English
The twelve-week course is suitable for people who are interested in learning to teach and wish to gain an initial teaching qualification that is recognised worldwide. It is suitable for candidates who have some English Language teaching experience but no initial qualification as well as for people with little or no previous teaching experience.
EC London
Angel Corner House, 1 Islington High St, London N1 9LQ, United Kingdom
Applicants will attend a face-to-face interview at EC London or on a video conferencing app. We do not offer phone interviews. Once you have been notified that your application has been successful, you will be required to pay a deposit followed by the full fees in order to secure your place on the course.
Our CELTA course is available in two options:
✓ Mixed-Mode CELTA (60% face-to-face, 40% online)
✓ Online CELTA (100% online)
For updates visit: facebook.com/eclondon.celta.courses
Programme dates
18th January — 09th April 2025
Classes are held on Mondays and Wednesdays
18:00-21:00
There are also classes on 12 Saturdays
10:00-16:00
The dates for the Saturday sessions are: 11 Jan, 18 Jan, 25 Jan, 1 Feb, 15 Feb, 22 Feb, 8 Mar, 15 Mar, 22 Mar, 29 Mar, 5 Apr.
£1,300
(includes the Cambridge English entry fee)
Part-time schedule for your convenience
Flexible course: Online or Mixed Mode (online & face-to-face)
Guaranteed work upon graduation
Global teaching opportunities
Mixed-Mode: a combination of face-to-face and online learning, offering flexibility and convenience for participants.
We are one of the only schools in London to offer a Mixed-Mode CELTA.
40% of sessions are online: Learn and teach remotely, gaining valuable online teaching experience.
60% of sessions are face-to-face: Lessons at EC London’s centre in Angel, providing in-person teaching practice.
What is the mixed-mode CELTA course?
EC London have been successfully running mixed-mode courses since they were introduced by Cambridge in 2021. The mixed-mode CELTA provides you with training and practice in both online and in-person teaching. There are clear advantages to this as you will experience both modes and gain a deeper understanding of how these work. You will see your tutors and peers teach in these modes, as well as doing this yourself. Having experience, training and feedback in online and face-to-face teaching will strengthen your CV. The syllabus and assessment of the mixed-mode course is the same as the online and face-to-face courses.
How does the mixed-mode course work?
We will meet in person on day one of the course at our London branch. We will then be online for the first few weeks of the course. We then change to the face-to-face mode for the remainder of the course. During the CELTA, you will teach a total of eight lessons. The first three are online and the remaining five will be at our centre in London. The first part of the course is online so that you get used to the platform and learn about online teaching. We then switch to face-to-face before you teach your first face-to-face class.
You will have the opportunity to meet your students before you teach them and you will observe an experienced tutor teach a lesson with those students before you plan your first lesson with them (in both modes).
Online CELTA Course
EC London is offering a part-time online course leading to the Cambridge Assessment English CELTA qualification.
The twelve-week course is suitable for people who are interested in learning to teach and wish to gain an initial teaching qualification that is recognised world wide.
Our online CELTA course is suitable for candidates who have some English Language teaching experience but no initial qualification as well as for people with little or no previous teaching experience.
Entry Requirements
Applicants will attend a face-to-face interview at EC London. In exceptional circumstances for applicants who are outside the UK, it may be possible to arrange a Skype interview during the same interview period. We do not offer phone interviews.
Once you have been notified that your application has been successful, you will be required to pay the full fees in order to secure your place on the course.
CELTA participants must:
Course Content
The CELTA course consists of:
Teaching Practice
The course includes six hours’ teaching observed by tutors and peers. Course participants have regular teaching practice throughout the course.
You will be observed teaching at two levels during the course and you will teach lessons of up to an hour, depending on the stage of the course.
On days when you are not teaching, you will observe your peers and give constructive feedback on their lessons.
Workload & Assessment
Participants are expected to attend 100% of the course.
During the course, you must:
In addition to the core contact hours, we estimate that participants need to spend a minimum of 80 hours for the required reading, research, pre- and post- session tasks, assignments and lesson preparation.
There is no final written examination. The assessment is continuous and participants are assessed on their language knowledge, planning and lesson preparation, teaching, assignments and professionalism.
Final grades awarded consist of Fail, Pass, Pass B and Pass A.
IT Requirements for online CELTA course
Participants need the following to be able to teach online:
Internet:
Hardware requirements:
A computer with the capability to run Zoom.
External devices:
The CELTA tutors at EC London are highly experienced and knowledgeable practitioners with between 15 and 40+ years’ experience in their field. All have extensive experience in English language teaching and draw on their involvement with various aspects of English language education, such as English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), higher education (HE), teaching young learners and academic management. A number of our training team work as Cambridge assessors for CELTA and DELTA courses. All our tutors stay abreast of industry practices and trends by participating in teaching and training conferences and keeping up-to-date with reading and research in the field.
