Reece's (overly) in-depth review of The TEFL Academy's Level 5 Course

Firstly, a little backstory. My ambition is to teach English abroad after finishing at university, and I definitely think the best way to achieve that goal is to get a TEFL certification. I chose the TEFL academy's level 5 certification (168 hours), as I believed it would help me stand out against other candidates, and also because I didn't come into TEFL from an English based degree. I knew practically nothing about grammar before starting the course and I do genuinely feel my knowledge on grammar has shot up exponentially since taking the course. The course itself definitely puts you through your paces, it's a level 5 certification after all (roughly the same level as a foundation year, if I recall correctly), and makes no attempt to hide that there is a lot of work to do. I appreciate that as I feel I'm getting my money's worth, but I'd also caution prospective students to make sure you have free time before starting, i.e., do it in your summer holidays and not during term time! There's lots of support and further reading available to you. I personally never used the support service but I have always appreciated that it was there if I was stuck. The feedback for assignments was genuinely good and I honestly wasn't expecting the markers to really sit through my lesson plans and give me in-depth feedback. Even when the assignment had passed there was comments on how to improve it, and I really must commend that. The only gripe I'd have, and this is something I mentioned in another review, is that the course content is mainly read, with interactive elements for content, and I think that could put visual or auditory learners in a slightly more difficult place. I hope it's something they will consider. I also am not sure if I will have access to the content after my six-month enrolment has ended, which would be somewhat dissapointing as it would be a great resource to use in teaching, but that's common across most education systems - I'm sure we don't all have our A-Level textbooks still from school ;~) This is merely a review of MY own experience with the program and that approach suited me well, so I gave 5 stars. I would definitely consider checking it out! -Reece