With hundreds of providers promising international recognition, guaranteed jobs, and glowing reviews, choosing the right course can feel overwhelming.

Unfortunately, the industry is also largely unregulated, which has allowed misleading claims, fake reviews, and aggressive marketing tactics to flourish.

Before enrolling in a course, it’s essential to understand how these programs really work—and what many programs don’t openly tell prospective students.

This Trusted TEFL Reviews article examines 10 essential tips for selecting the best online TEFL TESOL courses.

1. Some TEFL TESOL Providers Fake or Manipulate Reviews

Not all TEFL TESOL course reviews you see online are trustworthy. Because the industry is largely unregulated, some providers actively manipulate public feedback to appear more reputable than they really are. Common tactics include:

• Paying for fake five-star reviews on review platforms and forums
• Posting reviews under newly created or inactive accounts to inflate ratings quickly
• Using generic testimonials that lack specific details about the course content or teaching experience
• Offering free “top-up” courses or additional certificates in exchange for written reviews, which can bias feedback
• Flooding platforms with multiple 5-star reviews in a single day—often 5–10 at once—which is usually a clear sign the reviews are not genuine

In some cases, reviews may also be recycled across multiple platforms or written using similar language, suggesting coordinated posting rather than genuine feedback.

Note: Trusted TEFL Reviews (https://trustedteflreviews.com/) only publishes verified customer reviews. Occasionally, some programs submit mass reviews in an attempt to boost their ratings; these submissions are not published because they do not meet our verification standards.

As a result, some providers who do not follow the rules have expressed frustration and falsely claimed that Trusted TEFL Reviews is biased. These claims are not true. Our goal remains to provide honest, reliable, and trustworthy feedback for prospective TEFL/TESOL students.

2. Reddit and Niche Communities Can Be Influenced by Providers

Furthermore, manipulation extends beyond traditional review sites. Some niche online communities, including TEFL-related subreddits, actively reflect the interests of certain providers. As a result:

• Certain courses being promoted repeatedly
• Competitor programs receiving disproportionate criticism
• Critical posts about certain providers being removed or discouraged

Although not all Reddit advice is unreliable, prospective students should approach forum content with caution, because negative commentary can be strategically manufactured—just like overly positive reviews.

In particular, repeated talking points, similar phrasing, or reviews appearing across multiple platforms are strong indicators that feedback may not be genuine.

Treat overly positive and overly negative comments with healthy skepticism.

3. Some Online TEFL TESOL Courses Review Websites Promote Their Own Courses

Certain websites that offer TEFL TESOL reviews, such as ESLinsider, give the impression of being neutral guides, but in reality, they often:

• Promote their own courses prominently
• Publish content that undermines competitors
• Present selective or exaggerated criticisms to make their offerings look better

These tactics, therefore, can mislead prospective students by skewing the perception of different courses, making it harder to objectively compare options.

4. Watch Out for Misleading Pricing and Currency Tricks

Some TEFL TESOL programs advertise huge discounts to make their courses look like incredible deals. For example, a course may list an “original” price of €459.00 and a discounted price of €183.60.

In reality, providers that offer excessive discounts often never sell the course at the higher price. They use this tactic to make the discounted price appear attractive, even though the lower price reflects their standard rate.

Some programs will list installment payments in a misleading way. For example, they might advertise the course as $99, but that is just one installment, and the student must pay 4 or 5 payments in total. This can make the course seem cheaper than it really is.

Additionally, some programs show prices in euros instead of USD, hoping U.S. students will focus on the number and not realize they are paying more after currency conversion.

Rule of thumb:

• If the course advertises an installment price, check how many payments are required and calculate the total cost.
• Always check the currency and convert it to your local money to know the real cost.

5. Stick to the Standard: 120 Hours Is What Employers Want

Most TEFL employers look for a 120-hour certificate. This standard is widely recognized internationally and demonstrates that a teacher has the essential training to teach English effectively. If teaching practice is included, a 140-hour certificate is also acceptable.

In recent years, some providers have started offering “Level” courses with inflated hours, claiming 150, 168, or even more hours. These bloated courses include filler content that adds little to no value for actual teaching skills or interviews.

