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Claire Smith
10 years+ TEFL experience and attempting to share objective TEFL reviews with the world to help aspiring teachers make sense of all things English teaching. I used A.I. and a bit of experience in the industry to make an objective scoring and ranking system for online TEFL courses.
Disclaimer: eventually I hope to monetize this site with job advertisements and affiliate links.
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TEFL Trust Score v1.1
Our scoring system is designed to evaluate TEFL course providers using evidence-based criteria, not advertising claims. The model gives the greatest weight to verifiable regulation, real teaching practice, transparent ownership, course quality, market reputation, and employer acceptance.
Hard Facts
0 to 30 pointsRegulation, teaching practice, legal transparency, and institutional accountability.
Reputation
0 to 25 pointsIndependent review density, employer recognition, and cross-platform consistency.
Course Quality
0 to 25 pointsInstructional depth, learning format, assessment rigor, and realistic study time.
Employability
0 to 20 pointsJob acceptance, visa relevance, and meaningful progression value.
Step 1: Verify hard facts first, 0 to 30 points
| Category | Maximum | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Ofqual regulation | 15 points | 15 points are awarded where the qualification is verified through the Ofqual register via a recognized awarding body. Partial credit may apply where the regulation chain is unclear or only partially evidenced. No credit is awarded for unverified Level 5 branding alone. |
| Teaching practice | 10 points | Highest scores are reserved for supervised teaching practice with feedback. Structured or observed practicum receives partial credit. Simulated teaching tasks receive limited credit. Courses with no practical teaching component receive no credit in this area. |
| Transparency | 5 points | Providers are assessed for registered company details, clear ownership, accessible policies, refund terms, and institutional accountability. Vague ownership or unclear legal identity lowers the score. |
Step 2: Reputation and market signal, 0 to 25 points
| Category | Maximum | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Independent reviews | 10 points | Review volume, consistency, age of review history, and patterns across independent platforms are considered. A small number of highly promotional reviews carries less weight than broad, long-term review evidence. |
| Employer recognition | 10 points | Providers score higher when their certificates or awarding bodies are frequently referenced by employers, recruiters, and job advertisements. Limited or unclear employer recognition lowers the score. |
| Cross-platform consistency | 5 points | The provider name, course title, accreditation claims, and institutional identity should remain consistent across websites, job boards, review platforms, forums, and public records. |
Step 3: Course quality, 0 to 25 points
| Category | Maximum | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Instructional depth | 10 points | Courses are reviewed for structured coverage of teaching methodology, lesson planning, classroom management, grammar instruction, learner needs, assessment, and practical application. |
| Learning format | 5 points | Courses with varied learning formats, such as video, scenarios, assignments, tutor input, and applied tasks, score higher than courses based mainly on text pages and simple quizzes. |
| Assessment rigor | 5 points | Written assignments, lesson plans, tutor-marked work, and individualized feedback receive more credit than multiple-choice-only assessment. |
| Time realism | 5 points | Claimed study hours are assessed for credibility. A realistic 150 to 200 hour workload scores higher than claims suggesting a full qualification can be completed in only a few hours. |
Step 4: Employability signal, 0 to 20 points
| Category | Maximum | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Job acceptance | 10 points | Higher scores are given to certificates that are broadly accepted for international TEFL roles. Certificates mainly accepted by lower-barrier online platforms receive a mid-range score. Weak recognition receives a lower score. |
| Formal requirements | 5 points | The score reflects whether the qualification is useful in regulated teaching markets, visa-related contexts, school hiring processes, or formal employer screening. |
| Upgrade path | 5 points | Courses score higher when they provide a credible pathway into regulated Level 5 qualifications, CELTA-style training, observed practice, or further professional development. |
Final score formula
The TEFL Trust Score is calculated by adding the four section scores together.
Hard Facts plus Reputation plus Course Quality plus Employability equals a maximum score of 100.
Important correction on Level 5 claims
A Level 5 label is not treated as a trust signal by itself. It only receives strong credit when the qualification can be verified as Ofqual-regulated through an awarding body. If the Level 5 claim cannot be independently verified, it is treated as marketing language rather than regulatory evidence.
We bring you TEFL course review scores from many online TEFL courses. We will add more over time. Our scores are calculated objectively and reflect information available at the time of the Trust Score calculation.
Author: Claire Smith
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