How many TEFL course hours do I need? How long do online courses take?

Before I go into the details on TEFL course hours I'll try to answer some quick questions that you may have and then go into details later.

Quick takeaway points:

1. Do employers care about the amount of hours? It depends on the employer, some care and some do not. If they care then the #120 is the most frequently cited and some may care whether the course was online or in class.
2. Are 120 hour courses actually 120 hours long? Not usually, online TEFL courses are typically asynchronous, which means there are no scheduled class times. They are usually self paced and the actual time to complete a course can vary considerably.
3. How long do these courses take? Examples below show that some students who took 120-168 hour courses only spent anywhere from 6-25 hours to complete. Some in-class courses can take anywhere from a couple days to a month or more.

What do these TEFL course hours mean?

These are asynchronous online courses which means you can work on them when and where you want and there are no scheduled class times like you will find in a synchronous course.

So why is it that people are recommending a 120 hour course or more? That's likely because reputable courses like CELTA were originally synchronous (120 hours in the classroom which was 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for a month). It included supervised lesson planning, teaching practice, feedback and observation which you may not find in an online course.

The problem isn't that online courses are self-paced. The problem is that a course advertised as 120 hours doesn't necessarily require 120 hours of actual study, and the number alone doesn't tell you how much useful training you'll receive.

How many TEFL course hours do I need?

First, you don't necessarily need a TEFL course to teach abroad. Based on my experience teaching in East Asia unlike your degree a TEFL certificate is rarely required for a visa. But some schools may prefer it or require it. Many TEFL course providers will tell you that you need a "120 hour" course, but is that the truth? 

In the end it depends on the school. TEFL certification isn't usually required in Korea, Taiwan, China or Japan to process a legal work visa. Although it depends. There are schools or programs in Asia like EPIK in Korea that require a 100 hours or more certificate. Read more about the requirements to teach in Asia.

"The number of hours in a course really doesn't matter." - Chinadonkey

In my experience teaching in Asia it also doesn't matter. Out of all the schools that I applied to in China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan I had only one employer ask me: "How many hours was the course?". I spent 8 years in those countries and I applied to A LOT of schools.

Employers take into account your qualifications, such as your degree, experience, and other sometimes discriminatory preferences like looks, age and personality.

How long does it take to get TEFL certified online?

If you are wondering how long it takes to complete a 120, 140, or 160 hours online TEFL course and get a certificate then I'd say it depends on the course and you. Most of these courses are work at your own pace. Many people that you will soon see completed so-called "120 hour" online TEFL courses in less than 2 days. These are pseudo "hours" not concrete class time hours. 

People taking various online courses completed them in way less time than the 120, 150 or 160 hours as stated

I was curious about those Groupon courses so I tried a 120 hour one and I completed it in less than 8 hours. I didn't read everything and I suspect if I did it would have taken maybe twice as long. 

Comments from Reddit and beyond

How many hours does a 168 hour course actually take?

Here are some more quotes that I found on the web about TEFL courses on Groupon.

Is it just the courses on Groupon?

No.

For example, that picture above about the 168 hour course is by TEFL Academy and that is supposedly some highly "accredited level 5" certificate. 

It's all for show: those "hours", the "accreditation" and that "Level 5" jargon.

It's to make you think you'll get a better job. 

And...

With a little more research I found these comments about course hours and non-Groupon providers. Both of these providers are fairly popular.

"Not quite that many. When they said 120 hours they actually mean 120 lessons some of which actually take an hour and some that take 10-15 minutes. I think it would depend on the person." - throwaway10 (Referring to the university of Toronto's course)

"I did i-to-i 120 hour TEFL about 2 years ago. It was a while ago so I can't say exactly how long it took but it was definitely not 120hrs. I think most reasonably smart people could easily finish it in half that if you get stuck into it." - victoriamagin

"Sorry, I was talking about the time it took us to finish it, not the hours, obviously. There is no way it actually took a full 120 hours." - _Lao_Why_

"While everybody certainly learns at a different pace, it didn't take me anywhere near 168h to complete the courses. Maybe 16.8 at best..." - godless-life

How long does it take to get the actual certificate?

It depends on the course. Some may issue a download when you complete the course or others like one I took may make you wait 10 days just for a download. An actual paper certificate may take weeks and cost additional money.

Do you need a 120+ hour course?

It usually depends on the position and location. Keep in mind there's a whole lot of marketing going on the TEFL course industry. 

Who is telling you that you need a 120+ hour course?

• Are they a TEFL course provider? Then consider the fact that they have something to sell.
• Are they a recruiter? Then consider the fact that they may be making a commission by selling a course for the provider.
• Are they a blogger? Then consider the fact that may also be making an affiliate commission by selling that course.
• Are they an employer? Then that is more useful, however all employers are not the same.

So will a 120 hour TEFL be enough?

You may be pulling your hair out thinking...

"Should I go with the 60 hour course? That's cheaper and shorter, but then again maybe I should go with the 120 hour course as I heard that was more reputable...

But wait I see there is even a 150 hour course. Holy cow! If I had that then I would top the other applicants with a 120 hour course...

Or would I?"

Stop pulling your hair out.

I wouldn't stress this.

In my experience teaching in Asia the amount of hours in a TEFL course doesn't matter most of the time. It actually matters far less in the real world (to employers) than some TEFL providers say it does. There are instances where it matters and that number tends to be 100 or 120, but it ultimately depends on the school and location. Read more about the requirments to teach in Asia.

You also have to keep in mind they are marketing their own courses. More TEFL course hours means more money for them so the information you are getting is biased.

So then would an in-class course be better in terms of hours?

Typically an in-class course is synchronous with scheduled class times, however an in-class course that claims to be 120 hours doesn't guarantee that it will take 120 hours to complete.

I took a TESOL course before I started teaching English in Taiwan. It was also called a 120 course. I spent a $1000 on it which was like 2 days in a classroom and the rest of the course for take home. At the end of the 2 days they gave me what they called a 60 hour certificate, but it didn't say anything about the hours on it.

That was my first experience with TEFL/TESOL.

But it turns out that it is pretty common at least in the online course world. And it was an accredited course too which is funny because a lot of people are searching Google for "reputable" and accredited courses like it really means something.

But it doesn't for like 90% of TEFL courses out there. To me it looks like most courses just copy CELTA or try to sound like it. Perhaps this is part of the reason why some say online courses aren't worth it.

CELTA is a more structured qualification with defined contact hours, supervised teaching practice and assessment. That is quite different from simply completing a self-paced online coursework.

The bottom line

The advertised hours of a course do not necessarily equate to how much time you will spend working on the course. And more hours do not necessarily mean better a better job or better preparation with teacher training.

Whether TEFL certification is required or not depends on the employer. Some schools have higher standards which means they're probably not going to hire a first time teacher regardless if it was a "120 hour online TEFL course" or even a CELTA course. Aside from the basic qualifications most schools are going to prefer someone with experience.

But every school is different.

If you can't get into one school try another. There is no certificate that guarantees you a job anywhere or everywhere. It's just a little something you can put on your resume and more importantly it should help you to do your job, but quality varies.

Related:

• 5 things that matter with a TEFL course
• Is TEFL certification worth it?
• Online vs. In-class TEFL courses
• What's the best online TEFL course?
• What's the fastest online TEFL course?
• TEFL course scams
• Learn more about TEFL accreditation.

Have more questions about online TEFL courses?

Learn more about online TEFL courses.