Frequently Asked Questions

A. The Canterbury International TEFL Certificate is an internationally recognized qualification to teach English abroad. The Canterbury International TEFL Certification Course received its full accreditation at International TESOL Level 5 in 2009. The current trainers on the course were all assessed and evaluated in 2009 as well. In addition, the lead trainer, Mr. John Bouse, has over twenty-five years of teaching experience and was further awarded a diploma in 2014 for his completion of Effective Course Tutoring and Teaching of New Teachers.

Canterbury staff are members and actively contribute to the United Kingdom's prestigious Chartered College of Teaching. Canterbury TEFL is a member of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and has been awarded the Golden Laurel from the Madrid City Hall and Radio Turismo, the Golden Medal from the Province of Madrid and the National Merit Award of Spain for the excellence of its programs.

Past Canterbury TEFL graduates are currently teaching abroad in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America with the prestigious Canterbury TEFL Certificate.

A. The full market pay rates at academies in Madrid range from 12 to 18 euros per hour. This is based on many factors including the experience of the teacher, the difficulty of the class, whether the class is a one to one class or a group class, whether the class is a general English class or a business English class, and the number of hours that you are contracted to work. The average pay for group classes in companies and businesses is 15 euros per hour. In addition, private classes usually pay between 10 - 20 euros per hour but are more unstable as students often stop classes without warning at any time during the year. The average weekly work schedule varies from one teacher to another. We consider a full schedule as twenty-five hours of teaching a week, and you need to teach about twenty to twenty-five hours a week to pay all of your living expenses. Canterbury guarantees an average minimum of ten to fifteen hours a week. This will cover all of your basic needs to live such as monthly rent, food, and transportation costs. Sometimes we can give you more than ten to fifteen hours of teaching, but we cannot guarantee this. Teachers who want to teach more than fifteen hours are responsible for their own marketing to other English academies and private students. Of course, Canterbury will assist you and advise you in this process. Also, some teachers want to dedicate some of their time to studying Spanish and others do not want classes on Fridays, because they prefer to enjoy a three day weekend. It all depends on you.

A. Your students will be a mixture of children, teenagers, adults and professionals of all English levels. You will usually teach one to one as well as small groups (2-5), and occasionally big groups (6-20). You will travel to the homes, offices or schools of where your students live or work throughout Madrid to teach these classes.

A. Another important difference at Canterbury TEFL includes being paid for teaching classes that begin during the course. Theoretical training is important, but there is no substitute for experience. Standing in front of a group of non-native English speakers and teaching an English class in a foreign country is not easy. For those with little or no teaching experience, it can be a daunting experience. Canterbury realizes this. Our program is specifically designed to guide you, to help you and walk you through this process so that you attain the confidence necessary to do this by the end of the course.

Our philosophy includes both a “LEARN BY DOING” approach together with a “PAID FOR DOING” policy. Thus, each TEFL trainee must teach a total of 20 hours of internship classes with non-native speaking students to fulfill the 120-hour course requirements and obtain their TEFL certificate. This is by far the highest number of real teaching hours offered by any TEFL program. Moreover, you will be paid for teaching these internship classes as well. As a trainee, you will be hard-pressed to find a better situation than that!

A. You will start teaching students during the course and you will continue with them for the rest of the year if you so desire. This is the job guarantee security that Canterbury offers. You will continue to receive more classes until you have an average minimum of 10-15 hours of teaching per week. In addition, Canterbury will assist you in marketing yourself to other academies and provide you with class sessions on resume writing, how to set up private classes for yourself, and give their well known and respected job references as well.

A. Although it may be possible in a few countries to obtain teaching jobs without TEFL certification, this is becoming rarer. Moreover, these are usually quite low paying jobs. Schools increasingly require a TEFL certificate and often require applicants to teach a demonstration lesson or submit a video of the applicant teaching a lesson. Canterbury's training will more than prepare you to meet these requirements.

A. Yes, all materials for the course are provided and are included in the course price.

A. No, it is not true at all. Although the cost of living in Madrid has risen over the last few years it is still a relatively cheap place to live, especially when compared with other capital cities such as New York, London, Paris, etc. Also, don't forget that Madrid has the most exciting nightlife of any city in Europe and the cost of going out at night for dinner or drinks is less than 50 % compared to the cities mentioned above.