ITTT review, submitted by Matt.

I purchased the 120-Hour online TEFL course and then a week later went to study it and it was gone! I have spent hours trying to reach someone. Finally was able to “create a ticket” and gave them screen shot which proved I had paid 249.00 plus gave them the date of the purchase and other information they asked for and then got an email that because I did not respond, the issue is considered resolved. Absolutely no satisfaction and yes, terrible customer service!

Read more ITTT reviews

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The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses

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All 57 international Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs currently listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews are ranked based on verified customer reviews.

Customers rate programs using the star-rating system:

Online TEFL/TESOL courses can be either ‘Unaccredited’, ‘Accredited’, or ‘Fully Accredited’.

‘Fully Accredited’ is the highest form of accreditation. A TEFL/TESOL certificate from a fully accredited program equates to the worldwide recognition of the certification and access to the best-paid teaching jobs.

A TEFL/TESOL certificate from an ‘Accredited’ program won’t necessarily be internationally recognized and will place you at a significant disadvantage when applying for teaching English jobs when you are up against applicants with fully accredited certificates.

‘Unaccredited’ TEFL/TESOL certificates are sometimes accepted by employers, but your employment options are dramatically reduced and the schools that will employ you tend to have poor reputations.

TEFL/TESOL Programs | 2026 | Ranked Best To Worst

1. tefl online pro | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

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

Teachers’ Choice Award | TEFL Online Pro has won the prestigious Teachers’ Choice Award for the past seven consecutive years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The winner of the Teachers’ Choice Award is granted a whole year’s free exposure on Trusted TEFL Reviews, where they may post, for example, any current Course Discounts or Promotions.

2. OISE University of Toronto TEFL | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

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

3. CIEE TEFL | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

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

4. Maximo Nivel TEFL | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

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

5. Vantage TEFL Certification | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/vantage-tefl-certification/

6. ICAL TEFL | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ical-tefl/

7. The TEFL Institute of Ireland | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-institute-of-ireland/

8. Global English | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/global-english/

9. INTESOL Worldwide | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/intesol-worldwide/

10. Bridge TEFL | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/bridge-tefl/

11. International TEFL Academy | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/international-tefl-academy/

12. The TEFL Org | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-org-uk/

13. ITTO | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/itto/

14. Let’s TEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/lets-tefl/

15. TEFL Educator/TEFL Boot Camp | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-educator-tefl-boot-camp/

16. Oxford Seminars | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/oxford-seminars/

17. Premier TEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/premier-tefl/

18. i-to-i TEFL/Love TEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/i-to-i-tefl/

19. TEFL Training College | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-training-college/

20. Global Language Training | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/global-language-training/

22. UKtefl | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/uktefl/

23. Teflen | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/teflen/

24. CCELT | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ccelt/

25. Enjoy TEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/enjoy-tefl/

26. Teacher Link TEFL | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/teacher-link-tefl/

27. TEFL Fullcircle | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-fullcircle/

28. UNI-Prep | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/uni-prep/

29. TEFL Iberia | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-iberia/

30. TEFL Express | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-express/

31. TEFL Graduate | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-graduate/

32. The Course Mix | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-course-mix/

33. TEFL Trainer | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-trainer/

34. ontesol | Fully Accredited and internationally recognized.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ontesol/

35. The Asian College of Teachers (ACT) | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-asian-college-of-teachers-act/

36. International Open Academy | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/international-open-academy/

37. Learn TEFL | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/learn-tefl/

38. TESOL Training International Online | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tesol-training-international-online/

39. Footprints Recruiting | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/footprints-recruiting/

40. Henry Harvin Education | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/henry-harvin-education/

41. Anaheim University TESOL | Fully Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/anaheim-university/

42. Dux TEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/dux-tefl/

43. Greenheart Travel TEFL | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/greenheart-travel-tefl/

45. Teach TEFL South Africa | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/teach-tefl-south-africa/

46. TEFL Heaven | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-heaven/

47. TEFL Hero | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-hero/

48. TEFL Institute London | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-institute-london/

49. TEFL Lemon | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-lemon/

50. TEFL UK | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-uk/

51. TEFL Universal | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-universal/

52. World TESOL Academy | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/world-tesol-academy/

53. ITTT | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ittt/

54. MyTEFL | Accredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/mytefl-blacklisted-warning/

55. ESLinsider TEFL | Unaccredited.

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/eslinsider-tefl/

56. ITO | Unaccredited

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ito/

57 . The TEFL Academy | Unaccredited

Verified Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-academy/

Please refer to these Trusted TEFL Reviews articles for further clarification regarding TEFL accreditation:

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

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2022/01/05/best-tefl-accreditation/

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.
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✓ Our moderators read all reviews to verify quality and helpfulness.

