TEFL Accreditation Explained & Why It's Important

In short, TEFL accreditation is the process of quality control for educational and professional certifications. It incorporates reviews and approvals from established and independent bodies in the industry.

Essentially, TEFL providers need to be accredited for the same reason as any school or university: to ensure quality. It’s a way for employers to be reassured a graduate is properly equipped for a position. In fact, most TEFL job postings don’t hire teachers who don’t hold an accredited qualification. 

Ensures good quality courses

Accreditation ensures that your certification course meets industry standards for the extent of training, the quality of curriculum, and the level of instruction.

Trusted worldwide

A TEFL job puts you in front of dozens of students multiple times a day. These students trust you to deliver not only the skills to enhance their lives with English proficiency, but also the means of utilising effective teaching techniques.

If you value your role as an English teacher, ensuring your course is properly accredited is a non-negotiable. 

Protection for employers

Ultimately, employers are taking a chance when they hire someone for a position. Not only do they have their students to think about, but they often also have to worry about governors, parents and carers to report and give feedback to. From student welfare to exam results, hiring teachers with the right amount of accreditation is a way of ensuring that their reputation is not put in jeopardy.

At the risk of sounding totally contradictory, the lack of one sole accrediting body ruling over the TEFL industry is what can lead to instances of it not being especially important. 

What we mean by this is essentially: just as anyone can set up a TEFL course, anyone can just as easily set up a TEFL accrediting body. It’s a trend we’ve run into countless times across the industry: TEFL courses have been set up and suddenly been showered in accreditation from a limited company they have just founded. 

If an accrediting body doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, its accreditation isn’t worth much. That’s why it’s always worth doing your own thorough research into the accrediting body when a course sells itself as being ‘accredited by XYZ’. 

Which accreditation bodies can you trust?

Thankfully, years of experience in the industry have equipped us with a good nose for sniffing out which accreditation bodies are actually worth putting your trust behind.

At The TEFL Academy, we were the first TEFL course provider to be recognised by government-regulated awarding bodies in both the US and the UK. Our 120-hour Level 3 course and 168-hour Level 5 course are both regulated by Ofqual (a UK government department) and awarded by Qualifi, a UK-government-recognised awarding body.

Our courses are also DEAC-approved for meeting Approved Quality Curriculum (AQC) status. DEAC is a U.S. Department of Education national accreditor. For more information on our partners, you can check out our accreditation page. 

What doesn’t count as accreditation

When browsing across different courses, you will often see providers claiming to be members of organisations such as IATEFL or TESOL.org. These are fine organisations in the TEFL sphere, but they are not accrediting bodies, and shouldn’t be considered accrediting partners.

First off, sticking a shiny sticker on something doesn’t automatically mean it’s the real deal. Most TEFL course providers will advertise themselves as members of websites or organisations. 

They do this on the assumption that simply having their logo present will be enough to convince students that their course is more reputable than it really is. 

Always take the time to research a provider, their claims of accreditation and the nature of said accreditation. Some of the most helpful requirements to keep in mind when it comes to verifying whether a TEFL course is fully accredited can include: 

1. Government-regulated accreditation

A course that has Government-regulated accreditation such as by Ofqual in the UK will be trusted internationally. 

2. Listed on their website

If a course provider claims to be accredited by a regulatory body, they should be listed on the accreditor’s website. If they aren’t, something fishy is going on! 

3. How long have they been accredited?

We’ve seen courses spring up and only have a few weeks’ worth of accreditation behind them. Generally, the longer a provider has been accredited, the more established they are in the industry.

4. Good-quality website

Does a course provider have a good website that runs smoothly and has clearly been built well? Or does it look like a quick slap-dash job?

5. Listing requirements for accreditation

Do the course providers list all the requirements and processes for being accredited on their website? Not listing the standards they’re expected to meet might mean they have something to hide!

As teaching English as a foreign language becomes more and more popular across the globe, employers are taking more and more care when it comes to the claims behind a candidate’s TEFL qualifications. 

Do employers look at accreditation?

Nowadays, employers take a candidate’s experience and qualifications. But they do a deep dive into the quality of any teaching certifications. The duration of a course and the content of the course are the biggest requirements employers look at when it comes to accreditation. 

Most employers ask for at least 120 hours of learning.

1. TQUK 

The Training Qualifications UK (TQUK) offers Ofqual-regulated TEFL courses with some providers at Level 5. They also offer training programs outside the TEFL industry.

2. ODLQC

The Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC) awards accreditation specifically for online and distance learning. Although not solely limited to it, they focus on online TEFL courses. 

3. Other common bodies

Other TEFL accreditors specialising in the industry include the International Accreditation of TESOL Qualifying Organisations (IATQUO), which focuses on course providers across France, Spain and the Czech Republic. The Online TEFL and TESOL Standards Agency (OTTSA) is also a well-known accreditation partner specialising in online TEFL certification.

So, now that we’ve suitably spooked you with all the pitfalls and perils involved in finding the accreditation you need to begin teaching English abroad, you might be wondering where it is you can reliably find one. 

Well, we’ve got good news!

Our TEFL courses are DEAC-approved as meeting the criteria for Approved Quality Curriculum statutes (the DEAC is a US Department of Education-recognised awarding body). Furthermore, our course is regulated by the UK government department Ofqual and awarded by the UK government-recognised awarding body Qualifi.

We have hundreds of alumni stories and the largest TEFL jobs board in the world – showing just how much recruiters and employers love our graduates! There has never been a better time to receive an accredited TEFL certificate and begin teaching English abroad, so get in touch today to learn more about our courses!

The TEFL market doesn’t have one sole governing body recognised as accrediting different courses. 

But there are a number of established bodies, companies, language institutions and ministries for education that have a checklist of sorts when it comes to the standards of what TEFL certification should include:

1. At least 100 hours of subject coursework and training.
2. Validated by a recognised examining body. (This is normally an external examinations board or a university, but can also encompass an accrediting body such as Ofqual in the UK or Ministry of Education elsewhere). 
3. Course instructors must hold a degree and at least a Level 5 TEFL qualification. They should have extensive experience teaching English as a foreign language in a range of situations. 

These are some of the most important points to look out for when choosing between TEFL course providers. Many courses do not meet this criteria, so remember to be aware! 

The most common red flags we’ve seen when it comes to TEFL scams and accreditation include: 

• Advertised as being able to be completed over one weekend (the maths doesn’t add up!) 
• Classes and coursework not provided by suitably-qualified tutors. Experience teaching English and extensive credentials in the industry are essential! 

You have our permission to run for the hills if you ever come across a TEFL course advertising itself as accredited with either of these included. A certification from this course provider won’t be recognised by any respectable language school, and while we won’t rule out the possibility of you getting a job ever, your opportunities in the market will be severely limited. 

The bottom line? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

READ MORE:

TEFL Certification: What is TEFL & How To Get Certified?