5-Week TEFL Course in Toulouse, France

Our course is accredited and moderated by the UK-based body IATQUO (International Accreditation of TESOL Qualifying Organisations). They only accredit TEFL courses, and you may get to meet them in week 4 or 5 of your course.

Within l’education nationale in France we are moderated and accredited by national government bodies QUALIOPI, and recognised for government funding by the Pole Emploi.

The course costs 1900 euros. You’ll pay a deposit of 500 euros when you enrol and the balance of 1400 euros directly to the partner centre three 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 5-week, 140+ hour course (Summer courses are 4-weeks)
– 6 hours of teaching practice
– 4 hours observing experienced teachers
– Expert tuition from MA / Delta qualified trainers
– Accommodation assistance
– Welcome drinks and end of course celebratory lunch or dinner
– All course materials
– Lifetime job support from the partner centre and from School of TEFL
– Guaranteed job interviews in Toulouse should you want to stay
– Deposit refund guarantee
– Add-on Grammar Course
– Lesson plan subscription

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 6 hours (six lessons of one hour each). These students will be in small groups (normally about 4-8) of mixed age and nationality.

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 5 weeks, you’ll be assessed on the following (there is no final exam):

1. Teaching practice – You’ll need to show that you can reflect on your own teaching and put feedback into practice.

2. Theory – This is made up of:
– One to one project, where you choose a student, diagnose their needs, design, teach and evaluate a lesson, then design a short course for the student
– Two grammar and phonology tests
– Unknown foreign language observation task, where you reflect on two beginner lessons you’ll receive in a language you (probably) don’t speak
– Video demo lesson task, where you watch and answer questions about a lesson

3. Professionalism – This includes things like being present, on-time, communicative, enthusiastic about teaching, open and well-organised.

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 France, around the world or online.

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

The maximum number of students on the course is 10, and is usually around 7, allowing for more personalised support and attention.

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 casual 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 offers comprehensive job search support. They’ll help you create a CV tailored to the French job market, provide guidance on approaching language schools, and support you in setting up as a freelance teacher. You’ll also receive advice on finding jobs both in France and internationally, with continued access to their knowledgeable team after the course. The partner centre regularly receives job openings from schools in the southwest of France and shares these with trainees and graduates who are actively seeking work. You’ll also take part in input sessions during the course focused on finding work and navigating the local job market.

In addition to the support offered by the partner centre, School of TEFL provides ongoing career guidance. Before, during, and after the course, we’re here to help with CV preparation, job applications, interview techniques, and long-term TEFL planning. You’re welcome to contact us by email or phone whenever you need advice – we’re here to support you.

Our partner centre can provide assistance with some practicalities – just ask after you enrol and they’ll do their best to help!

To teach English in France you’ll need:
– a TEFL certification
– the legal right to work in the EU. This means either being an EU citizen or, as a non-EU citizen, having a visa or work permit (see the questions beow for more on this)
– to have native level or a highly proficient level of English

No, although some employers will ask for one, depending on who they want you to teach.

You don’t need to be an EU citizen, but you do need the legal right to work in France. EU/EEA citizens can work freely, while non-EU citizens must hold a visa that allows employment, such as a student visa. Most private language schools in France don’t offer visa sponsorship, especially for entry-level roles. (See below for options…)

If you are British or American, you will need to apply for a visa by one of the following two main options:

1. Apply for a long stay visa by setting up as a freelance English teacher. For this, you’ll need to submit a business plan. Your TEFL course in Toulouse will be at the heart of this plan. Our partner centre provides guidance on how to apply for this visa and supports you during the process. For this type of visa you also need to show that you have savings equivalent to living on the French minimum wage.

2. Apply for a student visa. If you enrol for French courses (our course gives you 15% off at the Alliance Francaise) you can legally work up to 20 hours per week. You would stay in Toulouse for a minimum of 5 months, the first month of which is your TEFL course. You would normally study French in the mornings, leaving you free to teach for the rest of the day. The French courses would cost around 500 euros per month, so this option is for those who want to improve their French and have the budget to do so. Please note that this method doesn’t guarantee you work, it just allows you to work legally while you are studying. Our partner centre provides guidance on how to apply for this visa and supports you during the process.

If you are from Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you can come to France on a Working Holiday Visa for a year. You need to be under 30 (35 for Canadians). This visa allows you to work on a contract with a language school. Canadians can extend it while in France.

As long as you are an EU citizen or, as a non-EU citizen, have a valid visa, you can work legally in France whether or not you are a native speaker. To take our TEFL course, you must be proficient in all aspects of English.

Language school hire teachers all year round, according to client demand. The exception is the summer months (mid-July to the end of August, where there is little work available, but schools may use this time to interview for September starts.

There are language schools and universities in towns and cities across France, and you can set up as a freelance teacher anywhere (although you will be more likely to find freelance work in bigger towns and cities).

Most work is with language schools, who will commonly hire a newly qualified teacher for a few hours a week at first on a kind of trial basis, before gradually increasing your hours over the course of a few months once they see that you are a good teacher! Most schools prefer to hire teachers on a freelance (auto-entrepreneur) basis, and our partner centre will show you how to set this up if you want to stay in France. You then bill the language school at the end of each month for the number of hours you’ve worked. The advantage of this is that you can work for more than one language school at once, and teach privately as well, to fill up your weekly schedule.

Language schools sometimes offer short-term contracts (CDD – contrat à durée déterminée) instead of working with you on a freelance basis, and (rarely) long-term contracts (CDI – contrat à durée indéterminée). These are not mutually exclusive – you can be freelanc and have a contract with a language school.

If you have a contract with a school, and at least a year or two of experience, you become eligible to teach at universities, where the pay is about double that of language schools.

Language schools usually pay between 18 and 35 euros an hour. They usually employ teachers on a freelance (auto-entrepreneur) basis. If you are freelance, you are “free” to charge what you like, but the range that schools and private students are willing to pay is normally within this range! University roles can pay up to around 60 euros per hour, though these positions usually require experience and may pay in arrears. Many teachers working full schedules report earning between 1500 and 2500 euros per month, depending on the mix of school work and private lessons. (Rates and demand vary by region and time of year.)

The cost of living in Toulouse is comparable to that of a mid-sized city in the UK or USA, depending on lifestyle and accommodation choices.