Check where your Online TEFL/TESOL certification course program ranks:

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

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The post Online TEFL/TESOL Certification Course Program Rankings for 2026 appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

ITTT review, submitted by Casey.

This is my honest ITTT TEFL review.

1. The course is OK. It is a text-based course, which means that you read a lot of materials and then complete multiple-choice quizzes. I know that some people have an issue with text-heavy courses. I didn’t mind so much. Videos can be a valuable addition when they are done right, but when they are of poor quality or just included for the sake of being included then I think they can be an unnecessary distraction. Besides, there is YouTube if you need to cross-reference any materials.
2. I paid the extra $$$ for a personal tutor, who touched base with me at the beginning of the course. I never heard back from her, despite requesting help along the way. I wouldn’t recommend paying for the tutor support. It is a complete waste of money.
3. When I had completed the course and tied up all the ends, I was a bit shocked that I also had to fork out $$$ for the certificate. It took a while for the delivery. This is because it was sent from Thailand and the international post can be slow sometimes. I did receive a tracking number though and it was fun tracking its movement from east to west.
4. After I’d paid for the certificate and then received it, I never heard back from ITTT TEFL again. They just ghosted me. I could have done with getting some post-course job placement help.
5. The good news is that I have a job now. I’m teaching English online and so far so good. I wasn’t completely dissatisfied with the whole ITTT TEFL training experience, but some of it did suck and I expected more from ITTT TEFL.

Read more ITTT reviews

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

TEFL Accreditation Guide | 6 TEFL Red Flags | TTR Home | TEFL Course Special Offers

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ITTT review, submitted by A.P.

At first thought, this was a good course but the extra costs incurred because of a course extension and hard copy certificate turned this into being much more expensive than I had originally expected. It did feel like I was just another cash cow for them. But the actual course was nicely designed and that is why I give it three stars.

Read more ITTT reviews

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 article begins under the two following advertising banners.

Banner #1 is for a limited-time discount from TEFL Online Pro – winner of the 2025 Teachers’ Choice Award. The winner of the Teachers’ Choice award may, at their discretion, advertise for free on Trusted TEFL Reviews for as long as they are the holder of this prestigious award.

Banner #2 is the current list of the 5 Best online TEFL/TESOL certification courses, based on verified student reviews. If in doubt, choose from one of the 5 Best course programs because they are all internationally recognized and reputable companies.

Both banners represent top-rated online TEFL and TESOL certification course programs.

Online TEFL TESOL course review scams in 2026.

(Updated: December 21, 2025)

This is a must-read article if you are choosing which TEFL course to take and are confused by which ones are legitimate and which ones are scams.

The scams are becoming more and more sophisticated.

To prevent your TEFL dream turning into a TEFL nightmare, we strongly recommend that you read this article in full.

Online TEFL TESOL Scam TEFL programs.

Currently, the more notable scam TEFL companies are ESLinsider, ITTT International TEFL and TESOL Training, MyTEFL, The TEFL Academy, and World TESOL Academy.

1. ESLinsider

ESLinsider (Ian Patrick Leahy) portrays himself as a TEFL whistleblower and he trashes almost every TEFL program online for seemingly altruistic motives, but his endgame is to sell you one TEFL course – his TEFL course. Among a long list of criminal activity, he was recommending TEFL students without college degrees to buy fake ones online. Some people followed his advice and (in China) were arrested, fined, deported. Ian is currently wanted by the Chinese authorities and is essentially on the lamb, living a transient life in the United States. Ian was banned from Facebook for spreading misinformation and disinformation way back in 2017. https://www.eslinsider.com/

2. ITTT International TEFL and TESOL Training

ITTT International TEFL and TESOL Training operates under more than 20 different websites. Each one looks similar, but is different just enough so that you would be forgiven into believing that one website is a different company from another website. This company has a bogus accreditation from a website that spells it as “Accredidation”. Affiliate marketing is their lean and they have one favorite who will say and write anything to get you to make the purchase: Linda Dunsmore. ITTT will take your money, give you access to a subpar course, fail to respond to online tutor requests, and ghost you when it comes time for the advertised “free” job-finding help – unless you pay through the nose for their job placement services, which you are recommended to avoid like the plague.

