CELTA and Cert. TESOL are the only internationally recognised teaching qualifications but are there any differences between them?
Online TEFL Courses – there are a multitude of TEFL courses available, before signing up for any course you should check that it is a recognised qualification which incorporates teaching practice. Any TEFL course that doesn’t include teaching practice cannot really prepare you for the classroom – would you pay a mechanic to fix your car if you knew they’d never looked under a bonnet before?!
| CELTA | Cert. TESOL | |
| Awarded by | Cambridge English Language Assessment | Trinity College London |
| Minimum number of contact hours | 120 | 130 |
| Accredited by Ofqual
|
√ Level 5 (comparable in difficulty to the 2nd level of a university degree course) | √ Level 5 (comparable in difficulty to the 2nd level of a university degree course) |
| Premium Product Endorsement NEAS Australia
|
√ | √ |
| Accepted by British Council | √ | √ |
| Full-time | √ 4 or 5 weeks | √ minimum 4 weeks |
| Part-time | √ a few months to a year | √ a few months to a year |
| Online | √ a blended learning course, combining online self-study with hands-on teaching practice | |
| No. of Providers | over 2,800 in 130 countries | over 100 in the UK and worldwide |
| Teaching Young Learners Extension | X CELTYL (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners) – No longer available | √ TYLEC (Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate) |
Sources:
Trinity College
The Ultimate Guide to CELTA 
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