Oxford Seminars (Review)

The idea of teaching overseas is appealing to countless job seekers, but many don’t know where to begin. One way to accomplish this is through a program called Oxford Seminars.

What is Oxford Seminars?

Oxford Seminars is a 120-hour course for TESOL/TESL/TEFL certification. TESOL, TESL, and TEFL are three different certifications for teaching English.

• TESOL is short for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
• TESL is the acronym for Teaching English as a Second Language.
• TEFL is short for Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

Depending on where you want to teach, a job could ask for any of these. If you’re new to the field and want to keep your options open, this program is great because it combines these three different certifications into one program.

However, the value Oxford Seminars provides doesn’t stop there. There are separate units available for those who want to add a specialization to their certificate. In addition to that, they also have a job placement service through which they help job seekers with creating resumes and cover letters, as well as connecting with employers.

The program is available in the U.S. in several states, and even in multiple locations in those states.

The Program

The program itself can take a few months to complete, as it’s a 120-hour course. It’s split into two portions: in-class and online.

For the in-class section, students are taught how to approach teaching, make lesson plans, and even how to prepare for going abroad for a teaching position. This takes place over six days, typically a few hours twice a week on Saturday and Sunday. Students get to practice with preparing and teaching short lessons, and even have a practicum.

After completing the in-class section, students start the online portion of the course. These lessons are on the Oxford Seminars website, and reinforce what was taught during the in-class lessons, as well as go in-depth on grammar.

Once completed, the Final Assignment is available and acts as a final exam for the course that pulls from every book, lecture, and assignment related to the class. When the in-class portion is completed, students have 105 days to finish the online component and the Final Assignment. After passing the exam, your certificate will be mailed to you.

Enrollment

If the idea of the Oxford Seminars interests you, there are three requirements in order to enroll in the program.

1. The enrollee needs to be at least 18 years-old
2. Must be a native English speaker OR a non-native speaker fluent in English
3. Be receptive to working and living abroad

While there is no minimum education requirement in order to enroll in this program, many teaching positions require at least a high school diploma or a bachelor’s degree in addition to a TESOL, TESL, or TEFL certification.

Signing up for the course can be done by mail, fax, phone, on the Oxford Seminars website, or in person at an info session. When signing up, you can either pay for the full program or the deposit to hold your seat.

Info Sessions

Before signing up and putting money down, I recommend attending an info session. These tend to take place either close to where the in-class portion will be or at the same venue. This is where you can learn about the program, ask questions, and pay for the deposit or the full program.

Cost

As of writing this, the full cost for the program is $1,295. This cost includes the class, as well as the books you’ll be studying from, and the paper certificate that will be mailed you.

When you’ve decided to take the course and go to pay, you can choose whether to pay the $95 deposit to hold your seat, or the full amount. At the latest, the full amount must be paid by the time class begins.

After completing the Final Assignment, you can sign up for specialized units.

These are separate 40-hour courses, and include Business English and TOEFL preparation. These are a separate cost of about $400 per specialization course.

(Note: As of writing this, the page for this on the Oxford Seminars website isn’t working.)

However, Oxford Seminars also offers discounts for their program.

1. Early Bird Discount — If you pay for the whole program 28 days before the course starts, you’ll get a $100 discount.
2. Information Session Discount — If you pay for the whole program at an Info Session, you’ll get a $50 discount.
3. Friend Discount — If you sign up for the same class with a friend, you’ll get a $50 discount.
4. Specialization Module Discount — If you sign up for a module within two weeks of finishing the main course, you’ll get a $100 discount.

Here is my recommendation: When you’re ready to take the class, go to an info session because they typically take place at least a month before the class starts. Pay the full cost for the program there, and that will knock the price down by $150 due to two discounts: the $50 Information Session Discount and the $100 Early Bird Discount. If you know someone who wants to do the course as well, then that’s another $50 discount (Friend Discount).

Just a reminder: This cost includes the class, certificate, and books.

Books

These are the books used in the course:

1. The Oxford Seminars 120-Hour Course Handbook is a thin manual that gives a great breakdown of the program and has helpful information on getting an ESL job overseas.

