Cambridge University Certificate in English Language Teaching (CELTA) (Full-time) for Adults

The recommended minimum age of entry on the CELTA is 20, and you should be a graduate (although younger applicants may be considered if you have university entrance qualifications).

Non-native speakers need a command of English that will stand up to the pressures of the programme: we suggest Cambridge Proficiency Level or IELTS 7 because this is an academic and challenging course.

You do not need to have any previous teaching experience or be able to speak another language, although either of these would be useful.

We will give you an interview - in person or on Skype - and you’ll need to complete a pre-programme assignment to assess your knowledge of language before being admitted to the programme. You should have an awareness of language and a level of English, both written and spoken, that enables you to follow the programme – this is necessary whether your first language is English or not. This means we expect you to be able to write coherently, with a good standard of punctuation, spelling and grammar.

You’ll also need to be very organised with good time management skills to cope with the course. It is a full time commitment, and you’ll need to dedicate your evenings and weekends to assignments and lesson planning. But you’ll find it’s worth it – it’s a challenging course, but worthwhile and enjoyable.

Full attendance is required because you can’t afford to miss any sessions. If you do have to miss a session because of illness, for example, you’ll be supported to catch up.

Class time: Every Monday to Thursday 9am – 4.30pm.

A variety of teaching approaches are used: lectures, seminars, workshops, discussion, pair/group work, video and computer sessions. Also included on the programme is six hours of classroom observation by experienced teachers.

There is continuous assessment on your six hours of teaching, your lesson plans and four written assignments (there is no final exam).

In addition to the time at college, at least 50 hours of self-study is expected for reading, assignments and lesson planning.

A CELTA can be used to teach in private language schools in the UK and abroad. You can progress on to the ESOL DTLLS or a DELTA once you have two years work experience.