Key point: Having a 168-hour certificate does not make you more employable than someone with a 120-hour certificate. Employers care about the standard 120 hours—anything beyond that is usually unnecessary unless it includes additional teaching practice.

Exceptions:

• Shorter refresher courses can be useful for full-time work if you already have teaching experience but lack a certificate. In this case, the shorter course gives you the official credential needed to qualify for jobs.

Tip: Aim for a verified 120-hour (or 140-hour with practice) TEFL certificate if you’re starting out. Don’t get swayed by courses boasting inflated hours—they won’t increase your job prospects.

6. Understand Online TEFL TESOL Courses Accreditation

When you choose a TEFL TESOL course, accreditation matters. Accreditation shows that a course meets recognized educational standards and that employers will take your certificate seriously. You should know there are three types of accreditation:

1. Unaccredited courses—These courses have no formal recognition and may not meet industry standards.
2. Accredited courses—These courses meet some standards but may not carry full recognition internationally.
3. Fully accredited courses—These courses meet the highest standards and offer the strongest credentials for teachers.

Some programs create their own accreditation websites to make a course appear legitimate. You can usually spot these fake accrediting bodies because they:

• Use stock photos of business people in conference rooms
• Contain grammar or spelling mistakes
• Lack independent recognition

Some providers claim they are “accredited” or “fully accredited” but only have recognition, not true accreditation. Verify the accrediting body before enrolling.

Choose courses accredited by reputable organizations. Some of the main bodies that grant fully accredited status for online TEFL TESOL programs 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/

Rule of thumb: Always pick a fully accredited course from a recognized organization to ensure employers respect your certificate.

7. Online TEFL TESOL Courses Job Placement Assistance

Not all TEFL TESOL courses help you land a teaching job. Some offer no support, others provide job guidance, and a few claim job placement services—but don’t always follow through.

Choosing a course with realistic, transparent support can save you time, money, and frustration.

When evaluating a program, consider:

• No support: The course teaches you the skills but leaves you on your own to find work.
• Job guidance: Offers advice on CVs, resumes, interviews, and teaching abroad or online—often providing contacts at reputable schools—but does not offer direct placement.
• Job placement services: Connects you to schools, often with contracts—but check for hidden fees or cuts from your salary.

Choose a course that offers job guidance, not a job placement service, to ensure you get support without hidden costs or unexpected fees—ideally, a program that also guarantees a job upon graduation.

8. Online TEFL TESOL Courses Tutor Support

Access to a qualified online tutor can make a huge difference in your TEFL TESOL course. Tutors guide you through assignments, answer questions, and provide feedback that helps you actually learn teaching techniques instead of just completing the course.

Choose a program that includes tutor support in the course price—not one that charges extra or fails to deliver the service. Some schools advertise support but don’t provide it. See the TEFL Scams section for more information.

When evaluating tutor support, check:

• Availability: Can you contact a tutor whenever you need help, or only during scheduled sessions?
• Responsiveness: Does the tutor reply quickly, ideally within 24–48 hours?
• Expertise: Does the tutor have real teaching experience and TEFL TESOL qualifications?
• Practical guidance: Does the tutor give actionable tips you can apply in real classrooms, not just assignment feedback?

Remember, tutor support is one of the most important factors in getting real value from a TEFL TESOL course. It helps you understand teaching methods, improve your skills, and prepare for the classroom—something you simply won’t get from the dirt-cheap online courses you often see advertised.

9. Beware of Dirt-Cheap Online TEFL TESOL Courses

Some online TEFL TESOL courses advertise prices as low as $20. Avoid them. These courses offer almost no real learning, can be completed in an afternoon, and employers rarely recognize them.

Even if you manage to get a job with a cheap certificate, you’ll likely work for a poorly-run school with low pay and few benefits.

Think of a TEFL course as an investment in your career. Paying a bit more now for a reputable certificate can earn you many times that amount in better salaries and opportunities later. As a general rule, avoid 120-hour courses under $100. No reputable course will cost less than $100, unless it is a recognized refresher course, which can be legitimately cheaper.