3. MyTEFL

MyTEFL used to be accredited by OTTSA (a website they created) and are now accredited by a bogus company: International TEFL Accreditation Council (ITEFLAC). Folks, official accreditation company website’s don’t have stock images of business people in office boardrooms. MyTEFL offer affordable TEFL courses, but they make their real money from paid job placement services. Do not pay for this service. If you do, when you receive your weekly or monthly teaching pay, without realizing it at first, MyTEFL will be skimming up to 25% off. And what can you do about it when you have locked yourself into a job contract with a language school through MyTEFL? https://mytefl.com/

4. The TEFL Academy (TTA)

The TEFL Academy (TTA) is a truly corrupt corporate company. They claim to be the “Worlds #1 TEFL Course Provider!” They are not. And, despite their many claims, they are not accredited. The TEFL Academy claims to be accredited by AQC, DEAC, QUALIFI, and even by Ofqual. It is only regulated by Ofqual and QUALIFI, and it also appears that QUALIFI might have been created by the good folks at The TEFL Academy. AQC is a sister website of DEAC, and you can see that The TEFL Academy is not accredited by DEAC because DEAC has a search feature that shows all the companies that it accredits – The TEFL Academy is not listed. As with ITTT, The TEFL Academy pays affiliate marketers to promote its courses. More about this below. https://www.theteflacademy.com/

5. World TESOL Academy

World TESOL Academy is likewise shady as hell. They offer TEFL courses for $38 and this appears to lure in a lot of unsuspecting folk. After you pay, you get bombarded with requests to become one of their affiliate marketers. Students rate the course as “terrible” and a bit like flying with Ryanair, with a smorgasbord of hidden fees and additional costs. World TESOL Academy is accredited by Accreditat and CPD that are pay-for-accreditation companies that are not recognized by any reputable language schools. Another red flag is that they have the Reviews tab disabled on their Facebook page. https://www.worldtesolacademy.com/

How TEFL companies scam you.

Besides the above mentioned scams, there are some complex ways in which some TEFL companies will scam you.

And the sophistication of the scams is intensifying.

TEFL Review Website Bedfellows

Go Abroad, Go Overseas and TEFL Course Review are the three biggest TEFL review websites. They each make their money from charging TEFL companies for a listing on their site – the TEFL companies are their customers – and it is in their best financial interests to have positive reviews about (fill in the blank) TEFL company than to have bad reviews published. This is why a company like The TEFL Academy has a high review score on all three websites – they make certain that negative reviews of them are minimized and they are free to have fake positive reviews appear on all three sites, and on the other review sites where they have a listing. Incidentally, The TEFL Academy has a lot of money at their disposal and frequently sue individuals and companies if they dare to publish something negative about them. Trusted TEFL Reviews published a few negative student reviews of The TEFL Academy and we were warned that if they were not taken down, they would sue us. We simply responded that the reviews will remain published because they were written by students of their program.

Affiliate Marketing

If you see an individual excessively promoting a TEFL program – with or without a coupon code for a discount – it will certainly be an affiliate marketer. Caitriona McTiernan and Megan Broccoli are the two main ones for The TEFL Academy and Linda Dunsmore heads the ITTT affiliate marketing side of the business. A large majority of TEFL programs belong to affiliate marketing companies, paying people who have never taken their courses to promote them online and earn money for themselves in the process. They will say and write absolutely anything (“the course was AMAZING!”) to make the sell, such as promises of earning $100 per hour for teaching English online. No one earns anywhere near to $100 teaching English online.

Trashing A Business Competitor

In the Wild West of online TEFL, anything goes. It’s very common for TEFL companies to trash each other online. They create fake profiles and then write fake complaints and fake reviews – misinformation and disinformation – on complaints websites and Reddit. And TEFL programs with deep pockets, such as The TEFL Academy, have now started to pay people to take a competitor’s course and then slam it online. This is cruel and clever because the person can show that they have a certificate from the TEFL company and can write exactly what the company tells them to write. A recent case involved one of the affiliate marketers from The TEFL Academy – Megan Broccoli – who purchased a TEFL Online Pro course, completed it, claimed after an hour of course completion that she couldn’t use the certificate, and began spreading her message on Reddit and elsewhere that the company is a scam. Something similar also happened to OISE University of Toronto TEFL and CIEE TEFL. CIEE TEFL, OISE University of Toronto TEFL and TEFL Online Pro are among the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL certification courses.

Reddit

When Online TEFL/TESOL courses were gaining traction about 15 years ago, in response to the established in-person TEFL/TESOL course industry, a few of them set up Reddit communities – communities that they used and continue to use to push their agenda. This tends to focus on trashing their competitors and clandestinely promoting their courses. We recommend avoiding Reddit for Online TEFL/TESOL course information because of this, and because of the vast number of TEFL shills active on the site.

