Abysmal experience with this expensive…
Abysmal experience with this expensive program. Their administration has been nasty and essentially withheld my certification for giving an honest balanced review previously about them. Furthermore OnTESOL subsequently published a rebuttal to my review containing allegations about me that I maintain are untrue.
When considering any TESL/TEFL program, you need to be particularly careful if you hold a passport which is not from the major English-speaking countries like the US, UK, Australia, Canada & New Zealand. No matter what your mother tongue or level of fluency, most TESOL employers will immediately categorise you as a “non-native English speaker” (NNES) which will bar you from most TESL jobs despite this certification.
And speaking of the certification, please be aware that in addition to the huge hidden disadvantage of being an NNES, you will have to jump through quite a few extra hoops -including unexpected post-course costs - to get your certificates verified by a Canadian public notary. Similarly you have to initiate separate processes - and yes, more fees - to get the touted TESL Canada and ACTDEC accreditation officially. Not only that, to obtain the TESL Canada certification, after filling a form, paying registration and annual fees for membership, students must then independently source and organise, either a 20-hour online practicum for Level 1 or a 50-hour in-person practicum at accredited centre for Level 2 certificate.
In stark contrast, Gold-standard, internationally respected programs like Cambridge CELTA/DELTA or Trinity CertTESOL include their global recognition and practical components seamlessly.
Add to this the fact that OnTESOL’s 'free lifetime job assistance' operates as a passive directory rather than active, hands-on recruitment. There are some other things you can miss while reading OnTESOL’s main promotional materials highlighting high global salaries and ease of hiring, Specifically, the aforementioned passport filter but most surprisingly, their terms include an asymmetrical intellectual property clause: students are legally barred from sharing their own original assignments with future employers or tutors, yet OnTESOL retains the right to use that student work for their own advertising and educational materials.
Academic-wise, the initial course layout was opaque and poorly organised - they have updated it recently so you can check that with a present student’s review. My first tutor responded to queries only in monosyllables, making it an immense struggle to gather clear information. To their credit, management was gracious when I formally complained; they granted course extensions and assigned me an excellent second tutor, the highly competent and cooperative Ms. Margaret Hurley who helped me learn a great deal about lesson-planning frameworks.
OnTESOL’s standard terms of service include strict, buried 'Assignment Ownership' policies. They retain the right to use submitted student lesson plans for marketing or internal databases, while forbidding students from publicizing or distributing their own coursework. Discovering this asymmetrical intellectual property clause after paying thousands of dollars feels like a hidden rule designed to benefit the corporation over the student.
While you can absolutely learn here if you advocate for yourself, and fall in the category of a native English speaker, the program requires serious structural revision and proactive career support. Non-native English speakers should carefully review these buried parameters before purchasing.