When evaluating low-cost courses, consider:

• Course length vs. content: Can you realistically learn teaching methods in a few hours?
• Employer recognition: Do reputable schools accept this certificate?
• Quality of instruction: Does the course include tutors or instructors, or only automated lessons?
• Career outcomes: Will this certificate actually help you find a well-paid teaching job?

Invest in a course that teaches you skills, provides support, and opens doors—not one that gives you only a cheap piece of paper.

10. Specializations and Teaching Focus

First, choose an online TEFL TESOL course that covers multiple teaching specializations. The more areas you learn now, the more options you open for your future career.

Next, focus on courses that include modules on teaching business English and teaching young or younger learners—ideally as part of the standard course price. That said, some programs charge extra for these modules, so check carefully before enrolling.

Even if you don’t plan to teach business English or children now, gaining these skills early makes life much easier later. That way, you’ll move into new roles without needing to take additional courses or pay extra fees.

When evaluating course specializations, ask:

• Business English: Does the course provide techniques for teaching professionals and adult learners in a corporate context?
• Young/younger learners: Does it include methods for engaging children and teens effectively?
• Included in price: Does the course bundle these specializations, or does it charge extra for each?

Choose a course that prepares you for diverse teaching environments, giving you flexibility and confidence in your TEFL TESOL career.

Be sure to take a look at the Directory of online TEFL TESOL programs to see how each course rates based on verified customer reviews.

Still deciding? Choose one of the 5 Best Online TEFL TESOL courses.

These top-rated programs stand out for their quality, reputation, and real-world results:

1. TEFL Online Pro
Website: https://teflonlinepro.com/
Verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-online-pro-reviews-in-2025/

2. OISE University of Toronto TEFL
Website: https://teflonline.teachaway.com/
Verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/oise-university-of-toronto-tefl/

3. CIEE TEFL
Website: https://www.ciee.org/
Verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/ciee-tefl/

4. Maximo Nivel TEFL
Website: https://maximonivel.com/
Verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/maximo-nivel-tefl/

5. Vantage TEFL Certification
Website: https://www.englishatvantage.com/tefl-combined-class-thailand
Verified reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/vantage-tefl-certification/

In closing, thank you for reading “Online TEFL TESOL Courses: 10 Things to Know Before Enrolling,” brought to you by Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The post Online TEFL TESOL Courses: 10 Things to Know Before Enrolling appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy (TTA) review, submitted by Jenny.

The TEFL Academy Pros and Cons (from my experience as a student on its 168-hour Level 5 course).

Pros:

1. The course was arranged and organized very well and had a user-friendly CMS learner system. I have studied some online courses before this one that had poor Content Management systems.
2. When you complete the course, you receive a substantial list of job offers that are online and also ones located in specific countries.
3. You are not completely alone in the course. Whenever you have a question, you email the school, a ticket is assigned to you, and I tended to get a response back within a few business days to a week. Overall, communication with the school was fairly good.
4. I have a teaching job (online) and my TEFL Academy certificate helped a lot in this process.

Cons:

1. As I soon discovered, every school I applied to for work asked whether I had the 120-hour TEFL certificate. When I answered that I had a 168-hour Level 5 certificate, they said it would do but the extra hours of tuition are meaningless.
2. After completing the course, I received an email from the TEFL Academy that asked if I would leave a review for them on (fill in the blank) websites, and that in return for my writing a review they would offer me a free Teaching Young Learners or Teaching Business English course. I think they mentioned Facebook, Reviews.io, Trust Pilot, and a few others. I wrote back that I might, but I wanted to see how my certification was working for me in my new job (and future job applications) before I committed to writing a review. I receive that same email each end of the week and I wonder how many of this company’s reviews are written by people who just want the free course.

If I were to take a TEFL course again, I would take a 120-hour course because that strongly appears to be the gold standard for what online and abroad employers are looking for.

I wouldn’t pay for a TEFL/TESOL certification course offering more than 120 hours, unless there are 10-20 teaching practice hours included. The 168-hour TEFL Academy course, in my opinion, is marketed to make it appear that you are getting more bang for your buck – you are not.

The TEFL Academy’s 168-hour Level 5 TEFL course was good, but it did raise many red flags.

