These terms are often used to refer to qualifications for English language teachers. CELTA is the most widely taken initial qualification of its kind in the world with more than 10,000 people successfully completing it annually. Because it is awarded by Cambridge ESOL, part of the renowned University of Cambridge, you can rely on its quality and recognition as a certification for the start of your English-teaching career path.

CELTA is designed as an initial teacher training course for people with little or no previous experience in the classroom. It is the most sought-after qualification for those who want to start English language teaching anywhere in the world. It is also very suitable for applicants with some experience in education but little formal training in the field of ELT. Even for people who have already attended methodology courses in teaching English from universities, the course provides an opportunity to practice what they have learnt (providing more detailed feedback on their abilities), re-package their skills and consolidate the theoretical principles. It is also a good choice for people who want a career break or change as well as for those who are already teaching English but who have no formal or internationally recognised qualification. As an entry requirement, it’s recommended that applicants should have formal qualifications which would allow entry into higher education in their own country, but you do not have to be a university graduate.

The course is for both native speakers of English and non-native speakers whose proficiency in English is very high (for non-native speakers, it would be ideal if you have passed CAE, CPE or equivalents such as IELTS with a score of 7.5 or above).

Depending on the time of year, we can have up to three or four nationalities, with most being British, American, Irish, Canadian, Australian - along with many Polish trainees of course. Other nationalities have included: French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Swedish, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Nigerian and South African. The age range is quite wide, ranging from those preparing for a gap-year before university to recent university graduates, as well as people in their twenties, thirties and forties and upward. It is not exceptional for those in their fifties and sixties to be taking the course, having had a successful career in other fields previously. We often have people looking to move to Poland and start work here.

The course is a major commitment of time, money, energy and resources and we only want to enrol people onto a course who we feel have the best chance of passing it. Seeing as it is so intensive (you need to be ready to take on new knowledge from day 1 of the course and teach from day 2) the course does not suit everyone, especially in terms of getting familiar with the terminology of a whole new field of endeavour and rapidly applying techniques learned. So the application process is there to make sure you are the type of person who can cope and even thrive in this training environment. We also need to check that you have a good feel and interest in language and languages – this is another sensible quality to have because you will be starting to assimilate and employ new terms for describing language very soon into the course. Again, not everyone is curious about language if they have come from very different backgrounds or fields or have just never looked into it.  So, an interview is the way we find out whether you are a person who will have the persistence and capacity to see the training process to the end.  

If you have filled in the application form (available for download from the website) and have been accepted for an interview, then we will talk by phone (or SkypeTM) for about 30 minutes to ascertain your suitability for the courses.   Before you start the interview, it is essential that you have your filled-in application form on hand because it will be referred to during the interview. We will ask some questions about your interest in languages and teaching. We will also discuss some language points related to those on the application form.  In addition, we will check your ideas about what a good lesson consists of, both from your experience of learning languages and how you would like to teach.  At the end of the interview, we will let you know immediately whether you have been accepted. We will then send an email confirming this soon afterwards.

There will usually be three course tutors on the course, one of whom will be the Main Course Tutor. All tutors are approved by Cambridge to run CELTA courses, and have substantial teaching, training and assessing experience – from 10-20 years.  For more on the individual tutors, see the tutor profile section on the website.

• An MA in TEFL/TESOL and/or the Cambridge DELTA  in TEFL;
• At least 5 years of EFL/ESL classroom teaching experience;
• Completion of an approved program of training as a CELTA trainer.

Our trainers greatly exceed these requirements having had 10-15 years teaching experience and 5-10 years experience of doing CELTA courses 11 times a year over the past few years. Here are some comments about the trainers quoted from end-of-course feedback we conducted in summer 2010:

“The tutors were incredible; absolutely the best possible people for the job.”

“They were approachable and supportive as well as instructive and considerate. They could not have done anything better”

“Both (tutors) were not only excellent, experienced teachers, but also very supportive, helpful and approachable. Their input sessions were engaging and v. interesting”

There is always something to do and you will generally have your hands full throughout the course.  The full-time course is intensive to the extent that you will be preoccupied with doing various aspects of the course at the centre for 7 hours a day and you will no doubt find that the other hours of the day may well be needed!  A consistent type of feedback we receive at the end of the course goes something like this: “I know I was informed that it would be intensive but I was still surprised how much there was to do. It was a very intensive but at the same time an enjoyable experience and I cannot believe I have learnt so much in so little time”. Due to the workload, you are very strongly advised not to have any other commitments during the period of the course.  Those who have decided to write their thesis, and/or teach at weekends, or even study for university exams and/or take these exams during the course have found this to be totally unmanageable.

Well, the school looks onto the Main Square so you can see a lot from the windows and, of course, there is always time for a walk around the Old Town which is right on our doorstep.  Everything is very close and within walking distance in Krakow (unlike other major cities in the Central/ Eastern Europe) so a Sunday afternoon boat trip or museum visit is always a possibility. However, weekend trips away are out of the question, no matter how good your intentions might be of getting work done during that time. So, the idea of a holiday or being a tourist in Krakow at the same time as doing the course is extremely unrealistic.  The tourism can wait until after the course when you can really savour the city’s sights!

