The NILE division within INTO University Partnerships, specializing in teacher education, is collaborating with English UK to bring forth a new TEFL certification.
AccessTEFL, the newly minted programme, is designed to establish avenues into the English language teaching profession in the UK, integrating practical training within a structured CPD framework.
Aimed at individuals lacking a TEFL qualification, AccessTEFL will confer upon them TEFLi status, thereby qualifying them for teaching positions in alignment with the Accreditation UK standards.
The scheme will be run by English UK, with day-to-day support, oversight and moderation from teacher training specialists from NILE – Norwich Institute for Language Education, part of the INTO University Partnerships group.
Esteemed for its prolific professional development training to over 70,000 English language teachers from over 90 countries since 1995, NILE is a leader in its domain.
The inception of this programme was driven by the periodic reviews by Accreditation UK, which endorsed the apprentice model in teacher education.
Following this, English UK proposed a budget-friendly, on-the-job qualification pathway to boost the pool of qualified ELT teachers, enhance the accessibility of the field, and strengthen the support for new entrants. Participants will be under the tutelage of NILE’s expert educators, gaining pivotal skills in the UK ELT context, with their employing schools providing necessary mentorship and professional growth.
Thom Kiddle, NILE’s Director, expressed his anticipation for the collaboration: “We are excited to be working on a new project with the team at English UK – developing and managing a situated and supported CPD scheme, AccessTEFL, for new teachers joining English UK schools.”
“The scheme, to be launched later this year, will ensure new entrants to the profession are supported with structured, focused development activities, observation and feedback while they learn their craft and help accredited English UK members recruit teachers in combination with the traditional TEFLi routes.”
The AccessTEFL programme involves 40 hours of study and 80 hours of teaching, enriched with mentorship and collaborative opportunities with experienced teachers. Core subjects include The English Language, The English Language Learner, The English Language Classroom, and Reflective Practice.
Jodie Gray, the Chief Executive of English UK, remarked on the initiative: “We are delighted to launch ATEFL after many months planning. Many ELT centres have been struggling to hire enough qualified teachers to meet increasing student demand, and that could impede the continuing growth of UK ELT.”
“We believe ATEFL is a great way for centres to grow and develop their own staff, supporting people who are keen to teach English in the UK but who do not have a conventional TEFLi qualification. This is an affordable and accessible way for centres to train high-quality staff as part of their staff CPD, and we hope that as many as possible will be able to take advantage of it.”