Trusted TEFL Reviews notice: Jenny asked (January 7, 2026) that her The TEFL Academy Pros and Cons review be updated due to additional content requested to be included.

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post The TEFL Academy Pros and Cons 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.

The TEFL Academy Fraud. At Trusted TEFL Reviews, we are committed to providing transparent, honest, and verified feedback about TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) programs around the world.

We take this responsibility seriously because prospective TEFL students deserve to make informed choices—especially when investing in their education and future career.

It has recently come to our attention—and we believe it is now necessary to disclose publicly—that The TEFL Academy (https://www.theteflacademy.com/ has engaged in troubling behavior that raises serious questions about its business practices.

This notice is intended to alert our users and the general public to those issues, and to caution anyone considering enrolling in a TEFL course through this organization.

1. Pressure to Remove Reviews

The TEFL Academy has aggressively attempted to have all their reviews removed from Trusted TEFL Reviews. They initially succeeded. Due to the company’s financial resources and reputation for litigious behavior, we temporarily removed all reviews out of concern for possible legal consequences.

This decision was not taken lightly.

However, after thorough legal consultation and out of respect for the integrity of our platform and our reviewers, we have republished all reviews related to The TEFL Academy.

These reviews were all submitted by students who actually enrolled in and completed one or more of their TEFL courses.

We will continue to stand by these reviews because they represent authentic experiences—both positive and negative.

2. Mixed Student Experiences

The reviews we have received for The TEFL Academy are mixed.

• Some students have shared positive experiences. These students generally appreciated the structure of the course, ease of access, and support throughout their studies.
• Others, however, have raised significant concerns—particularly with the recognition and legitimacy of The TEFL Academy’s course certificates when used to apply for teaching positions outside the UK and Ireland.

It is important to note that Level 5 TEFL certificates, like the ones offered by The TEFL Academy, are generally only fully recognized within the UK and Ireland. While some students have successfully used their certificate to secure employment abroad, many others have encountered difficulty, often discovering that employers or visa authorities did not recognize the qualification as valid or accredited internationally.

3. Accreditation Claims: Misleading and Incomplete

The TEFL Academy claims to be the world’s #1 TEFL provider and to be fully accredited. We urge potential students to approach these claims with caution.

• There is no independent verification that supports the assertion that The TEFL Academy is the “world’s #1 TEFL provider.” This is a marketing slogan, not a verifiable fact.
• Their accreditation status is questionable at best. While they may be registered with certain organizations, this does not equate to true educational accreditation, nor does it guarantee the course’s global recognition.

This pattern of inflated marketing language and unverifiable claims is one of the reasons why The TEFL Academy Fraud concerns have been raised repeatedly by former students and industry insiders.

Trusted TEFL Reviews is updating this section of the article today, on October 17, 2025, to reflect an update that The TEFL Academy has recently made on its website.

It no longer claims to be “The World’s #1 TEFL Course Provider“.

Instead, it is now claiming to be “The World’s Favorite TEFL Course Provider.”

What WILL they change it to next?

4. Fake Reviews and Affiliate Manipulation

Our platform was also targeted by what we have determined to be fake reviews submitted on behalf of The TEFL Academy. This occurred when approximately 10 glowing reviews were submitted within a single 24-hour period. The writing style of these reviews was suspiciously promotional, many using identical phrases and marketing language pulled directly from the company’s website.

Further investigation revealed that one of the reviews came from someone known to us to be a The TEFL Academy affiliate, meaning they stood to gain financially from promoting the program. We have every reason to believe that similar tactics are being used on other TEFL review websites.

Such manipulation not only undermines the trustworthiness of review platforms, but also constitutes a clear breach of ethical conduct. The submission of fake positive reviews is a serious red flag and aligns with the growing body of complaints categorized under The TEFL Academy Fraud.

5. Misinformation and Attacks on Competitors

In addition to submitting fake reviews, The TEFL Academy has reportedly engaged in aggressive attacks against competing TEFL providers, spreading misinformation in an effort to damage their reputation. We’ve been made aware of unsubstantiated claims made by individuals affiliated with The TEFL Academy about other reputable programs—most of which were later proven to be completely false.