Niche subreddits, such as online course communities, are often run by people with a vested interest in promoting certain courses—for which they receive a financial kickback. This often leads them to delete positive comments about any business competitors of the courses from which they receive kickbacks.

The r/TEFL subreddit is well known for this type of behavior—they allow positive comments for their favored TEFL companies but prevent students of some other TEFL programs from posting honest reviews of their course experiences. They even have a Reddit Wiki page that clearly demonstrates the quid pro quo partnership they maintain with certain programs.

Trashing Trusted TEFL Reviews

It must be so frustrating for the many TEFL programs that don’t have the kind of power over Trusted TEFL Reviews that they lord over other TEFL review websites. So what do they do? They spread misinformation and disinformation about me and Trusted TEFL Reviews because they just can’t handle having even one or two negative reviews published online about them. By trying to discredit this website, they hope that people won’t believe the reviews of their program. All TEFL programs listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews have a free listing and all TEFL programs are free to respond to reviews and to add comments.

The TEFL Wall of Shame.

Important Clarifying Information.

Several points need addressing, and I will write about each one separately:

The Teachers’ Choice Award

Several Online TEFL companies are claiming that the Teachers’ Choice Award is fake. It isn’t. We created the Teachers’ Choice Award back in 2019, after noticing that other mainstream TEFL review websites had also created their awards. The fundamental difference between our award and the awards of other mainstream TEFL review websites is that the winner of the Teachers’ Choice Award is based on merit alone – voted for by language schools, universities, TEFL students, and TEFL graduates. If a company has won an award from a mainstream TEFL review website, it means they have likely paid for the privilege of “winning” that award.

TEFL Online Pro

TEFL Online Pro (https://teflonlinepro.com/) has won the Teachers’ Choice Award for seven consecutive years – they are the highest-rated in 2026. They have won the award every year because they were the Online TEFL/TESOL program that received the most votes. Trusted TEFL Reviews does not own TEFL Online Pro, just as it doesn’t own the other four Online TEFL/TESOL programs that currently hold the place of being one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL programs. Trusted TEFL Reviews is an independent Online TEFL/TESOL reviews website. We are not affiliated with any TEFL/TESOL program listed on the Trusted TEFL Reviews website.

Trusted TEFL Reviews is a not-for-profit website

Contrary to what some Online TEFL programs claim, it doesn’t cost anything to list your Online TEFL/TESOL program on Trusted TEFL Reviews. Also, we don’t allow any paid advertising because we feel that it could present a conflict of interest. The only advertising allowed is granted to the TEFL program winner of the annual Teachers’ Choice Award. TEFL Online Pro (https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-online-pro-reviews-in-2025/) is the winner of this year’s award, so they have been allowed to promote any TEFL course discounts that they may run during the year. This additional exposure on Trusted TEFL Reviews is without charge for the TEFL program currently enjoying Teachers’ Choice Award winner status.

I am not a man

I identify as a woman because I am a woman, living and teaching English in Vienna, Austria. Contrary to what some Online TEFL/TESOL companies have written about me online, I am not a “man”, I am not a “dyke”, and I am not a “b!tch”. I am a mother. I co-own Trusted TEFL Reviews with my partner and we run Trusted TEFL Reviews together, from our apartment in Vienna. We also have a small office within the city limits that we visit mostly during the summer months when the air-con in the office is a welcome respite. We also run the Teachers’ Choice Award from this office. It is no Online TEFL/TESOL program’s beeswax what our addresses are and we both feel safer not disclosing our addresses. I have received threats in the past simply because I wouldn’t delete a negative review written about one of the TEFL programs listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

We never delete reviews from Trusted TEFL Reviews, unless the review is later found to be fake

Online TEFL/TESOL course programs are the customers of the mainstream Online TEFL/TESOL review websites. The programs pay a yearly fee to be listed on the review website, and this is how those review websites generate the majority of their commercial income. Those review websites have a strong financial incentive to hide negative reviews and hold almost no verification process for publishing positive reviews – the vast majority of which are written by the TEFL company. Trusted TEFL Reviews has a strong verification process in place and we only publish reviews that have been proven to have been written by a real TEFL student. This has infuriated a few Online TEFL/TESOL companies – companies that are used to chalking up fake 5-star reviews on those mainstream TEFL review platforms.

We allow all of the TEFL companies listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews to respond to reviews

All Online TEFL/TESOL companies listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews are free to respond to any review published about their program. The vast majority of programs choose not to, but some do. The most prolific company to respond to reviews – responding to every review they receive – is TEFL Online Pro. This company is proactive and recognizes the importance of thanking customers for writing positive reviews and addressing any issues presented by negative reviews. If an Online TEFL company writes that they tried responding to a review but were unsuccessful in doing so, it is a flat-out lie.

