“With only 1% of CELTA course participants worldwide failing the course, you would be forgiven for thinking it was just a case of enrolling. However, a quick internet search about the intensity of the course will show that it is not to be taken lightly”
– The Ultimate Guide to CELTA by Emma Jones & Amanda Momeni
OK, now you have done your research, you know how intensive it is but that still doesn’t answer the question of whether it is difficult or not…..
This is an impossible question to answer, after all what one person finds difficult, another may find easy. So perhaps you should judge for yourself. I will tell you what you have to do, you should decide whether you think it is difficult:
- complete 6 hours of assessed teaching practice
- complete 6 hours of observation of experienced teachers
- complete 3-4 written assignments covering 4 topic areas (focus on the learner, language skills related tasks, language related tasks, lessons from the classroom) each of the topic areas require a maximum 1000 words
- complete a minimum 120 course hours
- read a variety of books to help with the above
In my experience as a CELTA tutor, the people who struggle most with the course are those who are one or more of the following:
a) disorganised and unable to work to deadlines
b) unwilling to put the required amount of work in
c) resistant to feedback
If you are about to embark on a CELTA course but are worried that it might be too difficult, I strongly urge you to read “The Ultimate Guide to CELTA” Amanda and I wrote it to help people like you.
“The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.”
The Ultimate Guide to CELTA 
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