Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults CELTA

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Take advantage of the ever-growing demand for people who can teach English. Open up global opportunities with schools and other educational institutions. Gain a highly-respected qualification.

Overview

The Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults (CELTA) is a course delivered by the University of Sunderland and accredited by Cambridge University for teaching English as a foreign language. It's the most widely recognised English teaching qualification in the world and is highly regarded by employers. It focuses on developing essential skills, knowledge, and hands-on teaching practice, which will give you the confidence to begin teaching.

This short course is ideal if you’re new to teaching, have teaching experience but want a recognised qualification, or want to travel abroad and teach English. CELTA is:

Requested globally by reputable employers
A highly-respected qualification from Cambridge English, part of the University of Cambridge
Regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) at level 5 on the Qualifications and Credit Framework.

Read more about CELTA on the Cambridge English website.

Why us?

This course is accredited by Cambridge English, part of Cambridge University with over 100 years' experience of English language learning and assessment. The course is widely respected for providing the core knowledge and skills for teaching English.

This is a short, intensive course with a particular focus on teaching language in the classroom. There's a balance between theory and actual classroom teaching of English as a foreign/second language.

Course structure

The full-time course consists of a minimum of 120 contact hours, Monday to Friday. The course will be delivered by qualified staff to groups of learners. It includes theoretical input, tutorial support and consultation, supervised lesson planning, six hours assessed teaching practice, written assignments, peer observation of teaching practice, and observation of experienced teachers in the classroom.

Assessment is continuous throughout the course. An external assessor, appointed by Cambridge Assessment English, moderates each course.

To gain the CELTA qualification (at grade A, B, or Pass) you must pass your teaching practice and your written assignments.

There are four assessments on the course which are a combination of short essays and teaching practice. Your ability to teach language to a small class of volunteer students will be assessed by an examiner.

There are five main units of learning on this course:

Learners and teachers, and the teaching and learning context
Language analysis and awareness
Language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing
Planning and resources for different contexts
Developing teaching skills and professionalism.

You'll teach for a total of six hours, working with classes at two levels of ability. Assessment is based on your overall performance at the end of the six hours. The classes will be made up of volunteer students from the University and local community.

The four written assignments are on the following areas:

Focus on the learner
Language-related tasks
Language skills-related tasks
Lessons from the classroom.

As well as the teaching practice and written assignments, students will also be assessed on participation, punctuality and reliability, ability to respond and participate in feedback, and self and peer observation.

Facilities

This course is delivered at Wearside View, based at the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's, but you'll have access to all facilities across both of our Sunderland campuses.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

You must be at least 18 years of age and have completed A Levels, or equivalent. We also recommend the following:

An appropriate level of education, experience, and abilities. This includes a very high standard of personal language and the ability to learn to analyse language and grammatical structures. We'll test your language awareness through a series of tasks and at your interview.
Basic competency in computer use.

If English isn't your first language, you should have the minimum qualifications (or equivalent):

A minimum of IELTS level 7 or above in reading, writing, listening, and speaking
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) C1.

You're required to complete a CELTA application form and submit a pre-course activity. Applicants should work on the pre-course activity before the course starts. This isn't assessed and will introduce you to the content of the course.

To apply for this course, please download and complete the PDF application form, and return to the Programme Leader, Neil Johnson, at neil.johnson@sunderland.ac.uk, or to cape@sunderland.ac.uk. Successful applicants will then be invited to a short interview which may be conducted either face-to-face on campus, or online via Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

Fees and finance

The cost of the course is £1,470, inclusive of the Cambridge registration fee.

If you're currently studying for a degree in MA TESOL at the University of Sunderland, you'll receive a 50% reduced fee to study the CELTA course.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Related courses

MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Contact

For more information about this course, contact the Corporate and Professional Education Team: 0191 515 3361 / cape@sunderland.ac.uk.

Page last updated: 04 March 2024

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.