4-Week TEFL Course in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Our course is accredited by Learning Resource Network, an Ofqual-recognised awarding body, as a level 5 certificate.

The course costs $1300 USD. You’ll pay a deposit of $375 when you enrol and the balance directly to the partner centre approximately four weeks before the start of the course.

Please note:
These prices may be lower if you see an offer listed on our site or have a discount code.

Included in the price of the course are:
– Pre-course support – visa, insurance and documentation advice
– The 4-week, 130+ hour course
– 10 hours of teaching practice
– 6 hours observing experienced teachers
– Expert tuition from certified and experienced trainers
– Accommodation assistance
– Welcome breakfast or lunch and graduation ceremony
– All course materials
– Organised social and cultural events
– Lifetime job support from the partner centre and from School of TEFL
– Online grammar course

This is an intensive, university-level course that requires dedication and hard work! It’s not a ‘shortcut’ TEFL course. However, with your commitment, you’ll emerge from it well-prepared and highly motivated to start your teaching journey.

Yes, you’ll teach actual local ESL students at two different levels for 10 hours. These students will be in small groups.

Yes, the course trains you how to teach both adults and young learners. You’ll learn core teaching skills applicable to all age groups, along with specific strategies for teaching young learners.

During the 4 weeks, you’ll be assessed on the following:

1. Teaching practice – You’ll need to show that you can reflect on your own teaching and put feedback into practice.
2. Personal and professional portfolio – This is a “progress log” where you record your achievements and identify areas for growth.
3. Individual Student Teaching Project – You’ll create a detailed learning plan for one student (including two lesson plans) and normally teach one of the lessons.
4. Group Project – You’ll create a project with some of your fellow trainees around the themes of teaching and cross-cultural awareness. You’ll then present this project to the whole group.
5. Final written test
6. Attendance

You’ll also have several one to one tutorials with your trainer to talk about your progress and answer any questions about what you’ve covered on the course.

The course is suitable for motivated individuals of all ages and backgrounds who want to teach English in Thailand, around the world or online.

The course tends to get fully booked up to two or three months in advance, so it’s best to book as early as you can.

There is an average of 4-8 trainees on each course.

A laptop for lesson planning is useful if you have one. When teaching or observing classes, you need to wear professional, business clothing (no jeans, shorts, flip-flops or t-shirts). When not teaching or observing, you can wear more casual, but still “semi-professional” clothes.

You don’t need to prepare in any way. However, we would recommend taking our add-on Grammar Course (free when you enrol). You’ll learn grammar on the course, but this will give you a head start.

If you want to read about English teaching before the course, Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener and The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer are both good options. Again, this is optional, as you’ll learn all you need to know about the theory and practice of teaching on the course itself, but some trainees find it helpful to be familiar with some of the terms and concepts before starting the course.

No – TEFL courses show you how to teach without needing to know the language of your students. If you go on to teach in an English speaking country, you’ll probably have classes of mixed nationality/first language, so using the students’ first language isn’t an option anyway!

Our partner centre provides ongoing job search support. During and after the course, you’ll have access to individual job guidance sessions, as well as advice on writing your CV, preparing for interviews, and finding teaching opportunities. The partner centre has connections with many schools both locally and internationally, and may be able to help you explore roles within its network of language schools, depending on availability and fit.

In addition to the support offered by the partner centre, School of TEFL provides continued career guidance. Before, during, and after your course, we’re here to offer advice on CV preparation, job applications, interview strategies, and growing your TEFL career. You’re welcome to contact us by email or phone at any time for personalised support—we’re here to help whenever you need us.

Included in the course fee is arrival point greeting. Optional social events are often organised.

Please feel free to ask if you need help with anything else as well – the partner centre team will do their best to assist you or point you in the right direction wherever they can!

To teach English in Thailand, you’ll need:
– a TEFL certification of at least 120 hours
– a Bachelor’s degree in any field/major
– to be a native English speaker, or a non-native speaker with a native level and proven TOEIC score of 600, TOEFL score of 550, or IELTS score of 5 / 5.5+
– a clean criminal background check
– a clean health check

Most trainees enter Thailand on a tourist visa. This can be either a single entry visa with 90 days of validity (an initial 60 days, extendable by 30 days) or a multiple entry visa with 180 days of validity. With a multiple entry visa, you’ll need to leave and re-enter the country twice, and apply for two 30 day extensions to get the full 180 day validity. Tourist visas allow you to attend short training courses such as a TEFL course.

Once you have secured a job after the course, you’ll convert your tourist visa to a Non-Immigrant B visa. You can do this either at a local immigration office or by briefly leaving and re-entering the country via a neighbouring country. (Please note that visa policies can change, so it’s important to check the latest rules.) A Non-Immigrant B visa and a secured job allow you to apply for a work permit (sponsored by your employer), which in turn allows you to apply for a teaching licence. A teaching licence is required to legally work as a teacher in Thailand.

So to summarise:

1. Tourist visa
2. Secure a job
3. Convert tourist visa to Non-Immigrant B visa
4. Apply for work permit
5. Apply for teaching licence

Your employer will normally help with the process of applying for the work permit and teaching licence.

For the work permit you’ll need to provide your Non-Immigrant B visa, TEFL certificate, original Bachelor’s degree certificate, certified health check (carried out in Thailand), passport and passport photos.

For the teaching licence you’ll need to provide your Non-Immigrant B visa, work permit, original Bachelor’s degree certificate, clean, certified criminal background check and passport photos.

Our partner centre provides guidance on the visa process, and you can read our detailed information about visas here.

You’ll need to bring your original Bachelor’s degree certificate along with any university transcripts. You’ll also need to bring your certified criminal background check.

Yes, as long as you can demonstrate that you have a native level of English proficiency. You may need to provide proof of this, in the form of an official TOEIC score of 600 or more, a TOEFL score of 550 or more, or an IELTS score of 5 / 5.5+.

Peak hiring times for government schools (the most likely type of job as a new teacher) are in February to March, ready for the start of term in May, and in September, for the start of term in October.

If you’re working at a government school you’ll work Monday to Friday, with weekends mostly free. Your holidays will be the same as the school holidays, giving you plenty of time to travel around Thailand. Your classes may be quite large – sometimes up to 40 or 50 kids, and you’ll most likely teach about 20 hours a week.

If you work at a language school, you’re likely to work in the early morning, evening and at weekends, as you’ll be teaching students who need to fit their English classes around work or other commitments. Class sizes are usually much smaller. Holiday and other benefits vary from school to school. Some may provide accommodation or a housing allowance, flight reimbursement and health insurance.

Thai students, both kids and adults, are generally friendly, polite, and good fun to teach.

You can find English teaching jobs nationwide. Bigger cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket tend to have the largest number of jobs. Jobs in these popular locations can be more competitive than in smaller towns.

Most work is in government schools, teaching children (Thailand has an English teaching programme in schools) and in private language schools where you may teach children, adults or business professionals. It’s also possible to work in universities and international schools, usually once you have some experience. Many teachers supplement their income with private tutoring (or do this full time).

You can expect to make anywhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Baht (about $850 – $1150 USD or £650 – £900) per month working at a language school, depending on the school and the location. Some positions may pay more, and you can supplement income with private tutoring for anywhere up to 1,500 Baht per hour. Experienced teachers at universities or international schools can sometimes earn up to 150,000 Baht per month (about $4000 USD).

The cost of living in Thailand is generally low compared to many European countries or the USA. Many teachers find that this allows them to comfortably cover their expenses and, depending on lifestyle, put some money aside each month.