The Best 160+ Hour TEFL Certification Courses in 2025

Earning a TEFL certificate is your first step to career freedom, opening the door to traveling and teaching in practically any country in the world. But before you jump head first into verbs, vocabulary, and visualizing yourself kicking back on a Thai beach after a day’s teaching, there’s an important decision to be made: exactly how many hours of TEFL course study should you go for?

Read on for a list of highly-rated level 5 TEFL and TESOL courses that give you a substantial boost not only in the classroom but also in the TEFL industry!

TEFL and TESOL courses come in all shapes and sizes. The standard course length is 120 hours, so why dedicate more of your precious hours towards your qualification?

• Greater insight:More hours of study means you can take a deeper dive into important grammatical points which can be tricky to explain even for native English speakers.
• Specialized training:You can gain more thorough and comprehensive training in areas beyond the traditional nuts and bolts of TEFL tuition, such as business English, teaching young learners, and preparing students for official English language exams.
• Resume booster:You may find that these extended courses help you to stand out when compared to the standard 120-hour TEFL certificate every other teacher is applying with on their resume.
• Accreditation: A 168-hour TEFL/TESOL course is equivalent to a UK level 5 qualification. That means it is also comparable to the CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL teaching qualifications.

Read more: CELTA vs TEFL: Which certificate do you need?

Type of study: Online with live sessions
Price point: $409
Requirements: You must be a native or fluent (C1 level) English speaker
What’s included: 26 hours of optional live classes over Zoom, specialist courses including business English and young learners, 3 eBooks, personal tutor support, access to study app, job board access, job coaching seminars

✅ Pros:

• Premier TEFL teaches you to plan lessons that reach your students — learn how to utilize apps they use like TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify.
• Two specialist courses are included with your tuition.

❌ Cons:

• Live teaching sessions are held on specific days and times which may be hard for some students to plan for.
• You only have access to the materials for 6 months after purchase so this isn’t for learners who plan to study over an extended period of time.

Premier TEFL’s 310-hour TEFL Advanced Diploma offers interactive and dynamic lessons from videos to podcasts and quizzes, with the goal of helping you expand your learning. This TEFL certification is regulated by Ofqual, a governmental body from the UK that oversees exams and qualifications, and is equivalent to both the CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL qualifications according to its framework.

As a self-paced course, you can work through the material at your pace with six months course access. Modules cover the principles of TEFL to lesson planning, classroom resources, and much more. The 10 hours of teaching practice will help you stand out from other teachers with no practicum experience. Additionally, an academic tutor will answer any queries and provide expert guidance on securing your TEFL job.

Type of study: Hybrid (in-person and online) or fully online
Price point: $200
Requirements: You must be a fluent (C1 level) or native English speaker and at least 16 years old
What’s included: 24 optional live webinars via Zoom, 3 specialist courses, 2 eBooks, tutor support, access to the TTA job board, study app

✅ Pros:

• TTA offers 114 free optional top-up webinar hours for teachers who want to dig a little deeper into their studies.
• Past participants liked how user-friendly and intuitive the study app was.

❌ Cons:

• The online-only option doesn’t include teaching practice.
• Access to the course is limited to 6 months so make sure you get it done in time!

The TEFL Academy offers two ways to complete your 168-hour TEFL training: fully online, or online with an additional 10 hours of teaching practice in another country. The hybrid course allows you to travel to a city in Europe, South Africa or even right here in the US where you’ll get 10 hours of real teaching practice with expert feedback. Doing your teaching practicum overseas will give you a look into TEFL as a career right where it’s happening. Accredited by Ofqual (UK) and DEAC (US), this course is another level 5 qualification.

Type of study: Online and at your own pace
Price point: $195
Requirements: You are recommended to have a high school diploma
What’s included: money-back guarantee if you don’t pass, 10 specialization modules, letter of recommendation, tutor support, lifetime job search support, diploma hardcopy mailed for free and digital copy sent by email

✅ Pros:

• Specialization modules teach you to teach exam prep like TOEFL and IELTS as well as business English, young learners, and more.
• Past students enjoyed the clear and engaging video content in each lesson.

❌ Cons:

• Some graduates found the workload too simple.
• The online practicum doesn’t involve teaching practice.