Russian review websites

A few months ago, an Online TEFL/TESOL company reached out to me – a company not listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews – complaining that their business wasn’t doing so well. They blamed their dwindling revenue on the many cheap Online TEFL/TESOL programs undercutting them with lower prices. They suggested that they would “handle the Google Ads campaigns” of those programs through a process known as click fraud. They also suggested that I should write some damning reviews about those programs on complaintsboard.com. I refused the offer and told the individual to focus on improving their course offerings and customer services. complaintsboard.com, dirtyscam.com, and ripoffreport.com are all Russian-owned websites. They may claim otherwise, but they operate outside of countries where they can be held accountable for the defamatory material that they allow to be published on their websites. I read one recent “complaint” that TEFL Online Pro is offering courses illegally and not paying their taxes. This, of course, is just fiction. I also read another “complaint” where someone had written that OISE University of Toronto TEFL is a scam and their certificates are not valid internationally. Also, fictitious. The rogue Online TEFL/TESOL companies use these websites to badmouth their business competitors because all you need to do to have your review published is to verify your email address – using any name to create an account. Those Russian websites feel protected from legal repercussions and they are the go-to websites for the dregs of the Online TEFL/TESOL certification course world.

TEFL companies that want to take over the world

The TEFL Academy (https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-academy/) is the perfect example of a company that wants it all, and they are willing to break all the better business rules to achieve their objective. We began listing this program on Trusted TEFL Reviews a few years ago. Within a couple of days, we received an avalanche of 5-star reviews for them, but not one of the reviewers was willing to prove course participation in The TEFL Academy program. They were fake reviews. We also have it on good word that this company reaches out to its graduates and offers them a free mini TEFL course if they write a positive review. This is why there is such a disconnect between their reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews and their reviews on Facebook, Trustpilot, etc. World TESOL Academy (https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/world-tesol-academy/) is also guilty of this shameless and flagrant middle finger to the better business rules. They claim to be the “Worlds #1 TEFL Course Provider.” This obviously isn’t true, as are many other claims on their website.

Our advice for Online TEFL/TESOL companies

Interact with your customers! If you receive a positive review, thank the customer for spending their time to review your program. If you receive a negative review, apologize and try to right a wrong. Don’t write false sh*t about me or Trusted TEFL Reviews just because you got some negative feedback.

Our advice for Online TEFL/TESOL students

The Online TEFL/TESOL industry is unregulated and highly competitive. Some companies will swear blind to you that you need to take their course because it has more hours or because it has won so many awards. The Teachers’ Choice Award is the only Online TEFL/TESOL certification course program award that cannot be bought. The industry standard is a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certification course (140 hours if it includes 20 teaching practice hours). You don’t need more training hours because those extra hours are meaningless for TEFL employers. If you pay less than US$100 for a 120-hour Online TEFL/TESOL certification course, you WILL regret it.

Accreditation

To prevent you from becoming a victim of a TEFL scam, we recommend that you choose a Fully Accredited TEFL/TESOL certification course provider.

The most well-known accreditation companies – offering Full Accreditation:

ACCET – Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training.

ACTEFLC – Accreditation Council for Teaching English as a Foreign Language Courses.

OISE – University of the Toronto Faculty of Education.

TESL Canada

University of Cambridge’s English Language Assessment

If you read anything negative about these organizations online, it has been written by an Online TEFL/TESOL program – a program that likely has no accreditation itself or one that simply pays a dodgy accreditation company an annual fee.

You can see which companies are Fully Accredited and internationally recognized by looking through the program listings in the TEFL Course Directory:

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

The top-rated schools in the directory are top-rated for a legitimate reason.

The low-rated schools in the directory are low-rated for a legitimate reason.

Be smart. Don’t fall for the disinformation and misinformation.

Trusted TEFL Reviews

If and when we are notified of shady practices or even outright scams, we will post details of them in the Online TEFL Course Scams section of this website.

This ‘Online TEFL Course Reviews Scams’ article was originally written and published by Mia Williams, co-owner of Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) | Best Featured TEFL Articles

Related articles:

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

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2021/03/30/common-tefl-scams/

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

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Is ESLinsider legit?

Is ESLinsider Legit? ESLinsider review, submitted by Todd.

Is ESLinsider legit? The course contains very poor video quality.

I kind of feel bad writing this review, because I think ESLinsider are trying to build up its TEFL course online presence and I don’t want to be someone who comes in the way of that. But, this is a TEFL course review and I need to be objective here.