Course structure & tutor contact time
All CELTA courses on the market follow the same syllabus and course guidelines as specified by Cambridge English. However, you will find some differences between centres in the way that they decide to organise their timetables and what kind of materials they use. Do check with a centre to ensure that this fits your needs and expectations. At EC London, we ensure that candidates receive at least 120 hours of quality tutor contact time, where you have time to ask questions, discuss concepts and ideas with others and where experienced tutors demonstrate teaching techniques with you, so that you can experience these from a learner’s perspective. This enables you to fully engage with the pros and cons of using different techniques and to gain a depth of understanding of teaching methodology in a practical way. Participants receive feedback on the progress being made throughout the course in both a discussion and a written format. We also provide a tutorial in the final stages of the course for all candidates, rather than the recommended minimum Cambridge advise.
Observation of experienced teachers
You will have the opportunity to observe experienced teachers during your course, which includes not only your CELTA tutors, but also the current teaching staff at EC London, who are experienced, creative and innovative. We include a minimum of 6 hours observation, as stipulated by Cambridge, but the opportunity for more if you wish.
Facilities and resources
EC London has up-to-date technological resources in all classrooms, such as smart touchscreen TVs and a recently upgraded computer system. We have a wealth of resources for teachers to use in both paper and digital formats to help with lesson planning. Our newly renovated building in Angel Islington also has plenty of space and facilities in which to study and relax.
“Doing the CELTA course with EC London was an amazing experience. I am based in Brazil and I had the opportunity to practise my teaching with students of different nationalities. I also learnt how to teach online and gained confidence to handle technology.
The CELTA is definitely hard work and you will be out of your comfort zone, but the tutors are very professional, reliable and supportive. They provide useful feedback that helps you be aware of both your strengths and the areas you need to work on.
If you already teach or want to start teaching English, taking the CELTA will make a difference to your professional life. I strongly recommend it!”
“I did the mixed-mode course. I started my course in January 2024. What I enjoyed the most about the course is the content of it. I admire the fact that the course highly prioritised the practical side of teaching. I think, as teachers, that is what we need the most. We need to mould our teaching practises with the dynamics of the teaching and learning environments. Our trainers were great! They were very flexible, approachable and helpful throughout the course. I would surely recommend CELTA at EC London to anybody who is looking forward to enhancing their career as a teacher and to complete CELTA with commitment and motivation.”
“I completed the CELTA course with EC London in December 2019. It was one of the hardest, most rewarding, challenging and engaging things I’ve done. I learnt vital communication and teaching skills that I will be able to use in so many different avenues of work and life. I am travelling at the moment and hope to use the qualification whilst I’m away. It certainly makes getting a work visa easier in a lot of places!
EC London were very supportive and we were all given plenty of guidance and help along the way, while also being given tools to use when they won’t be there! Thank you to Cathy, Madeleine, Prakash and the team for all their hard work.”
“I did my CELTA with EC London in Sep and it was probably the best money I ever spent. It is truly a very challenging and strenuous course but equally if not more rewarding. I learned so much on this course and do feel prepared to continue my quest to teach English as a second language. I would like to extend my eternal gratitude to my teachers Joëlle, Chris and Prakash, for their continuous support, clarification, professionalism, and laboring with us till the end. You guys are awesome! I will miss you guys dearly, thanks again for making EC London the best place for your students.”
“I opted to do the online course with EC London. I would 100% recommend doing the CELTA with them. I’ve really enjoyed my experience teaching students from around the globe. The satisfaction you get from your students learning something valuable from you is unmatched!
Our tutors Chris, Joelle, and Prakash were extremely supportive throughout the duration of the course. You can tell they have decades worth of experience between them. It was a pleasure being able to learn from them and work alongside my co-teachers to create a positive learning environment for our students.
I’ll forever be grateful to EC for guiding me through my teaching journey. Thank you”
“Completing the part-time Mixed-Mode CELTA course was a transformative journey. I had no prior teaching experience before starting the course, but in just a few months it has equipped me with the practical skills – from lesson planning to classroom management – to embark on a new career in teaching.
The course is well structured, and although it is hard work, each stage is broken down into manageable chunks. The Mixed-Mode course gave us the benefit of applying the skills we’ve learned in practice with both online and in-person students. Whether you are a seasoned teacher or a complete newbie like I was, the CELTA course at EC will push you to develop the skills and confidence to be a better teacher and communicator. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough!”
