This page is for those who would like to check if Stafford House Study Holidays will recognise their qualification. If you're new to EFL, click here for general information on TEFL, and click here for more information on EFL qualifications.

Stafford House Study Holidays is a British Council accredited school and conforms to the requirements set by the council when employing teachers. If you want to apply for a teaching position with us, you must possess certification that meets these requirements.

In order for this to happen, the course has to meet certain standards. The Council calls this "TEFL initiating".

• The course has to contain at least 100 hours of TEFL input.
• The course has to have at least 6 hours of observed and assessed teaching practice. The observation has to be carried out by your trainer, or someone of equivalent status within the centre, and must include feedback. Peer supervision does not count.
• The course should include observations of qualified teachers.
• The course has to be externally validated. Usually, the external validation will come from an examining body (e.g. Trinity or Cambridge/RSA) or a university.

The above criteria should mean that your certificate will meet these British Council requirements.

Not all schools and teaching centres require you to have such a certificate, but the vast majority of ones in Britain and Europe do. IT IS UP TO YOU to make enquiries as to whether your TEFL certificate will meet these criteria.

Be aware that there are other validating bodies, for example: The College of Teachers, MEI-RELSA (Ireland), the School for International Training (America). Again, IT IS UP TO YOU to check whether any certificate that you get from them will allow you to get the job that you want.

The most commonly accepted and recognised by the British Council as TEFL initiating qualifications are the Trinity CertTESOL, the Cambridge/RSA CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) and the Cambridge/RSA CELTYL (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners).

Different types of courses you can take to become TEFL initiating:

• A 4 or 5 week, full time, intensive course
• A part-time course lasting from several months to up to a year

Providing they meet the criteria for input, observed teaching practice and external validation, the following are also acceptable:

• A PGCE in English/modern languages with a TEFL subsidiary
• A university 'certificate in TEFL' course

These are the usual routes to gaining a certificate that will enable you to teach in most schools in the UK.

There are other types of courses that you can do, BUT unless they contain:

• 100 hours of course input
• At least 6 hours of observed teaching practice
• External validation by a reputable body

you may not be able to get a job teaching EFL in a reputable school in the UK without the above. Some examples are:

An online course

Distance learning courses (correspondence, etc.)

Weekend "taster", or "introductory" courses

Of the above courses, most online courses and most distance learning courses do not meet British Council requirements because they usually contain no observed practice, and are not externally validated by a university or examining body. These may be an option for you if you just want to get a 'taster' of TEFL before committing yourself to an accredited course.

For more information on further training and development in EFL, click here.