At first, I had my eye on the ITTT TEFL certification online course (which I later took, btw, and which I was satisfied with). Their website looked professional and there were a lot of good things written about the program. But then, my attention was drawn to eslinsider.com and an article written by its founder, Ian Leahy. In the article, he argues the point that ITTT TEFL shouldn’t be trusted. The reasoning behind this, according to Ian Leahy, is because of their affiliate marketing strategy and because they also clandestinely run xxxxxxxxxx.xxx. Ian Leahy claims that because ITTT TEFL secretly run xxxxxxxxx.xxx, they were able to award themselves a TEFL course award.

How was I to know any better? I just took Ian Leahy for his word and enrolled in his course instead.

I thought, at the time, that I had dodged a bullet.

One of the first things which should have been a red flag was the need to pay the ESLinsider course fee via Western Union. Ian Leahy convinced me that this was how all TEFL schools arrange their course payments. He was very convincing, so I paid and waited, and waited, and waited. After a week of waiting, I got a reply to confirm that the payment went through. All I now had to do was create an account on his school website (https://www.course.eslinsider.com/) and I was good to go.

I followed the instructions and created an account. I was pretty excited by this point to start the course that Ian Leahy had claimed was the “creme de la creme of Online TEFL courses” (his own words, not mine.)

It was then that I realized the huge goof I had made.

The course didn’t have any structure to it. It consisted mainly of random pages of video tutorials, with Ian Leahy taking center stage. The course contains very poor video quality. Two of the videos were actually inaudible, due to the sounds of the children shouting and screaming at the top of their lungs.

No grammar was explained. Nothing like that. It was just a mashed-up series of videos in which Ian Leahy is teaching lessons to children. Below each video, there is a list of questions that you need to answer before you can gain access to the next low-quality TEFL video.

When I wrote to ESLinsider to complain (I was polite about it) they replied that a refund “isn’t applicable” because I started the course. Had I paid via credit card, I would have been able to contact my bank for a chargeback claim.

I decided that it wasn’t worth my while pursuing it anymore after I had complained on Quora and when Ian Leahy incredulously replied to my post that I had never taken his course and that I was an angry competitor. I have spent time reading his school blog and can see why competitors would be angry with him. His school blog is full of attacks on his competition. I can now see that this is probably ESLinsider’s way of winning new business.

Oh, and btw, I did check to see whether ITTT TEFL run xxxxxxxxxx.xxx and I never did find any truth to that accusation.

ESLinsider is probably best avoided. I’m awarding it 2 stars because I did learn something. It just didn’t cut it for me though and I lost a few hundred bucks in the process. The whole experience was just bizarre.

Essential Tip!

We (Trusted TEFL Reviews) have had enough of the few rogue Online TEFL/TESOL companies that have been coordinating a sustained smear campaign against trustedteflreviews.com and managing to scam students by presenting themselves in a more professional light than they are.

You can read all about this scam in the following article:

Online TEFL/TESOL Course Review Scams in 2024

If you are concerned about becoming a victim of an Online TEFL/TESOL course scam, we strongly recommend choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs in 2024:

The 5 Best Online TEFL TESOL Courses in 2024

Mia Williams – Trusted TEFL Reviews

Read more ESLinsider reviews

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

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The OTTSA – Online Tefl and Tesol Standards Agency – Accrediting Professionals scam.

December 9, 2023 UPDATE:

It appears that OTTSA has now closed down and the TEFL companies that partnered with this fake accreditation website have flown over to other fake TEFL accreditation websites.

A fine example of this is MyTEFL, which now claims to be accredited by the International TEFL Accreditation Council (ITEFLAC) and by the International Council for Online Educational Standards (ICOES).

ITEFLAC is a fake accreditation body – one red flag being the stock images on the website that hope to allure the unsuspecting into thinking it is an organization located in an office building, and full of suited men and women whose only care in the world is TEFL and TESOL accreditation.

ICOES is, putting it kindly, a dodgy accreditation company. Its list of companies that it boasts of accrediting includes ‘Permanent Jewelry Bestie’ and ‘spray tan class’. Oh, and MyTEFL and International Open Academy – two TEFL companies with a terrible reputation.

ITTT, on the other hand, has gone rogue and teamed up with an accreditation body that can’t even spell the word ‘Accreditation’ correctly on its website:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2022/03/23/ittt-tefl-accreditation/

Essential TEFL Tip!