EC London is a teacher-training centre for the University of Cambridge’s Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA)
As part of our teacher-training programme, EC London English school needs volunteer students to participate in free English lessons given by our student teachers in the CELTA programme.
All lessons are carefully supervised by our teacher trainers.
Our CELTA course is available in two options:
✓ Mixed-Mode CELTA (60% face-to-face, 40% online)
✓ Online CELTA (100% online)
For updates visit: facebook.com/eclondon.celta.courses
Lesson times
18:00-21:00 UK time
Pre-Intermediate (A2) dates
13th January — 24th February 2025
Upper-Intermediate (B2) dates
26th February — 2nd April 2025
You can complete the application form found on this page and send it to eclondoncelta@ecenglish.com or send us an email with any questions you have before applying. If your question is not answered here, please feel free to get in touch with our team: eclondoncelta@ecenglish.com
The course fees are £1,300 in total (including the Cambridge English entry fee). You are also required to buy two books. There are no other additional costs.
Towards the end of your CELTA course, we will include a session on finding jobs and give you advice on your CV and job interviews. Our trainers have experience in different contexts and countries and may be able to advise you if there are particular countries in which you are interested in working. Other recruiters also provide us with information about current vacancies in teaching which we can share with you.
As well as our adult centres around the world, EC English also run the popular Embassy Summer courses for young learners in the UK, US and Malta. Both Embassy Summer and our adult schools regularly hire newly qualified teachers, especially in the run up the summer when our student population increases significantly. Candidates who complete their CELTA course at EC London will receive information on any upcoming posts, guidance on how to apply and will be given a chance to interview for any summer teaching position they are eligible for, which could lead to a permanent position with EC English.
This depends on where in the world you would like to work. The Cambridge CELTA qualification is the gold standard of TEFL courses and is recognised across the world. In some countries, you can’t get a job without it, so having the CELTA certification is definitely the right start for finding work.
Yes. This part of the course is called Teaching Practice (TP). We recruit students from our existing student population at EC and we advertise on social media. The students know that the teachers are in training and so they are cooperative and enthusiastic about learning English. This part of the course is often the most valuable and rewarding for our trainee teachers.
Once you have been accepted onto the course, we will send you a pre-course task to do. The aim of this is to help you feel ready for the course. It is not an assessed task. It includes questions to get you thinking about learners, language, resources and developing teaching skills. It also includes a list for further reading should you wish to do more.
No, you’ll need to attend on Monday and Wednesday evenings and on the scheduled Saturdays for that course.
All our CELTA courses at EC London are part-time. You will need to attend classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings and most Saturdays during the 12 weeks. The first two weeks consist of sessions on teaching methodology and language. You will then start teaching your students in week 3 of the course and each candidate teaches once a week (on Monday or Wednesday). On the day you are not teaching, you will be observing and then participating in the feedback discussion. Saturdays will continue to consist of sessions with your tutors and peers on teaching methodology, language and lesson planning.
The four written assignments are spaced out throughout the course and, although they are assessed, they are developmental and will complement what you are learning in the teaching practice sessions.
The part-time course is suitable for people who are currently working and want to fit the CELTA around their working hours, or who are not working and would like to study at a pace that is less intense than a full-time course.
Every CELTA course consists of a minimum of 120 hours built into the course timetable. You will then need to allow time to complete reading, written assignments and lesson plans outside of these hours. Cambridge states that you will need around an additional 80 hours of study time in total throughout the course.
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is an umbrella term for English language teaching. CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) specifically refers to the course and qualification provided by Cambridge English. You will find lots of TEFL courses on the market and should do research about these to ensure you choose the right course.
No. CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification, so you do not need any previous experience. The course is also suitable for those who have some experience but wish to enhance their practice and who would like to add the Cambridge English CELTA qualification to their CV.
Yes. This is a stipulation from Cambridge English and will be the same for any provider. It is important that a centre ensures the course is suitable for you. It is also a great opportunity for you to ask any questions about the course.
Yes. All three courses cover the same syllabus and assessment criteria. On passing the CELTA course, you will be issued with a CELTA certificate from Cambridge English.
Yes, you can take your online CELTA course from any location. You will need to participate in live (synchronous) classes throughout the whole course, so do consider the time difference from your location.
CELTA Mixed-Mode was introduced by Cambridge in 2021 due to the increased demand for online teaching. EC London have been running these successful courses ever since. The mixed-mode CELTA provides you with training and practice in both online and face-to-face teaching. There are clear advantages to this as you will experience both modes and gain a deeper understanding of how these work. You will see your tutors and peers teach in these modes, as well as doing this yourself. Having experience, training and feedback in face-to-face and online teaching will strengthen your CV.
