Everyone loves a bargain, so it’s no surprise that people are often tempted by the cheapest online TEFL courses. However, is it a good idea to go for the cheapest TEFL certification and are cheap online TEFL courses legitimate? Here, we put the spotlight on the cheapest TEFL courses available to see if they’re worth your while.
Checklist for Cheap TEFL Courses Online
Before we start looking at the options, it’s worth keeping a few things in mind when considering a cheap TEFL certificate.
Whilst it’s certainly possible to find a decent online TEFL course at a low price, when it comes to the cheapest TEFL certificates you need to look out for the following:
- Does it include at least 120 hours of study time?
- Is the TEFL course accredited?
- Is tutor support offered?
- Can you find positive reviews of the course on TEFL review sites?
- Does the course meet the requirements of your potential employer or chosen location?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions then you could be onto a winner!
However, to avoid any potential pitfalls, you should also find out the requirements of any employer you’d like to work for before choosing your course.
Some employers may request that you hold a specific TEFL certification or do a minimum of a level 3 TEFL course. It’s therefore wise to have a good understanding of the different TEFL levels (and what they mean) and check the type and level of the TEFL course before buying. You need to make sure you get the right TEFL training for teaching English as a foreign language.
It’s also worth noting that you usually get what you pay for. The best cheap TEFL courses tend to be a bit more expensive, so you won’t find the likes of Premier TEFL or the International TEFL Academy listed here.
What we’re focused on here are the cheapest TEFL courses available. These can help you tick the TEFL certification box so that you can start applying to online English teaching jobs and begin teaching online.
This list includes what is quite possibly the cheapest 120-hour TEFL course online at its current price. So, let’s check them out!
The Cheapest TEFL Courses Online
If you want to do a cheap TEFL course you’ll need to go for an online TEFL certification. Online courses are always considerably cheaper than their in-class counterparts. Here are 3 of the cheapest TEFL certifications that are currently available:
World TESOL Academy
Accredited 120-hour TEFL/TESOL Course
- 120 hours of course content.
- 8 modules covered including: Introduction; English Words and Punctuation; Sentences and Tenses; Language Skills; Preparing for Lessons; Managing Your Class; Teaching English Online; Final Assessment.
- Accepted by all major online English teaching companies including DaDa ABC, iTutorGroup, Palfish, VIP Kid, Magic Ears, Whales English, iTalki, Cambly, Preply, Landi, and more.
- Can be used to teach English overseas, valid in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and more.
- Accredited by ACCREDITAT and CPD.
- Offers TEFL TESOL certification upon completion.
- Price: $118.
ITT International TEFL and TESOL
Fast Track Accredited 120 Hour TEFL Course
- 120-hour course.
- 13 modules covered including: Essay writing; Lesson planning, how to design effective lesson plans for teaching EFL/ESL; Classroom management, advanced principles of classroom management; How to motivate students; How to teach grammar, basic principles of teaching grammar to young learners; How to teach Academic writing; How to teach reading, listening, to young learners; How to teach online, to young learners; How to teach Business English; Resume writing; How to find a job; The teaching and learning of phonics; How to teach writing to young learners.
- Unlimited access to the course, you can complete it at your own pace.
- Tutor feedback and tutor support included.
- Full support with job placement.
- Accredited by the International TEFL/TESOL Accreditation Council.
- Price: $299.
TEFL UK
120hr Professional TEFL Course (10% using code 2F89F6F5)
- 120-hour online TEFL course.
- 13 modules covered including: Starting Your TEFL Journey; Grammatical Awareness; Lesson Planning; Building a Lesson Plan; Using Games and Controlled Practice; Lexis, Phonology and Functional Language; Receptive Skills: Listening; Receptive Skills: Reading; Productive Skills: Speaking (and Vocabulary); Productive Skills: Writing; Grammar Plus + DVD Lesson; Teaching Children; Classroom Survival Tips.
- Study at your own pace.
- Internationally accepted qualification with free job placement service to their TEFL graduates.
- Accredited by UKRLP and FCDO approved.
- Price: $129.
- Get a 10% discount on this price by entering code 2F89F6F5 at checkout.
These are three of the cheapest online TEFL courses right now, so if budget is a concern these could be right up your street.
You will notice that out of these three courses, the course from the World TESOL Academy is by far the cheapest at current prices. It is possibly both the cheapest TESOL certification and the cheapest 120-hour TEFL course online. Therefore, if all you care about is getting the cheapest TEFL certificate online, this could be the one to go for.
If tutor support is what you’re after, only the ITT course offers this here. That’s because in this price bracket, you’re very unlikely to find it with a TEFL course. If tutor support is important to you and you still want to explore some other options, don’t forget to check out some of these cheap TEFL courses online that are in the next price bracket up.
What About Groupon TEFL Courses?
You should probably steer clear of TEFL on Groupon. Although some Groupon courses will offer value, it can be very hard to separate the wheat from the chaff on there. You are much better off doing your research and finding a TEFL course on a site dedicated to TEFL. In this way, you can be more assured that the course you choose will be of reasonable quality and that it will be recognized and respected by potential employers.
Is There a Free TEFL Course Online?
This is a question we get asked occasionally and the short answer is no. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to put together a good TEFL course. Therefore, it’s safe to say you won’t find any complete, free TEFL certification course online anywhere. Furthermore, if you ever see such an offer advertised it could well be a scam, so be careful!
There is some good news though, it is still possible to find a cheap TEFL certification online! Admittedly, some will be better than others and there is no doubt that price can have an impact on quality. After all, you get what you pay for.
Should You Take One of the Cheapest TEFL Courses Online?
At the end of the day, this all comes down to your personal preference and will once again depend upon your budget and online TEFL certification cost can vary widely. If you just want to get TEFL certified as quickly as possible so that you can get out there earning money ASAP, then one of the cheapest online TEFL courses could be for you. They don’t rely heavily on tutoring so you can blaze through them in no time.
However, if you want more from your TEFL certification experience, you can check out the best online TEFL courses here. These are in a higher price bracket but will be suitable if you’re looking for a more widely recognized qualification with more personal tutor support, teaching practice, and job placement assistance.
Whatever you decide, just make sure you do your research and you’ll be bound to get off to a good start to your TEFL career!
James has been helping people teach English abroad for over twelve years. He’s traveled to over 30 countries, lived in 3, and taught English in Chile and online.
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