ICAL

[livetotravel]

Was checking out forums because I'm interested in taking an online certification class, and then interning so I'll have the classroom experience.

I checked out the ICAL website, but haven't found out much except that ICAL doesn't really stand for anything any more (per their history listed on the site). The course outline is much more vague than most course outlines posted for other schools.

Anybody have more info on them? There's so many online "schools" out there, that it's difficult to find which are accepted by at least some employers.

Thanks

[ICAL_Pete]

Hi there livetotravel,

What exactly were you looking for? The ICAL site has many sections where various issues related to the courses are addressed, from the course content to accreditation, to the students news & testimonials, to job employment, not to mention the comprehensive Support area and the ICAL student Forums.

As for the course outline this is written in a discursive style but it covers fully the content of each module. In fact, I believe the info given for each module is far more comprehensive than the usual one liner commonly used in syllabi.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

[livetotravel]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond.

I did read the ICAL websites, including the testimonials.

What I noticed is that many were from people who had just FINISHED the course, but not obtained employment. There were only a few who had received an offer. I was interested in hearing from students who had gained employment at a school or company they were satisfied with. I thought with all the people logging into this forum, I would hear from a few who had taken it and got a job based on the completion of the ICAL course. I wanted independent opinions from someone NOT listed on the ICAL testimonial site who was actually working.

I also noticed something on the ICAL site that was titled affiliate scheme. Students can receive money by advertising the ICAL logo or web link on various sites. I just was hoping for a few unbiased, unpaid for comments concerning the above. After all, the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is a decent job.

[ICAL_Pete]

Hi,

The only 2 things I can say about ICAL web...

Firstly, and I am guessing this is down to feeling humiliated, ICAL have removed a page they had on the site which stated how worthless other courses, which claim to have 'international accreditation' are.

Now, whilst I agree with this comment, I have never seen mention of even UK accrediation on ICAL web. My opinion - no accreditation at all makes the course just as worthless.

Secondly, ICAL only offers certificate courses. I cant say this is the same all over the world, but I know of no UK or Singapore EFL institutes which recognise the ICAL certificate, and a diploma level efl qualification is a minimum requirement in many countries.

Hi there,

I’m not sure I understand the “humiliation” bit Which page was removed? You may noticed we’ve changed our website round so perhaps the page you’re referring to has been moved somewhere else? Have you looked under About ICAL?

Regarding accreditation, we have looked at all kinds of accreditation schemes in depth (corresponding the organisation, finding the criteria for accreditation and so on) and in our opinion there is not one single one available to international TESL courses which is unbiased. Which is a shame as we would welcome an unbiased, independent and honest international accreditation scheme for providers like ourselves.

However, at best they are simple pay-per-student accreditation i.e. if we pay a company they will say we’re accreditated with them which may look good on our website but which we feel is completely unethical and unfair.

At worst – and mentioning no names – they are bogus accreditation schemes set up by TESL providers as a front to accredit themselves. It would take nothing for ICAL to set up “The International TESL Accreditation Organisation” and accredit ourselves and anyone else gullible enough to sign up.

We don’t want to get into a slanging match over this, but we would stress to anyone considering taking a course to really look at the accreditation offered by the provider as they are often nothing more than worthless.

On your final point, yes we do offer TESL Certificate courses – first level qualifications. This is our specialisation and we’ve been in this area for 10 years now. We don’t offer Diplomas but I think you will find that the standard entry level qualifications for most countries and jobs is degree plus certificate.

[ICAL_Pete]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond.

I did read the ICAL websites, including the testimonials.

What I noticed is that many were from people who had just FINISHED the course, but not obtained employment. There were only a few who had received an offer. I was interested in hearing from students who had gained employment at a school or company they were satisfied with. I thought with all the people logging into this forum, I would hear from a few who had taken it and got a job based on the completion of the ICAL course. I wanted independent opinions from someone NOT listed on the ICAL testimonial site who was actually working.

I also noticed something on the ICAL site that was titled affiliate scheme. Students can receive money by advertising the ICAL logo or web link on various sites. I just was hoping for a few unbiased, unpaid for comments concerning the above. After all, the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is a decent job.

The Forums are open to all our current and ex students to use but students mainly use them whilst taking the course as they find them useful to exchange ideas, offer help and overall support each other whilst studying for their certification. So it is only natural that the comments left regard mainly their taking of the course.

Of course we encourage our ICAL graduates to share their work experiences and keep us up to date with their progress after the course but not all do. After all, when was the last time you reported back to the school that issued your College Leave certificate or your BA to let them know how those helped you in your career?