In brief, you teach in the morning and are taught in the afternoon. Teaching practice in the morning with your students is the part of the day where you try out your new-found skills. Input sessions happen in the afternoon and this is the part of the day where you gain more techniques and insights into teaching.  Later on in the evening, you will probably spend time preparing materials and plans for lessons.

The focus of the sessions include: the language systems (grammar, lexis, pronunciation, functions); classroom techniques (classroom management, presenting lexis to students, ways of providing practice, developing students’ receptive and productive skills; characteristics of the language learner and learning styles; selection and adaptation of materials; errors and correction; designing questions to check students’ knowledge; dealing with students’ queries). All input sessions are conducted by a tutor. All of them involve active trainee participation, in small groups or pairs and there are constant discussions and tasks that lead candidates to process the main points of the sessions. There may be occasional more lecture-style sections but these are short in duration and are interspersed with a great deal of elicitation of ideas from candidates.  Here are some comments from our recent (summer 2010) graduates about the input sessions (quoting from end-of-course feedback):

“Having never done this before I found them excellent. Really helpful and just the right length”.

“I enjoyed everything I learned & all my time here b/c the tutors made the input sessions so interesting & relevant”.

You receive a detailed course timetable on the first day of the course. The sessions are timed for maximum benefit both for classroom use, development of trainees and the order of assignments.

Pass, Pass B, Pass A and Fail. The CELTA is not a course where accepted candidates who complete the course simply pass by dint of having attended it. The failure rate, however, is extremely low (1%) due to the rigorous selection process; if a candidate is at risk of failing, they are given letters of warning as well as appropriate guidance on how to succeed. There are face-to-face tutorials which are scheduled one-third and two-thirds of the way through the course; the main aim of these tutorials is for trainees to get a clear idea of where they stand in terms of their overall progress and (during the second tutorial) their potential final grade. [There is sometimes a third tutorial if the trainee is not performing at the level they were at tutorial 2].

According to 2008 research figures, most candidates (about two-thirds) receive a Pass, and about a quarter of successful candidates receive Pass B. Less than one candidate in every twenty receives a Pass A. There is no 'quota' of particular grades for each course and numbers for each grade vary depending on the strengths and performance of the candidates.  All these statistics are available on-line at http://www.cambridgeesol.org/what-we-do/research/grade-stats/2008/celta.html

The three components of assessment are:

Teaching practice: How you perform during the teaching practice lessons is a key component in deciding a candidate's final grade.

Written assignments: Written assignment topics include the following areas: language analysis; profiling individual learners; designing skills tasks; reflection on classroom teaching. The assignments are very much grounded in the classroom, and do not require academic essays. The requirements for each assignment are discussed at the time the assignment is set, usually in an input session that touches upon the theme of the assignment. Each assignment comes with a sample and FAQ.

Professional awareness: This includes an ability to assess your strengths and development needs, an ability and willingness to support and liaise with colleagues, and other factors which could shape the candidate's potential as a teacher.

To receive a Pass, a candidate has to fulfil the requirements in all three components.

To receive a Pass B (in addition to fulfilling the requirements for a Pass) a candidate has to significantly exceed Pass requirements in classroom teaching skills.

To receive a Pass A (in addition to fulfilling the requirements for a Pass) a candidate has to significantly exceed Pass requirements in classroom teaching skills, lesson planning and awareness of teaching and learning processes.

If a candidate's written English is very poor this could be grounds for failing the candidate - although this is something we aim to ascertain during the application process.

There is no examination at the end of the course; assessment is continuous. Final grades are decided by the course tutors at the end of the course. In addition, every CELTA course is visited for one or two days by a Cambridge-appointed assessor, who will observe TP and feedback and check candidates' assessment files. One of the assessor's roles is to ensure that the course is running according to Cambridge regulations; in this sense, s/he is standardising and assessing the centre and the tutors, rather than the candidates. Part of such an assessment, however, involves the assessor examining candidates' files (which are maintained by the candidate during the course and contain all lesson plans, tutors' comments on TP and written assignments, and other relevant material), and determining whether the tutors' views on what constitutes, for example, a possible Pass B candidate correspond with Cambridge's criteria.

On the first working week after the end of the course you will receive a letter informing you of your result. This letter is issued by British Council, Krakow and states that the result is 'provisional'; a result can only be considered 'official' once it is endorsed by Cambridge. This letter is sufficient interim evidence of your grade for the CELTA course.

In about 6-8 weeks after that point, you will receive two more documents. The first is the official certificate itself from Cambridge (this is not replaceable so look after it carefully). The second is a detailed report on your performance from British Council, Krakow. The certificates are sent to us by Cambridge, usually 6 weeks after the end of the course and we post them onto graduates by registered mail, along with the report.  

The Cambridge CELTA is probably the most widely recognised initial ELT qualification by TEFL employers worldwide. It has been developed for the private language school sector and that is where most course graduates go on to work. It is well-regarded by: (continued)

• The British Council globally – though you will need 2 years post CELTA experience as an entry qualification
• language schools such as International House (who originally developed the course before the University of Cambridge started to administer it), ELSI and EF
• many overseas public schools, colleges and other employers
• many ministries of education and by TESOL, IATEFL and other major professional organizations
• organizations such as the Peace Corps and JET.

The CELTA is also accredited at level 5 by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or level 4 by the National Qualifications Framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.