This kind of behavior is not only unprofessional, but also deeply harmful to the broader TEFL community. It reflects poorly on the organization and further calls into question its credibility.

6. Change in Ownership and Strategy

The TEFL Academy underwent a change in ownership in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing was no coincidence—demand for online TEFL courses surged during this period. The new owners appear to have capitalized on this boom by heavily marketing the course as a fast-track, affordable way to teach abroad or online.

While this business strategy may be smart from a profit standpoint, it’s not necessarily in the best interest of students who expect a recognized, legitimate, and career-enhancing qualification.

7. Final Thoughts and Recommendations

We want to be clear: Not every student who takes a course with The TEFL Academy will have a negative experience. Some people do complete the program and successfully find teaching positions afterward. However, the number of complaints we’ve received and the company’s pattern of behavior—legal bullying, fake reviews, inflated claims, and misinformation campaigns—have raised significant red flags.

Before enrolling, we recommend that students:

• Verify whether the course certificate is accepted in the country where they intend to teach.
• Compare The TEFL Academy with other reputable providers, many of whom have better track records and do not rely on deceptive marketing.
• Read both positive and negative reviews from multiple platforms—not just those controlled or influenced by The TEFL Academy or its affiliates.

Above all, be cautious. A TEFL certificate is an investment in your future. Make sure the provider you choose is transparent, ethical, and truly accredited.

Have You Taken a Course with The TEFL Academy?

If you have taken a course through The TEFL Academy—positive or negative—we encourage you to share your experience on Trusted TEFL Reviews

The TEFL Academy Fraud Summary

This notice highlights multiple issues associated with The TEFL Academy Fraud, including attempts to suppress honest reviews, the submission of fake positive reviews, and inflated marketing claims. While The TEFL Academy remains a popular TEFL provider, it is our duty to report questionable behavior so that students can avoid becoming victims of misleading advertising or unrecognized certification.

Stay informed. Stay empowered.

— Trusted TEFL Reviews Team

The TEFL Academy (Verified) Reviews: https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/the-tefl-academy/

The post The TEFL Academy Fraud appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Lendak.

My terrible The TEFL Academy (TTA) experience.

I chose to do the TEFL with The TEFL Academy because of all the good reviews online. I couldn’t find any negative reviews! So, I enrolled in their flagship Level 5 TEFL/TESOL course.

The first problem began right after I’d paid for the course. I paid and the money was taken from my bank but I didn’t get the payment received confirmation from TEFL Academy and I didn’t get any access to the course.

The first thing I did, after checking the payment had gone through successfully, was to contact TEFL Academy to let them know I’d paid and to ask if I could start my course because I only had a 3-week window to complete the course.

I tried phoning them but nobody answered so I sent off an email and got an instant bot reply that my email was in the queue. ONE WEEK LATER I finally got through to someone and then ONE WEEK AFTER THAT I finally got access to the course.

When I did get the course access I had to steamroll through the course and luckily the course is quite light on content so I was able to complete it in a couple of days. It took another TWO WEEKS to receive the digital certificate!!!

It was then that I began questioning all of the positive reviews and this lead me to trustedteflreviews.com where I was able to see the truth staring me in the face. So, I left a review on a website where TEFL Academy has about 1,000 positive reviews and my review wasn’t published, even though I showed them my course certificate and proof of payment.

I tried again with another reviews site and they basically said they can’t publish the review because they are worried about being taken to court by The TEFL Academy.

So the moral of this story is not to believe the positive reviews of this program because any negative reviews have been refused publication. Just believe the reviews of this program on trustedteflreviews.com because, as you can see, this reviews website doesn’t suppress freedom-of-speech reviews.

February 17, 2026, update:

Trusted TEFL Reviews only publishes verified student reviews, and articles containing true facts.

Examples:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2025/09/09/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2025/09/09/fake-accreditation-warning-theteflacademy-com/

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2025/09/09/tta-the-tefl-academy/

TTA The TEFL Academy has tried every possibility to have all three links deleted.

They appear to have a penchant for stopping free speech.

Notice the comments sections on their YouTube channel.

Example:

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

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

The post “My terrible The TEFL Academy (TTA) experience.” 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/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post The TEFL Academy certification review appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Monica.

