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Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
The CELTA is a qualification for people wanting to teach EFL and who have little or no previous experience in this area. The scheme is administered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate who approve centres to run courses and ensure that every course is validated by an external assessor.Top of page
How do I qualify for the course?
The recommended minimum age for entry on CELTA courses is 20. From January 2001, applicants between the ages of 18 and 20 have been accepted at the centre's discretion.
You must have a standard of education which would allow you to enter higher education in your own country.
Non-native speakers need a command of English that will stand up to the pressures of the course. (We suggest Cambridge Proficiency Level or IELTS 9)
You do not need to have any previous teaching experience or be able to speak another language, although this may help. We also consider people with teaching experience but no formal qualifications.
You must have an awareness of language and a competence in English, both written and spoken, that enables you to follow the course - and this is necessary whether your first language is English or not. This means we expect you to be able to write coherently, using correct punctuation and spelling.Top of page
What do I have to do on the course?
The overall course requirements are specified by Cambridge and then individual centres design their course programme to fulfil these requirements.
Our courses at ITTC are designed to help you gain the certificate and make the course an enjoyable learning experience - although the course is very intensive and you must be prepared for this.
ITTC courses have input sessions on language and teaching methodology in the mornings. These sessions cover the theory behind teaching and practical ideas to use in the classroom. In the afternoon there is teaching practice where you will teach students who come to us voluntarily for lessons. The students know that their teachers are undergoing training. Our students come from all over the world and have different levels of English.
All our courses last 4 weeks and each week day you will be at the centre from 9.00 to 17.00 (approximately).You can have a look at an example timetable to give you an idea, although each course is individually designed by the course tutors to meet the needs of the individuals on it.Top of page
The CELTA course does not have an examination at the end of it! You will be assessed continuously and kept aware of how you are doing throughout the course.
There are three components of the assessment:
You must fulfil the criteria in all the components.
What does this mean in practice?
Professional Development
We don't give you any specific assignments in this area, but we look at how you develop over the course - remember that the CELTA is an entry point into the ELT profession and any prospective employer will want to know how you relate to your colleagues and your students, how conscientious you are, how you present yourself and your work, whether you are punctual, reliable etc.
Written Assignments
The course requirements are for 4 assignments on specific areas of the syllabus totalling a 3000 words. Assignments are set to focus on language, learners, classroom practice and teaching and learning materials. We have designed our assignments to fit in with the input timetable spread out over the four weeks. You will have a total of 5 pieces of written work (we divide one of the assignments into 2 parts). The assignments are in a variety of formats; note-form, report and discursive essay. They are graded on a pass or fail basis, but if your work does not meet the requirements the first time you will have the chance to resubmit it. You must pass 3 out of 4 assignments.Top of page
First you need to complete the application form and the pre-interview task. After we have received these we will arrange an interview. We prefer you to come to ITTC for your interview, but if this is impractical we may be able to arrange a telephone interview.
At the interview - usually held in groups of three or four - you will have the opportunity to tour the school, meet candidates who are part way through a course (You can ask them for survival tips!) and tutors. You may also be invited to watch some teaching practice. This should give you an idea of the intensive nature of the CELTA. You will also do some work on language awareness so that the tutor conducting the interview will then be able to assess how much preparation you will need to do for your course.
Remember the interview is a two-way process, and will be your chance to find out everything you need to know. Feel free to ask any questions you like.Top of page
ITTC has been running Cambridge Certificate courses since we started in 1984 and trained over 4000 candidates to certificate level. We offer courses every month throughout the year.
We have a team of permanent trainers at the centre. This means that you can get support both before and after your course. All tutors at ITTC are highly qualified, with a wide range of experience, both teaching overseas and in the UK. Many of the tutors involved on CELTA courses are either senior assessors or assessors for the CELTA scheme. Meet our staff.
You will have all the facilities you need to complete the course successfully - we have an extremely comprehensive library with all the materials you need for your research, and a modern networked multi-media centre.This means that you can use our email and word processing facilities. You may also like to research ideas for your lessons on the Internet. Have a look around the building.Top of page