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

Protect yourself by reading about the latest TEFL scams in this article:

Online TEFL/TESOL Course Review Scams in 2026

If you are concerned about becoming a victim of an Online TEFL/TESOL course scam, we strongly recommend choosing from one of the 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs in 2025:

The 5 Best Online TEFL/TESOL Courses in 2026

Mia Williams – Trusted TEFL Reviews

In a previous scam article, we wrote about being defamed online, and it became quickly crystal clear to us that the company orchestrating the spreading of the false allegations online about trustedteflreviews.com, was MyTEFL.com.

We would advise reading the MyTEFL.com scam post before coming back to this post, as then you will have a clearer picture regarding why we have chosen to expose MyTEFL and their rather dubious business practices.

Both MyTEFL and ITTT TEFL claim to be accredited by OTTSA.

‘OTTSA’ btw, is an acronym for ONLINE TEFL & TESOL STANDARDS AGENCY.

And at first glance, it looks impressive.

It was created by an individual who happened to travel to Thailand to become an English teacher, and who then happened to create his accreditation website.

His name: is Simon Godwin.

Here you can read about the creator of OTTSA:

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/560086.tourists-urged-to-return/

There are three levels of accreditation:

Unaccredited

Accredited

Fully accredited, and internationally recognized.

Online TEFL/TESOL programs that are accredited by OTTSA are categorized as ‘Accredited’.

This means that the certificate awarded is not necessarily internationally recognized.

Further information here:

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

On the OTTSA main page is what appears at first glance to be a professional statement:

Again, it looks impressive.

The one issue with this though, is that it is an outright scam.

What is particularly painful here is that this fake accreditation website has been developed to pull the wool over people’s eyes and to get them to make that course purchase because they will probably assume that OTTSA is an internationally recognized accreditation body.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, and, only this week, trustedteflreviews.com received a scathing MyTEFL.com review where the reviewer’s employer refused her a teaching position because their school didn’t want one of their teachers to be associated with a fake accreditation scheme:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2020/02/13/needless-to-say-i-shall-be-contacting-my-credit-card-company-for-a-full-refund-on-the-mytefl-purchase/

But how can we know that this is a fake accreditation website?

1. If you contact OTTSA, you will never receive a reply. They are not in the business of encouraging more members to join their fat cow laid out to graze.
2. The website connection is not secure:

3. Their “Accredited courses” page gives the game away

The companies that OTTSA claim went through a vigorous accreditation application process, and was successful in being accepted to such a prestigious accreditation organization are:

1. ITTT TEFL

2. XploreAsia

3. MyTEFL

4. CultureRoute

5. TESOL Coach Master Inc. by The American Global TESOL Association, LLC:

6. Promise Opens Doors

7. TEFLMaster

8.TESOL Professional Teachers Global Limited

9. TEFL Tycoon by Chelsea International Education LLC

Now, besides ITTT TEFL being the only Online TEFL school listed with a live link to their website, we thought we would take a look at a few of the other (unknown) Online TEFL schools (besides MyTEFL.com, which are now very well-known to us.)

And what a shock!

When we checked last week, the remaining 7 websites looked very different than they did when we checked again this afternoon.

Last week there were ridiculously high course offers for 120-hour Online TEFL courses, such as $2,000, but we know how quick the MyTEFL.com Asian team can be in manipulating websites and they have now made the remaining 7 look almost plausible Online TEFL course options.

But of course, again, if you look closely, you can recognize immediately that these are hastily-created websites, without any other significant presence on the web.

Now they spell their accreditation company in capitals all of a sudden

What does OTTSA do?

OTTSA is a fake website that attempts, rather well, to scam money from people searching online for accredited Online TEFL courses (which by definition don’t exist.)

Now, we would love to be wrong. As we would have loved to have been wrong about the MyTEFL and Footprints Recruiting scams.

Everything we have written is non-defamatory. It is the truth.

Perhaps that’s why the only responses that we have received so far have been vulgar, private comments – threatening us with further online defamation and online attacks if we continue down this path of exposing this well-established corrupt corner of the international Online TEFL certification industry.

I was even insulted by an insinuation that I am a “dike”. The comment received read: ‘Your website is a disgrace and payback is coming your way. You’re just a dike with brains about the TEFL world.

My response was that the correct spelling is, “dyke” and that whatever my sexual preference, it is my business only – and my boyfriend’s too if you want to know

I then laughed when I signed my comment response as Mia Williams – “just a dike with brains about the TEFL world”

Btw, as a quick thought and a message that I feel is important to all readers: don’t ever give a fuc* about what someone says about your choice of sexuality. It’s none of their business, and it’s SO 1990 even to bring up the theme.

Again though, not all Online TEFL programs behave in such an appalling manner to get a hold of your hard-earned cash.

