London Teacher Training College (LTTC)?

[subbiha@hotmail.com]

I have been doing research into TESOL Diplomas. Most qualification providers ask for you to have done a degree and have 1-2 years teaching experience, however LTTC said they would take me on despite having none of this. They are ASET accredited but ASET have been taken over by EDI Plc who are only accredited to give Diplomas in 3 subjects-not TESOL-they are offering a Certificate in Tesol Level 4. They also say that to complete the Diploma it is not compulsory to do practical teaching assessment, most other institutions say you must do practical teaching assessments. I am sure that people will beable to get jobs in some countries with the Diploma as they may not research into the qualification and just see that your English is good enough but I want to teach TESOL longterm and do not want to take the risk that they do not accept my qualification. There are a lot of people who are doing the TESOL courses so even institutions abroad are going into more detail now. This course is not accredited by ASET or EDI-please be wary. IT does sound good and i wish it was accredited as i would have definetly done it if it was.

[systematic]

I have been doing research into TESOL Diplomas. Most qualification providers ask for you to have done a degree and have 1-2 years teaching experience...

This is not quite true, and you may need to extend your research, as many other threads on this board have explained almost exhaustively in great detail what the current situation is, with links to more information of an official nature.

Even the most respected of all courses, the Cambridge CELTA, does not insist on a degree or on any previous teaching experience. The very existence of course providers is to train those who have no previous teaching experience.

The road to a proper MA is however more ambitious. Holders of the Cambridge DELTA - the next level up from CELTA - can benefit from major course credits for degrees at several leading UK universities. The DELTA does require provable minimum teaching experience within the previous five years.

The better jobs in TESOL of the kind long term or career teachers will be seeking, will almost always require either a 120 hour face-to-face course with at least six hours observed practical teaching, an MA TESOL, a BEd, or a subject degree with a PGCE. Most countries require a degree to be able to teach legally..

The bottom line is that good employers are looking for experience, so there is no real substitute for a face-to-face course.

Do check out the other threads on the various forums of this board on course providers and TESOL / TEFL / ESL training.

[Shadow]

I am sorry but you are wrong and also misleading I have just spoken to edi. Edi have simply taken over the role that aset used to have as it now owns aset edi have approved the cert 120 and dip program and issue a second certificate themselves to lttc students when they complete a course. This is fact not conjecture.
Unlike many other so called boards that accredit and approve programs edi are recognised by uk governent as accreditation and approval board for vocational courses.

[systematic]

I am sorry but you are wrong and also misleading

Nobody is misleading or wrong, and all information is provided in good faith. If you care to read the thread you will see that the information was from a direct communication to us from EDI themselves.

[domnios]

Hi, can anybody help me?
I have seen a previous post about LTTC not providing you with a certificate when the course had been completed. This is what is happening to me now, I have just sent an email to EDI outlining my situation so I'm just awaiting a replay. LTTC have responded everytime I have emailed them but the amount of emails toing and throwing is time comsuming and fustrating.
What do I do now? Just wait? or should I step up the heat and send a complaint?

[systematic]

Hi Domnious,

The best thing would be to write directly to Sally Marshal at LTTC and say that if you do not receive your certificate soon, you will contact their accreditor.
Their details are all in this thread.

[domnios]

Hi, Thanks for your response. I have done everything that is outlined in above threads and what you have suggested above. Its getting me nowhere and I have not had a response from EDI (LTTC a creditors)

[systematic]

There a re still a few other things you can try of course. here a re some suggestions. Remember that Sally Marshal is your contact person, and may even be the owner It should not be too difficult to solicit a response because like all language schools, they have a very small infrastructure, so there is not much risk of yor request going to the wrong person

- telephoning them
- sending them a registered or recoded delivery letter by traditional posts
- telephoning their accrediting agency
- sending a recorded delivery letter to the acrediting agency
- informing the British Fair Trading authority
- look up who own LTTC in the Companies House Register, and contact their major shareholders (if any).

In your communications to LTTC, remember that a moderated tone will get best results, but you can suggest to them that you would:

- take legal action
- blog and post heavily on the Internet about your dissatifaction (this can hurt Internet based companies very hard)

Finally, if you are in the UK and not too far from London, visit them at their premises. if you can't do this, try getting someone you know in the UK to do it for you.

I hope all this helps.

[johnschuster]

I'm interested in getting qualified, and am looking at CELTA and this new EDI course. I could get a CELTA, but for £285 I can get an equivalent Level 4 course. Has anyone done this course yet?

[systematic]

Hi John,

Do check the other forums on this board - several members discuss CELTA courses in detail. As far as I can remember, some are also actually doing it now.

[Alex Case]

LTTC still seem to be offering dodgy degrees in TEFL with the distinctly dodgy St Clements University:
http://www.teachenglish.co.uk/b.a.tefl.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clements_University

I also strongly object to their misuse of the name "Diploma" for what isn't even a proper certificate level (i.e. TEFL-I) qualification:

http://www.teachenglish.co.uk/tesol.htm

[Johntalbot]

Hi all,

I have also completed an LTTC program and found no difficulty finding a teaching post. I imagine a lot of nasty stuff that is posted on blogs and forums are from schools trying to discredit their competitors.

I know that there are many different awarding bodies but before I chose a course I did check out EDI and there are certainly on the list of government approved accrediting boards They are also one of the largest if not the largest and deal with practical vocational programs that are designed to get you a job - which was my purpose of course

I also believe that some of their awards count as credits towards the MSc TEFL from Novasoutheastern University who are a massive and fully accredited university in the USA

J

[simonm]

I have noticed that Access2English have stopped offering discount on LTTC courses - they have refused to comment, but state on the site that registration files will be made available if necessary. Anyone know anything about this?

[zanzibar]

I have been reading the posts here a lot, which has led into me doing some background work into LTTC, St. Clements University and Nova Southeastern University (NSU). I have communicated with people who actually live in the area, close to the area or come from the regions in question. NSU (http://www.nsu.edu) is an accredited institution in the US. They testify to knowing people who have done degrees etc with them, so they are OK. LTTC is also accredited by EDI, as was confirmed by a phone call to EDI. What I have failed to establish is whether or not Not they actually accredit the degree offered by LTTC. They have too many campuses all over the states, they keep transferring me to many extensions, and when I finally got through to the Department of Education, they took ages to answer the phone, only to learn that no one was in office. They have not responded to my emails. My last attempt has been using their online contact form, on which I am waiting to see a reply.

As far as St. Clements University is concerned, they are indeed a University in the South Pacific. My friend is from Papua New Guinea in the Pacific (though not the south like St. Clements), and I have asked him for his confirmation of their existence. He has confirmed that they actually do exist, however his exact words were, "for professional and educational purposes, it's not worth it (unless you've received a divine commission thereat)". I have asked him to clarify further and I am still awaiting his reply. I didnt explain the reason for asking as I wanted an unbiased and general response. I will update when he responds. I also emailed St. Clements and they have replied to me tha they ae working in conjunction with LTTC in offering this MA (Tesol) degree. I will leave it to your judgement to decide how you respond to the findings of my research in deciding your academic pathway.