Considering CELTA? Check the teaching practice and the job route first

Start with the role you want

A training course is a substantial commitment of money and time. For a graduate planning a first language-school job, useful questions include how much real teaching practice the course offers and whether prospective employers accept it. For a qualified school teacher, the question may instead be whether additional language-teaching training serves a particular career aim.

This is a source-checked explainer, not a new course launch or an endorsement of a provider. TeachAtlas suggests identifying two or three plausible employment routes before paying a deposit. Record the passport, degree, professional-registration and work-permission conditions alongside the training requirement.

What Cambridge says the course includes

Cambridge English’s CELTA course specification describes at least 120 contact hours, including six hours of assessed teaching practice and six hours of directed observation. It also advises allowing around 80 additional learning hours for preparation, reading, assignments and related work. The assessed practice is with adult learners at different levels.

Those details give applicants something more concrete to compare than a certificate’s headline hour count. When considering any course, ask which activities are live, which are assessed and who provides feedback. A list of recorded videos and a supervised classroom experience involve different commitments; read the actual syllabus before deciding which meets your needs.

Online does not mean the absence of live practice

Cambridge’s delivery-format guidance says CELTA can be face-to-face, online or blended. Online teaching practice is live, with learners and trainer observation. The formats lead to the same CELTA qualification. Full-time courses normally run over four to five weeks; part-time options take longer.

Published entry criteria include being at least 18, English at high C1 or above, and education to a standard suitable for higher-education entry. A university degree is not listed as the universal course-entry condition. That is a statement about admission to training, not a finding that a non-graduate can lawfully work in every destination.

Make the purchase decision specific

Ask the centre for the full fee, timetable, assessment arrangements, cancellation terms, support available and any extra costs. Check its authorisation through Cambridge’s official centre finder. If studying while employed, place preparation time in your diary as well as the live sessions; a course that fits on paper may still be difficult alongside a full working week.

Finally, ask the intended employer or programme to confirm acceptance of the precise qualification and delivery format. Keep that answer separate from the immigration authority’s work-route requirements. Training, recruitment and permission to work are different decisions. The TeachAtlas qualifications guide helps keep those decisions visible without treating a course purchase as a job or visa guarantee.

Check the original sources

Source timing: Current Cambridge English guidance; publication date not stated. Last checked: 2026-10-30.

• What is in the CELTA course? ↗Cambridge English · checked 2026-10-30
• Ways to take CELTA ↗Cambridge English · checked 2026-10-30

This is an explanatory article. Publication dates and recruitment cycles can differ. Confirm the latest requirements before acting.

Our reporting uses AI-assisted research and editorial synthesis. Sources support the factual claims; no individual specialist review is implied. Read our editorial policy.