You will receive general employment advice, and other possibilities beyond CELTA, during the last week of your course, and tutors will give you the benefit of their particular experience. Cambridge work very hard at gaining recognition for CELTA world-wide and it is safe to say that CELTA is now the international ELT industry standard. More and more language schools require teachers to have a minimum of CELTA, and some schools may offer salary incentives to people with CELTA.

Internationally, a CELTA qualified teacher could potentially teach anywhere in the world, though obviously visa requirements vary from country to country. Generally speaking, the more desirable a location is, the harder it will be to find teaching jobs, and vice versa. So for example, schools in Western Europe and North America tend to want fewer, and more experienced teachers and have stricter visa requirements.

That leaves plenty of other places however. Teachers who have done CELTA at GHS have gone on to teach in many locations around the world, for example Central Europe, South America, the Middle East and the Far East. The latter two regions are particularly popular with South African nationals, as visas are easier to get and large numbers of CELTA qualified teachers are required (and also dollars can be earned!). At the moment, the Middle East, South Korea and Taiwan seem to be popular destinations for South Africans.

Locally, the ELT industry in Cape Town is still fairly small, with full-time teaching positions being relatively rare, but due to the seasonal nature of the market in Cape Town there is a constant need for part-time teachers, who often end up working a more or less full-time timetable anyway.

Whatever your plans beyond the course, if you’re willing to be flexible you will certainly find some teaching work.