TRINITY CertTESOL | Language Tuition Nottingham

Become an English Teacher

Our Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Or CertTESOL for short) is an internationally recognised qualification for teaching English as a foreign language! This course is accredited by Trinity College London and is recognised by The British Council as an initial qualification for teaching English both abroad and here in the UK. This certificate is accredited on the UK Qualifications Framework at level 5 (equivalent to the second year of a degree).

Some of our graduates have gone on to teach in colleges, universities, and private language schools here in the UK; while others have used the qualification to travel around the globe – teaching in situations as varied as Japanese Universities, Italian summer camps, primary schools in rural Tanzania, and everything in between!

You can find out more about what trainee teachers say about the course in the video below:

Dates and prices

The next CertTESOL courses will start:

Autumn 2023 – Part-time Course. (Starts 23rd October – course filling up – waiting list now open)
Spring 2024 – Part-time Course. (Starts 2nd April 2024 – Taking bookings now!)
Summer 2024 – Full-time Online Course. (July/~August 2024 – exact dates tbc)

Places are limited and courses often sell out, so please email us now to register your interest!

The course costs £1250. (Payment plans are available – contact us for details)

*** This course is currently FREE for our students who have settled in the UK as a refugee or those who hold a Hong Kong British National Overseas (BNO) visa, and are resident in the East-Midlands! Please contact our partners at Flying Cows for more information.

Our Course:

We have developed two different models of this course in order to make the CertTESOL as accessible to as wide a range of people as possible. Both models will equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to teach English to your students in both online and face to face settings. Both models result in exactly the same internationally renowned certificate.

Model 1: Part-time: This model takes 15 or 16 weeks to complete and involves blended elements of both online and face to face study. In this course the teaching theory and methodology modules are learned through online work completed from Monday to Friday each week. The practical modules are completed by attending sessions on Saturdays – some sessions will be face to face, and others online via video link. This course has been designed with those who are working or completing other studies in mind – requiring on average around 12-16 hours of study per week

Model 2: Full-time: This model usually takes 5 weeks to complete, and requires around 30-40 hours of study per week. It covers exactly the same content and practice as the part-time course, but requires full time study for the duration of the course, and is delivered fully online, involving a mix of self-study, online materials, and live sessions on Zoom with our expert tutors.

Why study with us?

Language Tuition Nottingham is proud to be one of the first schools to offer the CertTESOL qualification as a ‘blended learning’ course – which combines the convenience of online learning with the practical advantages of learning face to face with experienced tutors. (And we have now expanded this with a fully online option!) You will leave the course with all the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience required to teach English as a foreign language in both face to face and online classroom environments.

Our course has been designed to be accessible to all, and meet the needs of modern professionals who want to work as they study, or for those who would like to complete a teaching certificate while studying another course (for example to complement a University degree).

Our tutors are incredibly experienced with years of experience as teacher trainers, both here in the UK and abroad. We have worked very closely with Trinity College London to prepare the online study materials, so you can be sure that you won’t find anyone more qualified to guide you through this course.

In comparison to many other teacher training course providers, we work in small groups – with a maximum of four trainees* for every tutor – to ensure that you receive the time and support that you need to kick start your career.

(*6 on full-time/intensive course models)

Frequently asked questions

Can you tell me more about the course content?

It introduces the theory and practice of English language teaching and gives an insight into the role of the teacher and the challenges that learner’s face. The course covers a variety of topics, including: – Teaching methodologies – Grammar and language awareness – Observation of experienced teachers – Practical experience of teaching English to adults For a detailed breakdown of the syllabus and course content, please see the Trinity College London website.

Do I need to have any teaching experience to join the course?

The course has been designed for those with little or no experience of teaching English. It equips candidates with the basic skills and knowledge needed to take up their first post as an English language teacher. However, that’s not to say that the course doesn’t have value for experienced teachers either! In fact, experienced teachers may even find that they have built up some bad habits that newer teachers won’t need to face!

Do I need to be an expert in English grammar to teach English?

No, you do not need to be an ‘expert’! The course contains several units designed to help improve your grammar and language awareness. That said, some basic knowledge of grammatical terminology is required at the interview stage. So we recommend that you brush up on this before you start the course. If you would like to do a short online course to help you review this, then we can recommend ELT-Training’s ‘Grammar for Language Teachers’ or Language Point Training’s ‘How to Teach English Tenses’. (Please note that we are not affiliated with either of these courses, and have no responsibility over their content)

English isn’t my first language. Can I join the course?

Yes, of course! In fact, your experience of learning English as a second language may be very useful on the course! However, you will need to demonstrate a high level of English language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing at the interview stage, if English isn’t your first language.

Will I be qualified to teach children as well as adults?

Our course contains a unit on the methodology of teaching English to young learners. If you are teaching in private language schools, the CertTESOL should be sufficient to secure you a job. However, after gaining some experience, you may like to learn more about this area and/or specialise in teaching children. You can learn more about specific Young Learner pedagogy on Trinity College’s TYLEC (Teaching Young Learner Extension Certificate) course. Please note that if you wish to teach in UK state schools you will need to have a PGCE qualification or equivalent, or you can work as a teaching assistant without PGCE.

I’ve heard of ‘CELTA’ and ‘TEFL’ courses – Is the CertTESOL the same?

CELTA is a very similar teacher training qualification to the CertTESOL, accredited by Cambridge ESOL. Although similar in its content, the two courses differ in terms of more specific components and types of assessment. Trinity lays great emphasis on reflective journal writing, professional development and self-evaluation for trainees. Importantly, both CELTA and CertTESOL are internationally recognised and accepted by the British Council as initial qualifications for teachers in its accredited institutions in the UK and overseas, and both are accredited on the UK Qualifications Framework at level 5. ‘TEFL’ stands for ‘Teaching English as a Foreign Language’. It is a generic term that can be used to describe the whole profession and industry. Sometimes non-accredited courses – such as some online and weekend courses – are described as ‘TEFL’ courses. While these courses can be useful as a brief introduction to the profession, as they are unaccredited they can vary greatly in content and quality. It is important to note that many schools and teaching centres will not accept these as a teaching qualification.

I’ve heard some schools don’t accept online teaching qualifications – What about ‘blended learning’ courses?

It’s true that unaccredited TEFL courses that are delivered purely online, without any practical teaching component, are not accepted by some schools and teaching centres. However, our course is a ‘blended learning’ course – this means it contains a face to face element alongside the online component. The qualification gained from our blended learning course is viewed exactly the same as one gained on a face to face course. Upon successfully completing the course you will be awarded exactly the same internationally recognised Trinity College accredited CertTESOL certificate as with any other course provider.

Can I fail the course?

Globally, the Trinity CertTESOL has a very high pass rate – but it should be noted that this is not 100%. However, we would suggest that the fact that success is not automatically guaranteed is by itself a powerful statement of the quality of these courses. But don’t worry – our tutors are highly experienced, and will give you a great deal of support throughout the course, and our interview procedure is very stringent, so we won’t accept your money if we don’t think you are ready for the course yet.

Is there any funding available for the course?

This course is currently FREE for our students who have settled in the UK as a refugee or those who hold a Hong Kong British National Overseas (BNO) visa! Please contact our partners at Flying Cows for more information. We are currently looking into availability of Advanced Learner Loans, and Professional and Career Development Loans. We will post updates here when we have more information.