The course materials were good and you get to learn a lot about what you need to know to be an English teacher abroad. It’s true that they charge you for the certificate, but my research online showed me all schools follow the same practice. Haven’t used their job services to date so can’t comment on that side.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post “The course materials were good and you get to learn lots about what you need to know to be an English teacher abroad.” appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Mark.

I have been teaching for a few years now and needed to get hold of a TEFL certificate due to the recent clampdown over here in China-meaning all teachers are expected to have one now. Because of this, I chose the first one I saw which fit my budget, and the TEFL Academy just so happened to be the one I chose. Thought the course was alright (besides a poor decision to rely on Wikipedia and About.com for course content) and it was a good means to an end for me. Not really sure if I would recommend it to people starting out fresh, but it would be ideal for someone who just needs a cheap TEFL certificate. China accepted the certificate so don’t sweat about it being recognized or not.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post “was a good means to an end for me.” appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Stu. H.

I was thinking whether I would come on here to leave my review because i don’t want to go out of my way to give this program a bad review, but I just thought others would benefit from my experience of the tefl academy course so here is that review.

At first, I began liking the course, but very quickly realized how tedious and monotonous it was. the course is basically divided into modules with a test at the end of each module. but before the test, there is an assignment to complete and I hand down thought these were included to beef up the number of study hours. to make the course seem more in-depth. it really felt like overkill to me and totally unnecessary. without these assignments, I would have learned just as much as I would have without them and it wouldn’t have taken me so long to complete the course. really. it was like having my teeth pulled out at times.

my advice would be to take another online tefl course, or even a CELTA course, because this course through the tefl academy program just isn’t worth the investment. I’m sorry for having left negative feedback but it’s how my experience felt.

the only positive I gained from the course was that I now have the tefl certificate and have already used it to find work.

4 out of 10 from me.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post “tedious and monotonous” appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Brett.

Overall, this isn’t a terrible program, but I definitely wouldn’t describe it as being excellent either, and by the end, I didn’t really feel that I fully got what I paid for. The first issue for me was the communication aspect. Instead of having one tutor whom you can correspond with, you are requested, instead, to contact The TEFL Academy when you need to ask a question, and this means submitting an email. I don’t want to be completely unfair on The TEFL Academy here as I did receive reasonably prompt replies, but I would have preferred some kind of messaging system, through the course system – as I see some other courses have – so that a. communication is more personalized, and b. replies would be faster. Also, I feel that being assigned one tutor will limit misunderstandings when it comes to specific course questions based on study history. My other beef with The TEFL Academy is that it takes far too long to receive the certificate. Mine took two months to arrive. This meant that I was left hanging in limbo for two months while I waited for my certificate to be posted, so I could then begin applying for jobs. It should really take only a week or two. So this is another area in which The TEFL Academy could improve further. I did find the course informative and a reasonably user-friendly experience, but I don’t have anything as a comparison tool-this was my first online class taken. To sum up: going the online TEFL course option is by far the smartest TEFL option, but until The TEFL Academy modernizes its communication and certification services, you might want to also take a look at other online TEFL program options. Two months is just way too long for something to arrive in the post.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post “you might want to also take a look at other online TEFL program options” appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Tim.

I decided to do the TEFL Academy Level 5 TEFL Course because I am planning to move abroad and it seemed like a very useful qualification that might help me to find work in other countries.
The course is well laid out and easy to follow with a dashboard showing progress. You cannot advance to the next module until the current one is finished. Each module has a test at the end which can be taken a number of times if necessary. At first, I tried to get through it as quickly as possible but my test results were only just enough to pass. Then I started making notes as I went along and following up on some of the suggested additional material and this helped improve my scores.
I found grammar a challenge, mainly because I don’t remember ever being taught it at school, but I managed. It also helped me understand some of the terms in learning to speak another language myself!
The assignments were a bit more demanding than I had anticipated, it’s worth taking time to look at all the material provided and do some research of your own.
What I liked about the course was the flexibility so I could fit it into my own schedule and the response from the support staff was prompt.
I was a bit surprised that there is no practical assessment of actually teaching English, but having done a lot of training and teaching in my day job, I was confident about that aspect.
I would recommend this course to anyone who is thinking of teaching English as a second language. There is a useful section at the end of the course designed to help you find jobs.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post “What I liked about the course was the flexibility” appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

The TEFL Academy review, submitted by A.H.

