TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

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Pillow
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TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Pillow »

Hello, i am new to this forum.

So recently I received a e-mail from amazon local deals and there was a fantastic deal on there for a TEFL course... from £399 down to £49, so I jumped at the chance! The course is called TEFL Cambridge.. and I had a look at the website.. seemed fine, looked on fb, they didnt have a lot of 'likes' on the page, but I thought maybe its a new course?

started my course today... and now i'm worried that its a fake course... has anyone here heard of the course or has taken the course from this website? my sister is also doing a TEFL course but from a more well known provider... and our course seems completely different, she says she has lots of activities and tests on hers.. whereas mine is like... masses of text and then simple questions at the end... Does this seem real or fake? I thought that maybe the course has some connection with Cambridge university.. but now i highly doubt it..

so my question is, has anyone done a course from this company? do you think its legit?

thank you!! I~t's been bothering me all week!! but at the end of the day, if it is fake, ive only spent 49 rather than 399!
Last edited by Alex Case on 15 Mar 2013, 13:52, edited 1 time in total.
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Joe
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Re: Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Joe »

Would this be the organization to which you refer?

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Pillow
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Re: Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Pillow »

Errmm.. ~I dont think so...
Alex Case
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Re: Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Alex Case »

There's a thin line between fake and just useless, I think it's more likely to be the latter. Their accreditation page doesn't say anything about accreditation, though, which is one of many bad signs on their website.
Pillow
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Pillow »

Yes... I've just finished the first section.. thought i'd give it a go... but it does seem totally useless...just asking me simple T/F questions and then awarding me 95% grade... stupid! Thank god I just paid 49 instead of 399!
I'm thinking of purchasing another online course now, Any opinion on whether I-to-I course is better or ESLstarter one? I'd prefer the later because its a whole lot cheaper but I don't want to fall into the trap of cheap deals again!
Stoyanov
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Stoyanov »

Hey Pillow! I wanted to get in touch with you as I was about to purchase the same course. However, I don't mind paying £50 for some theoretical course, provided that it's useful. I'm doing a CELTA course in the summer anyway so it will give me the required qualification. Can you leave some contact details here or on private message? Thank you!
Pillow
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Pillow »

Hello Stoyanov,

Erm, to be honest, I wouldn't recommend paying even £50 for the course, because there are A LOT of mistakes and its a REALLLLLLYYY pointless course. I stupidly purchased another course (TEFL Express) which is also a load of rubbish (it was exactly the same contents/layout etc, but a more established provider) but unfortunately I can't go back :( anyway, the contents of this new course was exactly the same, so I compared the two, and in TEFL Cambridge, it would mark my answers as wrong when I knew they were right, I know they were right because this course is easy enough for a 6 year old to do. I only wish that someone had provided some advice on course before I purchased either of these. If you were to do this course just for some prep for your CELTA I would recommend buying a book instead!
Stoyanov
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Stoyanov »

Thanks a lot!!!

I'd consider buying a book or looking up information online as there's an actual interview and an assessment day for the CELTA course I'm applying for.

You saved me £50 - I was just about to buy it when I googled "TEFL Cambrdige scam fake" and your post appeared in the top 5 results. I was tempted to e-mail the representative that offered me an "even better voucher" than the one on amazon local, saying that her offer is bullshit but then decided against it :)

Regards and thanks again!
Sophia
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Sophia »

Under Fair Trading Laws though can we claim the money back from Amazon for mis selling? After all, Amazon is a trusted and large company without which we would have been unlikely to have signed up to such a course.
Sophia
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Sophia »

Hi there - I got a refund from Amazon Local. If you want to study on your own for the TKT (Teacher Knowledge Test - a limited qualification but issued by legitimate body Cambridge English Language Assessment) the material are available on Cambridge University Press website, £16 to access online. I expect that's what they are using for this TEFL Cambridge, we'll see! http://www.cambridge.org/gb/elt/catalog ... tID=382398
amyedownes
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by amyedownes »

Hi there,

I recently purchased/activated this course and I am so glad I read this blog before I got too far into it! I was drawn in by the reduction from £399 to £49 and initially it seemed really good but now I feel I have been grossly misled by Amazon... it's just pages and pages of text with very little assessment! How did you get your refund?? I think I am going to save up and enrol on a CELTA online course now, seems like the safest bet!
FrancesD
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by FrancesD »

I bought a course for a Tutor I employ in September. The TEFL Cambridge website was hacked in November and after inactive for 2 months. Finally back online today, I used their online chat. Firstly the tutor was offered 9 days to complete, after being inactive for around 60 days, and then saying she had completed the course and could apply for her certificate since she had completed her course., when the account showed that she clearly hadn't. I have the transcript offering this. When I started to challenge this, online chat simply disappeared. You can no longer message them on their Facebook page or comment on posts. IT IS A SCAM and people have wasted their precious time and money. I bought the course through Groupon, who have been extremely helpful and given a refund and a undertaking to stop promoting the course. However, TEFL Cambridge are still marketing the course.
Just-me-xx
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by Just-me-xx »

AVOID AVOID AVOID!
Paid for the course, received certificate, certificate rejected by the FCO as the company are not registered with Ofqual...this certificate is not worth the paper it’s printed on.

Also....certificates come from Hanoi, no answer on phone number and company claim to be registered to an address in London, but when you call to the building nobody has ever heard of them...
MiaWilliams
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Re: TEFL Cambridge - Have I just paid for a fake course?

Unread post by MiaWilliams »

Hi there!

I read your post and decided to do a bit of looking into it.

TEFL Cambridge are "powered by TEFL Express" as stated on the TEFL Cambridge website.

The problem with very cheap TEFL courses in general seems to be both the poor course content quality and the tendency for these schools to upsell for things like course extensions, etc., in order to drain more money from the student and increase that course price to a level comparable with your standard TEFL course price.

I'm not saying that TEFL Cambridge or TEFL Express do this but we have received reports of some other schools doing this.

At the end of the day though what a future employer will be looking for is that you have TEFL certification (it doesn't matter which school certified you) and that you can teach. This means that you can choose a TEFL course for $6 or $1,000 and both will satisfy your certification question. Being amply able to teach though is something only a quality online TEFL course will prepare you for.
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