and progresses in difficulty as you continue onto each new module. After each one, there is a multiple-choice quiz with 10 questions to answer. As well as the 12 modules, there were two bonus modules: Teaching Young Learners and Teaching Business English. These were included in the course for free.
5. There are also two lesson planning assignments (Modules 6 and 11) that are mandatory to complete. These turned out to be crucial in my understanding of how to structure a lesson plan, and I understood the importance of the activities they teach you in the course because these served as fun elements of my lesson plans. The feedback I got back on both lesson plans was constructive and included suggestions on how I could improve them further. Being able to create effective lesson plans should be at the top of any teacher’s To-Do list, and having expert help with this from my tutor was priceless.
6. I received the PDF version of my certificate on the day I completed the course, together with a cool-looking letter of recommendation, and the hardcopy certificate was delivered to me a week later. It was posted from an address in California.
7. The school administration helped me with my resume. They stripped it down to the bone for me and then offered their suggestion of how it should look and which content should be included. I just copied their suggestion because I couldn’t have bettered it myself. They are the experts, and I trust their judgment.
8. I also asked for their help to find a job and they sent me a list of schools currently hiring teachers for online teaching positions. With my resume, certificate, and letter of recommendation ready, it didn’t take long for me to begin receiving job offers. I teach English online in two schools. One pays me US$72 for a 60-minute class, while the other pays US$61 for a 45-minute class. I am responsible for paying my taxes, so I put aside 15% of my income to cover taxes.
9. Another major positive of going through this program is that they also have connections with language schools worldwide, so if I ever want to teach anywhere abroad I know that I can.

Cons:

1. I found it unnecessarily complicated to access my course for the first time. You enter your username and password on the teflonlinepro.com website LOGIN button. This then takes you to your course homepage, but I had to message my tutor to work out how exactly to access the first module. It turned out that I just needed to click on the course title, but this wasn’t made clear and I think they could make it clearer how to get to module 1. Once you start the first module everything is super easy to navigate. It was just the first login that confused me.
2. The first module is very underwhelming. It does cover some interesting points, but it doesn’t represent the quality of the other 11 modules and the two bonus units. I understand that they probably make the first module super easy so students can gently ease themselves into the course, but I would have liked a more intense start.

I paid US$249 for the Professional 120-hour TEFL/TESOL course with TEFL Online Pro. The price is usually US$299, but I enrolled with the US$50 discount offer they were running at the time. The level of quality and support I received, combined with what the certification has enabled me to accomplish in my professional life, makes this course, in my opinion, absolutely worth it. I seriously doubt there are any better programs at this price point.

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