For the class, it outlines the course objectives and includes a sample practicum grading rubric.

As for job opportunities, it lists information by country. These charts include the minimum education requirements for the job, the usual start date, the average monthly salary, if airfare and accommodation are included, and how much teachers can save per year from their salary. In addition to this, there are also tips for how to write a resume and cover letter for this type of job. It also explains what materials you will need (i.e. passport, federal criminal background check, etc.). At the back is a sample employee contract, interview tips, and a checklist for going overseas.

2. The Oxford Seminars TESOL/TEFL Certification Course Training Manual is the biggest book in the course because it includes a lot of information. Most of the book focuses on teaching with detailed pages on making lesson plans, classroom discipline, suggested class activities, and much more.

3. How to Teach English breaks down how to teach English learners. This includes speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. It’s great for helping new teachers to figure out their own teaching style.

4. The Grammar Guide is a small guide for quick grammar help.

5. Grammar Sense 2 is for the online portion of the course and is all about grammar.

My Experience with Oxford Seminars

I went through the program in the spring of 2019, but I first heard about the program back in 2017. At the time, there was a YouTuber who went to South Korea to teach and talked about her experience with this program. I was just starting to consider a career in teaching, and working overseas was very appealing to me. I looked at multiple job sites and online programs, but ultimately decided to go through Oxford Seminars. I chose them because I thought the cost was reasonable, I liked how much was included, and it felt like I would have a path to employment.

I went to my first info session in fall 2018, and after going I felt confident in my decision. I worked and saved money until the next info session rolled around. I did this because I was busy at the time and was well-aware of the discounts. A few months later in February 2019, I signed up for the course at the info session and paid for the whole program then. I paid $1,045 because at the time, the course cost $1,195 and I received two discounts (Early Bird and Info Session).

A few days after I applied for the course, I got a phone call from Oxford Seminars wanting to check up on me and see if I had any further questions. I was not expecting that, but it really set the tone for the service I would receive for the rest of the program and beyond.

The class only had about 5 students total, and took place at my local community college. The course was taught by a long-time ESL instructor at my local university and was the man who hosted the info sessions I went to. He was very knowledgeable of the course, how to teach, and had previously taught ESL abroad for many years. My favorite part about having him as my teacher was that by the end of the second day, he knew where each of us wanted to go with our studies and tailored his teaching towards helping us meet our goals.

At any rate, one of the most important subjects to me was lesson planning. I had a rough idea of how to make lesson plans, as I had seen hundreds of examples when I was a substitute teacher. However, I didn’t quite know how to create concise lesson objectives that would work for different ages and match activities that were appropriate for them. This ended up being very valuable to me when I started making my own lesson plans.

On the final day of class, we had a practicum where the instructor graded us on how well we taught a lesson. It was from that assessment that I became more effective when making lesson plans.

After finishing the course at the end of May 2019, I moved on to the job placement service. I already knew the country I wanted to teach in, but as I was supposed to pick 3, it gave me a chance to compare.

Once I submitted my resume and cover letter, I was matched with an advisor who was my lifeline for the next few months. She contacted multiple employment agencies, answered questions, and looked through contracts with me. Without an advisor, I probably would have given up, since the process of getting documents apostilled, shipped off, and approved in a timely manner was grueling.

Even after I started working at a private school in South Korea around September 2019, my advisor emailed me to check on how I was doing about a month after I had arrived. Due to the pandemic, I returned home after a year, but that wasn’t where my experience ended. At least twice since I’ve returned, Oxford Seminars has contacted me to see if I’d like to teach again. Their commitment to keeping me active is one of the reasons why I still think so positively of it.

Conclusion

If you’re interested in teaching English overseas, I recommend going through Oxford Seminars because there’s a lot of value packed into the program. Even if you ultimately decide not to go into the field of education, having a TESOL/TESL/TEFL certification is still useful for writing. In addition to the certificate, the job placement service will always be open to you, as well as their tools for writing better cover letters and resumes. Give the program a chance and be open to the possibilities Oxford Seminars could present to you.