CELTA: An Introduction
CELTA stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. It is an initial qualification for candidates with little or no previous English language teaching experience. It opens up a whole world of opportunities for you in the TEFL teaching industry. The main reason is that this qualification is awarded by Cambridge Assessment English, which is part of the world-famous University of Cambridge.
The CELTA course includes at least 120 hours of contact between candidates and course tutors, and includes:
- Tutorial support and consultation
- Supervised lesson planning
- Six hours’ assessed teaching practice per candidate, teaching real students at least two different levels and supervised by a CELTA course tutor
- Feedback on teaching practice
- Peer observation of teaching practice (i.e. watching the other candidates’ lessons)
- Six hours’ directed observation of lessons taught by experienced ELT professionals, up to three hours of which may be of filmed lessons
Once you are accepted into the CELTA course in Florence, you will need to put some hours in for pre-course preparation. Moreover, during the course, outside the class contact hours, you will need to allow hours for reading, researching, assignment writing, and lesson preparation.

CELTA is “the” TEFL qualification because:
- It is moderated by the University of Cambridge on a regular basis.
- Employers prefer the CELTA as the TEFL qualification (stats show that 3 out of 4 English language teaching jobs require a CELTA). Employers know exactly what to expect when hiring CELTA-qualified teachers.
- It is internationally recognised and is a Level 5 Qualification by the British Curriculum Authority.
- The one-month intensive CELTA course provides initial training for those new to the profession and also for those teachers with experience but with little formal training.
- The maximum ratio of candidates to tutors is one tutor for every six candidates, and there are at least two tutors on each course.
CELTA Course Content:
- During the CELTA course offered through the centre in Florence, you will learn how to teach English to adults by gaining the following skills:
- Language analysis and awareness of form, meaning, pronunciation
- Developing teaching skills in the classroom
- Techniques for presenting and practising new language
- Techniques for the development of speaking, listening, reading and writing
- Using teaching aids
Assessment is made through teaching practice sections and written assignments completed throughout the course.
CELTA Certificate:
The CELTA certificate is awarded to candidates who satisfy all assessment criteria and complete all course requirements.
These include:
- Attendance of 100% of the course
- Completion of all teaching practice and observations of experienced teachers
- Completion of all four assignments (three or more assessed as ‘Pass’)
- The grades of the certificate are Pass, Pass B (above standard teaching) or Pass A (exceptional language awareness, teaching and professionalism).
- Candidates who successfully complete the course, receive both the Cambridge CELTA certificate and a report/letter from the trainers at the Centre in Florence. The letter describes the candidate’s performance in some detail and serves as a useful reference for employment
CELTA Entry Requirements:
Below are the requirements to be able to qualify for the course:
- Being at least 18 years of age (we have candidates of all ages; mature candidates are always welcomed)
- Having gained a university entrance level of education (e.g. finished High School). N.B: for this requirement, particularly for mature candidates, the tutors, may make an exception based on the candidate’s life and work experience.
- Native level of English or, for non-natives, competence in spoken and written English equivalent to, at least, a strong Cambridge Advance (CAE), C1, or IELTS 7.5. N.B: you do not need to have taken any of these English level exams – if you feel confident about your level of English for taking the CELTA, the tutors will be able to assess your English through both the application documents and interview that are part of the application process for the CELTA.
Selection Criteria, Assessment, and Grades:
- The CELTA is a Pass/Fail course, and if the candidate receives a ‘Fail’ grade or withdraws, the result cannot be changed, and that the course fee will not be refunded.
- The CELTA centre requires 100% class attendance, in addition to work outside of scheduled contact hours. As a result, absences, tardiness, incomplete or late assignments may compromise grades on the course. If a participant is forced to miss part of the course because of ill health, a doctor’s certificate will be required. Extra work will need to be submitted to the tutor to ensure the criteria are met.
- Information disclosed in the application must be complete and accurate, including any circumstances that may affect performance on the course.
- All cancellations must be received in writing.
About the CELTA Online via Florence, Italy:
Since 2020, Cambridge Assessment English has offered candidates the chance to take the CELTA course 100% online.
CELTA Florence is delighted to offer you the possibility of taking the CELTA fully online. This means you can study with us from anywhere in the world.
How does the online CELTA course work?
The syllabus and content of the online CELTA offered via our centre in Florence will be exactly the same as the face-to-face one. The only difference is that you will be learning the content and participating in seminars, teaching practice and feedback sessions through a video conferencing platform such as Zoom or a similar one.
The course documents will be shared via a cloud sharing and storing platform such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Docs or similar
The materials use for the course will be, like in the face-to-face courses, the official Cambridge Assessment materials. In general, the only difference will be that the classroom environment throughout the course is transferred from an actual classroom into a “virtual” classroom.

How will I be assessed on the Online CELTA?
Just like the face-to-face CELTA courses, your assessment will be done on many different factors throughout the course, some of the main ones being the following:
- Participation
- Four written assignments
- Completion of six hours of teaching practice
- The teaching practice will take up most of your grade. This aspect will be conducted through Zoom or similar via which you will be teaching a class of English Language Learners. They will understand you are a trainee teacher.
- While you are teaching, you will be moderated and assessed by a qualified CELTA tutor. They will continually offer constructive feedback throughout the CELTA course to aid your teacher development.
Will it say on my CELTA certificate that I took the course online?
The CELTA certificate issued by Cambridge Assessment at the end of the course for all students who passed the course does not specify if the course was completed online or face-to-face. All certificates look the same.