Wow! I definitely wasn’t ready for how intense the course was! I thought it would just be multiple choice quizzes, but you will find yourself needing to submit essays and lesson plans and reading a whole load of material. If I had to give the actual course materials a grade, they would get a big juicy five-star from me.

I just thought the feedback was a little too generic and once the course is over, it’s over. Not a whole lot of support after the course.

But for anyone looking for an online tefl course that you won’t just fly through in a matter of a few days, then this should be the choice of course for you.

The TEFL Academy Warning! Before you decide whether to choose to take your TEFL certification with this company, we strongly urge you to read the following TEFL Academy/TTA Scam article:

https://trustedteflreviews.com/2019/03/25/the-tefl-academy-certification-review/

Read more The TEFL Academy 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

The post Review of The TEFL Academy Online TEFL certification course program appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

6 TEFL Red Flags – avoid getting scammed on your course purchase.

6 TEFL Red Flags that the TEFL course that you are about to purchase may likely be a TEFL certification scam!

1. The company has a Facebook page but has turned off the Reviews tab.

The manipulation of reviews is a massive issue within the TEFL course industry, and this manipulation shows up in many forms:

1. Almost all of the major TEFL review websites are privately owned and earn money via affiliate marketing – meaning that they exist because of backhanders from the TEFL companies that publish reviews. It is, therefore, in the financial interests of those sites to promote positive reviews – whether real or fake – and discreetly hide the negative reviews.
2. Some TEFL programs employ “Brand Ambassadors” to promote their courses – also through affiliate marketing – and these TEFL program minions will write absolutely anything to get you to buy the TEFL course(s) they are promoting. Sometimes the blogger has taken the course and sometimes they have no experience with it whatsoever.
3. Many review websites, such as Trustpilot, charge companies for the pleasure of being listed. Trustpilot is known for its relaxed attitude to not following up and verifying reviews. Some of the well-known companies that have Trustpilot listings take full advantage of this by flooding their listing with fake reviews. Companies listed on Trustpilot also have the option of paying to have poor reviews deleted.
4. There are also TEFL programs that promote negative SEO, by publishing negative reviews online about their business competitors.
5. Facebook (Meta) has recently been messing around (upgrading) with the Pages experience. this means that now you need to be logged into Facebook to view a company’s reviews. On the mobile version, it is difficult to find the Reviews section. Our advice is to log into Facebook, using a laptop, and check whether a program has its Reviews tab turned on or off. If their Reviews tab is turned off, something fishy is going on.

We don’t allow TEFL companies to manipulate their reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews and we don’t charge TEFL companies anything for listing their programs.

The only advertising allowed is granted to the TEFL program winner of the annual Teachers’ Choice Award. TEFL Online Pro is the winner of this year’s award, so they have been given the opportunity 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.

2. The company is falsifying its accreditation status.

There are legitimate international TEFL accreditation bodies, there are questionable international TEFL accreditation bodies, and there are made-up international TEFL accreditation bodies.

Having worked in the TEFL industry for many years now, it is easy for me to be able to distinguish between all three.

Regarding the latter, you can notice these from a mile away because they almost always tend to show generic stock footage photos of businesspeople in boardrooms, wearing suits, and looking very serious about some type of business issue.

The people who run reputable TEFL accreditation bodies don’t hang around all day in boardrooms, wearing business suits.

To save yourself a whole load of wasted time and effort, we strongly recommend that you read the TEFL Accreditation Guide before parting ways with your hard-earned cash:

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

3. Level 5 TEFL courses.

Five years ago, no one had heard of a “Level 5” TEFL course.

You simply chose between an onsite or online TEFL/TESOL/TESL certification course – 120 hours being the industry standard.

Then came along the first few mentions of “Level 5” and more recently it has become very popular to claim that a Level 5 course is the best TEFL course to take.

Employers don’t give two hoots whether you took an over-priced Level 5 TEFL course or not. “Level 5” is just another marketing gimmick – of which there are numerous in this industry.

