CELTA course FAQS

The course itself

• What is the grading system?
• What is the name of the certificate received once the course is completed successfully?
• Does the certificate indicate the location where it was taken?
• What are the various written tasks that trainees are expected to carry out during the CELTA course?
• How long outside of scheduled classroom hours do you anticipate these coursework tasks to take?

What is the grading system?

Assessment is ongoing and based on the five main syllabus areas. The most important things to work on in the course are your lesson planning, your teaching, your written assignments, your development, and your professionalism

The assessment criteria are set by Cambridge, and you will be informed from the start what these are in detail, and how they apply at each stage of the course.

At the end of the course, candidates may be awarded the following grades (below, from most to least common results):

• Pass This is the most usual and means "candidates' performance overall in the teaching practice and on the written assignments meets the specified criteria.(...) They will continue to need guidance to help them to develop and broaden their range of skills as teachers in post."
  
  
• Pass B This means "candidates' performance in the written assignments meets the specified criteria, and they have demonstrated in their teaching practice a level of achievement significantly higher than that required to meet pass-level criteria, in relation to : classroom teaching skills (...) They will continue to need some guidance to help them to develop and broaden their range of skills as teachers in post."
  
  
• Pass A This means "candidates' performance on the written assignments meets the specified criteria, and they have demonstrated in their teaching practice a level of ability and achievement significantly higher than that required to meet pass-level criteria in relation to:
  
  Planning for effective teaching;
  Classroom teaching skills;
  Awareness of teaching and learning processes
  
  They will benefit from further guidance in post but will be able to work independently.

Or

• Fail Candidates who fail to meet criteria in some, or all assessed components will be awarded a Fail.
  
  This means:
  
  • inability to establish rapport or to project a confident, caring classroom presence;
  • insufficient grasp of the basics of language analysis and/or
  • inability to apply these principles to classroom practice;
  • inability to apply basic classroom management skills and techniques in order to facilitate learning;
  • insufficient awareness of the effect of one's teaching style and approach, and/or inability to monitor and direct one's own progress.
    

What is the name of the certificate received once the course is completed successfully?

The certification received is the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. The paper certificate you are sent two months after the course finishes is issued by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and says:

"This is to certify that [name] has been awarded ___(grade) (Pass, Pass B, Pass A) in the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults"

Does the certificate indicate the location where it was taken?

The date, and centre number - but not location - are specified. The location is on the progress report which is written by your tutors, and which accompanies the Certificate.

What are the various written tasks that trainees are expected to carry out during the CELTA course?

There are 4 written tasks, the first two of which are sometimes conflated at IH Barcelona:

• Focus on the Learner
• Skills Related Tasks
• Language Related Tasks
• Lessons from the Classroom

They are very practical and based on your students, your materials, language analysis and your progress. They are set at least a week or so before they need to be handed in and your tutors will set them up during input to ensure that you know exactly what to do. They all need to be around 1000 words - the total written work in words is around 3000 - 4000 words.

How long outside of scheduled classroom hours do you anticipate these coursework tasks to take?

Each should take around three hours to complete - depending on the candidate, of course! They are spaced out over the course, usually to be handed in on a Monday and count towards the final assessment.

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