An affordable and extensive TESOL Diploma course, the 250-hour Advanced Diploma from UNI-Prep allows you to work at your own pace while also getting a thorough understanding of specialized TEFL teaching. From business English to teaching young learners, this offers teachers a niche to present to future employers.

Accredited by ACREDITAT, a UK-based training site, this quality-assured course is taught online and can be completed over a period of 12 months. End-of-module assessments and quizzes are submitted as and when you please, but the assessments are comprehensive, requiring you to reflect on the content you’ve learned during that module.

Type of study: Online and at your own pace, optional practicum placements across Canada
Price point: $749
Requirements: You need to have a bachelor’s degree and be a fluent or native English speaker
What’s included: all materials, tutor support, access to a job board, interview and resume prep

✅ Pros:

• Past learners felt fully supported in their job search, including benefitting from help preparing their resume.
• An additional 50-hour practicum allows you to become a fully certified ESL teacher in Canada.

❌ Cons:

• If you’re looking for a quick certification, OnTESOL requires a minimum of 2 months of study to complete the course.
• Some commented that the written materials were a bit dense and they would have preferred more videos.

If you’re a native or fluent English speaker and already have a Bachelor’s degree, then this 250-hour TESOL Diploma from OnTESOL makes for a savvy training choice, particularly if you have plans to teach English in Canada.

For the diploma course – which is open to students regardless of nationality – teaching is through video tutorials and filmed ESL lessons with captions guiding you through the initial lesson plan and how it came to fruition. Once completed, OnTESOL can give job support through their advisors with connections to over 1,000 ESL schools across the world.

For anyone wanting to teach ESL in Canada, you have the opportunity to add an additional 50-hour practicum, where you observe, assist, and teach in an ESL school. OnTESOL can help you organize this in cities across Canada, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, and Edmonton. Completing this practicum qualifies you for TESL Canada Professional Standard 2 accreditation.

Type of study: Online and at your own pace
Price point: $349
Requirements: You must be over 18 and be a native or fluent English speaker
What’s included: tutor support, added young learners and business English modules, optional teaching practice, job guidance after completion

✅ Pros:

• You have up to 18 months to complete your training if you have other life obligations.
• Optional teaching practice can be recorded and submitted to ITTT for review and feedback.

❌ Cons:

• The teaching practice is optional and not observed for the online course.
• Some past participants hoped the online materials were more interactive.

ITTT’s 220-hour Master Package not only TEFL training but also lifelong job assistance which includes resume preparation, job searches, and interview preparation.

This training is divided into three sections: the 120-hour foundation training, a 50-hour young learners module, and a 50-hour business English module. For each section, you’ll have 6 months to complete the materials and subject assignments. This means you have up to 18 months to finish your course. A tutor is available throughout your course to give guidance and feedback. You’ll be sure to get a response to your questions within one working day.

Type of study: Online and structured
Price point: $1,200
Requirements: You should be over 18 and be a native or fluent English speaker
What’s included: all materials, online teaching practice, tutor support, lifetime job support, live peer participation, access to their alumni network

✅ Pros:

• Classes are capped at 20 students guaranteeing you personal attention.
• All instructors have an MA or PhD and at least 10 years of teaching experience.

❌ Cons:

• The course is not go-at-your-own-pace so they won’t be suitable for learners who need a flexible program.
• The ITA course is pricier than the other options.

Whether you choose to study full-time for 4 weeks or part-time for 11 weeks, the International TEFL Academy (ITA) offers an immersive course for aspiring English teachers. Both options include teaching practice and observation with real ESL students, giving you insight into what you can expect in your own future classroom.

With small class sizes and live webinars, lectures, tutoring, and teaching practice, you’re sure to feel confident coming out of your TEFL course. ITA supports you throughout your program and beyond, and you’ll have access to lifetime job support even years beyond the end of your course as an ITA graduate. ITA’s 170-hour TEFL certificate is accredited through TQUK as an Ofqual Level 5 qualification in the UK and is internationally recognized.

Whichever TEFL course you do take, expect to gain a comprehensive knowledge of TEFL that’ll wow the socks off your future employers and students alike. Thanks to the high demand for English as a foreign language teachers across the globe, you’re never going to be short of a new school to teach at or a new country to explore, so say hello to a lifetime of opportunity!

Find out what’s next in your TEFL journey: