International House Newcastle

The International House Online Certificate in Teaching Languages

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The IHoCTL: course fees: £800 (negotiable for groups)

 For General IHoCTL Information -  Click Here
 For Candidate Application Form -  Click Here
 For Information on Course Formats  Click Here
 For Local Tutor Application Form  Click Here

        The IHOCTL is a unique online teacher training programme. It has been designed for:

  • people who have no or little teaching experience, and want a recognised qualification.
  • for English teachers with experience who would like a recognised qualification.
  • for experienced language teachers who would like to develop their teaching skills.


(Applicants who do not have access to a group of learners during their course should contact us for further advice)

Key Features of the IHoCTL:

  • online teacher training input and assignments
  • learning at your own pace
  • six hours of assessed teaching practice per candidate
  • 4 hours of observation of experienced teachers per candidate

Why choose the distance learning option?

The IHoCTL has been designed to offer flexibility to course participants whilst maintaining standards.

Who will Benefit?

1. Working language teachers

  • The IHoCTL is for teachers who would like to continue working while they study.
  • An alternative to intensive face-to-face courses.
  • Candidates can work at their own pace, to reflect on ideas and theory and to incorporate these into their own teaching.


2. Volunteer teachers.

  • The IHoCTL will help you get into the teaching profession.
  • To assess candidates' teaching skills during the course.

As with any online teacher training distance learning programme, it is important that you consider carefully your own learning style and environment.

To follow the IHoCTL programme, you need to be able to spend a minimum of 120 hours, over approximately 3 to 6 months, on course-related work. You need to be able to work to deadlines.

How does The IHoCTL work?

IHoCTL is designed for you if you:

  • are working as a teacher during the course.
  • want to develop your theoretical knowledge and your practical skills.

The IHoCTL programme consists of:

  • An Orientation Course, run online or, for groups, at selected regional centres all over the world. 
  • The 9 core modules plus optional extra specialist modules which cover the IHC syllabus and assessment.

Candidates who follow the IHoCTL programme and successfully complete all assessed work, will receive the IHoCTL certificate at the end of their course. This is an internationally-recognised teaching qualification.

1: the Orientation Course

The Orientation Course is an exciting and rewarding part of the programme.

  • The orientation course introduces you to the course.
  • The orientation course provides you with the chance to meet or correspond with fellow course participants and share ideas.
  • The orientation course gives you the opportunity to plan for teaching with input from an experienced tutor

2. The Input Sessions, Teaching Practice and Assignments


The Distance Component consists of:

  • online teacher training modules
  • written assignments
  • observation of teaching (online video)
  • development of practical teaching skills*

Online modules


Core course materials are delivered on a learning platform, in 9 units to be completed to a schedule over a maximum of nine months. Each unit of work contains information, tasks and guided reading projects to enhance your understanding of approaches, theories, and practical techniques in language learning and teaching. The units also contain unassessed tasks and assessed written assignments to send to tutors, which contribute to your overall assessment on the course. There will also be tasks for assessed teaching practice, and candidates will need to write lesson plans for assessment by tutors.
The dedicated website / learning platform also allows candidates to discus ideas, reflections, queries with each other and this is monitored by an experienced tutor.

Written assignments:

All course participants will complete four written assignments as part of the course. Assignments will be submitted to tutors by e-mail for assessment. Information about how to complete the assignments will be included on the learning platform.

Observation of Teaching (online)

This is observation of experienced, qualified language teachers. The videos will be included as part of the online study modules, with observation tasks linked to the content of the study unit.

Development of Practical Teaching skills


During the distance component of the course, you will be asked to plan, teach and write a reflection of seven assessed lessons*. These lessons will be observed by a local supervisor who will write a report and send it to your tutor. Your planning and reflection of your teaching will be assessed by an experienced IHoCTL tutor, who will also monitor your progress and provide support throughout the of the course.

*During the course, all candidates will teach nine assessed lessons in total. The first assessed lesson will be on the face-to-face orientation course.

Candidates on the IHoCTL programme should ensure that they can spend an average of 20 hours per month, over 6 months,(40 hours per month over 3 months) to work on the IHoCTL. This work will include work on the distance modules, reading, completing assignments, writing lesson plans and reflecting on your own teaching.


Who will help me?

Throughout the programme, there will be a team of experienced IHoCTL tutors working with you to ensure you gain as much benefit as possible from the programme. In addition to the course materials described above, there are several key elements in place to ensure that your learning is supported:

  • You will be part of a study group (maximum 12 participants) who will participate in online discussions, monitored by an experienced tutor.
  • The Course Tutor team, comprising tutors from International House network, will provide guidance on your progress during the course and outline ways in which you might develop your ideas further.
  • A support team of a Course Co-ordinator and the Course Administrator are available should you need extra help.
  • Your nominated Local Supervisor will provide extra support at a local level and will observe your teaching.

How is my work assessed?

1. Distance tutors will monitor your progress, assess your written assignments and lesson plans.
2. Your local supervisor will observe your teaching and send recommendations to your distance tutor on your observed teaching
3. Your distance tutor will assess your lesson plans and read your self evaluation on teaching. They will then send you detailed feedback and grade your lessons

Who is the Local Supervisor?

All participants on the IHoCTL may, if they wish, choose a person who will act as their Local Supervisor during the course of the programme.
A local supervisor should:

  • be an experienced and qualified teacher
  • have experience of teacher development work or have worked as teacher trainer
  • be working in the same school as you, or very nearby.
  • be willing to spend approximately 2 - 3 hours per month watching you teach, monitoring your progress and offering you support.
  • write a report on eight of your lessons and send these reports to the tutors.

The role of Local Supervisor is voluntary and (s)he may work with more than one candidate.
All local supervisors will be given a briefing pack and training before the course begins. The briefing pack contains:

  • An observation standardisation task
  • Course guidelines

All applicants for the IHCo can, if they wish, choose a Local Supervisor. All prospective Local Supervisors must submit a completed application form.

Working without a local supervisor

This requires you to video your lessons and have them assessed by IH Newcastle tutors. All your feedback will be from our tutors via our 'Elluminate' webinar technology.


Course participants: Entry requirements

Candidates must be:

  • A minimum of 20 years old at the start of the course. In some circumstances candidates between the ages of 18 - 20 may be considered.
  • Fluent and able speakers of English. The minimum level of English for candidates is equivalent to C1 (operational proficiency) on the Council of Europe Framework, although candidates will benefit most from the course if they are C2 (mastery) level.

Candidates must have:

  • an appropriate awareness of language, and language competence in English to enable them to follow the course and complete all assessed elements successfully
  • an appropriate level of IT skills to study at a distance

IT skills and access

All candidates on the IHoCTL need to have adequate access and IT skills to enable them to follow the course. These include:

  • access to computer facilities with CD ROM drive
  • adequate word-processing skills to complete written assignments
  • being a competent user of the Internet and e-mail
  • regular access to internet facilities (minimum one hour per week)
  • regular access to adequate word-processing and email facilities
  • anti-virus protection regularly updated

Local Supervisors: Information for applicants

If you want to follow the IHoCTL programme, you can work with an approved local supervisor. The local supervisor you propose will need to complete and send in an application for approval.

Wherever possible, local supervisor applications should be submitted with the application of the candidate(s) they wish to supervise.

For more information, see the earlier section:‘Who is the Local Supervisor?

*A Local Supervisor can be responsible for up to 3 participants. In centres where more than 3 participants are following the programme at any one time, a second Local Supervisor may be required.

Contact Information:

For more information about this course and other teacher development courses which are available to you, please contact:
Website www.ihnewcastle.com
E-mail tt@ihnewcastle.com
Telephone: +44 (0)191 2329551
Fax +44 (0)191 2321126
Postal address
International House Newcastle, 7-15 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, England NE1 4SG

Visit www.ihnewcastle.com for more information about the course, as well as other courses offered by IH Newcastle.

Visit www.ihworld.com for information about the International House World Organisation, and the IH World network of schools around the world.

For the Online IHoCTL Application form - click here


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