Employers of teachers online and overseas, and government job visa departments, want to see proof that you have completed a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certification course.

If you already have teaching experience then a course covering fewer hours will often do, but the industry standard is 120 hours.

Should you wish to, you can also choose a course that adds a practical teaching component to the 120-hour standard regulation – recalculating the total number of hours in the course to a maximum of between 140 and 150.

Any course consisting of more than 120 hours (or between 140-150 hours with the practical teaching component) is unnecessary and won’t, in any way or form, increase your chances of landing a teaching job or getting your work visa.

Also, the Ofqual company that regulates the Level 5 TEFL syllabus – based in the UK – is not an accreditation awarding body. They only regulate the courses. This means that you can pay extra and take a Level 5 TEFL course, but that is no assurance that your certificate will be recognized by online and overseas employers.

It definitely won’t guarantee you better employment prospects over a fully accredited 120-hour TEFL/TESOL course.

In any TEFL job interview situation, it is the 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certification course that you will be asked to provide proof of having taken – i.e., the accepted industry standard.

Our advice is to place less importance on the brand of the TEFL/TESOL qualification and, instead, focus on whether the course is truly internationally recognized.

The vast majority of people reading this article will need to take a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL course to teach English online or overseas.

Take a look at the TEFL Directory for guidance:

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

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

4. The course costs less than $50.

TEFL isn’t rocket science, but it does take relatively thorough training to become a TEFL teacher.

TEFL programs that offer dirt-cheap TEFL courses for under $50 are simply providing you with a piece of paper that says you are a qualified TEFL teacher. Claiming to be a TEFL teacher and having the skills and knowledge to be one are two completely different things.

Our advice is not to go for the cheap TEFL courses.

You should treat your TEFL course as an investment, and not as a shortcut to getting qualified to teach English online or overseas – something you likely won’t be able to do anyway when you invest so little in your online education.

5. TEFL programs that try to undermine the reputation of Trusted TEFL Reviews.

Trusted TEFL Reviews publishes every review that has been proven to come from a reliable source – AKA a real TEFL graduate.

We never delete poor reviews – although we are constantly asked to do so – and some TEFL companies that are so used to manipulating their customer reviews online choose to try and undermine the reputation of Trusted TEFL Reviews when we refuse to delete a poor review, or when we refuse to publish a review that has been written by a TEFL school’s staff member.

We recommend reading the Common TEFL Scams article to learn more about this:

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

6. The TEFL course is free.

We have noticed that a few relatively new online TEFL/TESOL programs are advertising their courses as “free”.

Given that businesses tend to traditionally operate on a business model whereby they create revenue in exchange for services rendered, our attention was piqued by this apparent middle finger to traditional business model marketing.

So, we did a bit of digging around to see how a business could run a profit by offering a free TEFL course.

We conclude that the so-called “free” course is just a front for charging you throughout the course in the form of unexpected, hidden charges.

We also noticed that the free TEFL courses – all of them – are not accredited.

7. Bonus Red Flag: Affiliate Marketing.

The TEFL Affiliate Marketing Scam is a massive issue within the TEFL industry.

These TEFL program sales minions are extremely adept at stretching the truth and creating false narratives.

If you stumble across their website or blog, you will read about how such and such a program (always a program they earn affiliate marketing sales commissions from) is the best choice, and how such and such a program (always a competitor that doesn’t do affiliate marketing) is a scam or just not trustworthy.

If you believe their shtick and enroll in one of the courses that they are promoting, you will likely end up paying for a subpar TEFL course that isn’t fully accredited, and the friendly person recommending the program(s) will stand to earn a sizable sales commission.

No reputable, fully accredited TEFL/TESOL certification course program operates via an affiliate’s marketing campaign model. They just can’t because their accreditation codes of practice don’t allow it.

We recommend reading the TEFL Affiliate Marketing Scam article to learn more about this:

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

This ‘6 TEFL Red Flags’ 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

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

The post 6 TEFL Red Flags | How To Spot Them appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.

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/

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 Online TEFL TESOL Course Review Scams in 2026 appeared first on Trusted TEFL Reviews.