If you are reading this and are searching for honest, reputable Online TEFL certification companies then may we suggest you view our Online TEFL Courses Directory:

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

We welcome any comments in the reply section below.

If and when we are notified of shady practices or even outright scams, we will post details of them in the Online TEFL Course Scams section of this website.

Written by Mia Williams for Trusted TEFL Reviews.

WARNING! We strongly recommend that readers are made fully aware of MyTEFL’s violation of the international TEFL/TESOL Code of Professional Conduct:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2020/02/02/mytefl-a-code-of-conduct-violation/

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2020/01/24/the-mytefl-com-scam/

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

TEFL Accreditation Guide | 6 TEFL Red Flags | TTR Home | TEFL Course Special Offers

The post Warning! The OTTSA Accrediting Professionals scam appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The dirty tricks of some Online TEFL certification programs you should be fully aware of.

Hi!

This is a first for us, but we felt that we couldn’t just let this information slide by, as it could either have affected you or is currently affecting you.

Earlier this week, we received a review from a graduate of an Online TEFL program – that will remain nameless – and after our usual checks, we were able to confirm that the review in question was valid. In other words, it was a verified review, written by a real person, who had taken that particular Online TEFL certification course.

The review did tend to lean more towards negativity, than positive feedback, but it was generally a well-balanced review – addressing some key areas whereby the graduate felt could be improved.

We don’t always request copies of TEFL course completion (certificates, etc.) but in this case, we did ask the reviewer if they wouldn’t mind just sending us a copy of their certificate. They obliged, and everything checked out fine.

We then received a strongly-written email, from the Online TEFL school, that had received the review.

At first, they threatened us with legal action, if we wouldn’t delete the review, and then, they attempted to bribe us – offering a monthly payment to keep negative reviews from being published of their Online TEFL program.

We of course stood by our guns, so the saying goes, and reminded the school in question, that we simply publish feedback from people who have taken an Online TEFL course, and that we are in no way liable for the content of material published on trustedteflreviews.com. Oh, and thank you for the offer of the bribe, but, no thank you. Yeah, yeah, but no

But one particular mention got our goat; made our blood boil; enraged us.

The Online TEFL school in question, not only threatened and bribed us, but they also mentioned the names of two other (very popular) TEFL course review websites, where they have this agreement in place of keeping negative reviews deleted, and only positive reviews published.

And this confirmed for us, why it is, that some Online TEFL companies tend to receive quite negative reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews, but when you take a look online, they are portrayed as being five-star courses.

I don’t think I need to explain this any further, as the vast majority of Trusted TEFL Reviews readers have a higher-than-usual intellect.

What we do want to express within this post, is that Trusted TEFL Reviews only publishes reviews, written by course graduates. And we never pander to Online TEFL schools, to have negative reviews deleted. We have also become quite apt at recognizing fake reviews – written by Online TEFL school staff members, and we always delete these as soon as they arrive in our Inbox.

Of course, this puts us a little in a piggy-in-the-middle position, and we have recently received multiple attacks online – trying to discredit our website – but ultimately, we provide a service for people, who are searching for honest reviews, and trustedteflreviews.com will always remain a source of verified Online TEFL reviews, written by real people.

The two schools, btw, of whom we write in this article have been removed from Trusted TEFL Reviews. If an Online TEFL school isn’t listed on Trusted TEFL Reviews, then it might mean they are not a credible company.

Written by Mia Williams for Trusted TEFL Reviews (TTR) | Best Featured TEFL Articles

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

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

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ITTT review, submitted by L.T.

Money was tight and there were no onsite TEFL or TESOL certification classes available in the local area so my choice was limited to online TEFL/TESOL certification. I chose the ITTT 120-Hour TEFL online course because they advertised Technical Support and Job Guidance. Mixed emotions really. Overall, I felt the course was good and the detailed review of grammar was helpful. I was disappointed there were no video or interactive tutorials, but I see now that these are only offered together with the 220-Hour Master Package. I was also really impressed with the phonetics section in which the phonic chart was introduced and I refer back to this up until this day for use in my classes. The “Lifetime Job Support” was pretty meh and I found myself not needing it as soon as my foot was in the door of my first paid teaching job. They will help you take the first steps to find a teaching English abroad job, but it’s little more than a list of schools and I was expecting more. Not sure if they’ll keep doing this for the rest of your life and not sure if you’ll really need it either when you are 90. Their certificate does look great: embossed and shiny. So overall, I’d say the course was pretty good but the price of the course – including the time extension – really added up and made for an overall expensive program. I can’t really say I would recommend ITTT, but I’m sure you can do much worse.

Read more ITTT reviews

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

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