If you want to earn more as a TEFL teacher, why not try teaching Test Prep English? I’ve taught Test Prep English in Spain, Australia, and online and in the post, I’ll share what Test Prep English is and what the International TEFL Academy Test Prep Skills Specialty Course is like to help you decide if this is the right specialty for you.
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Post Contents
What is Test Prep English?
If you are looking to charge more as a TEFL teacher online or you want to access more jobs abroad, then you’ll want to choose a teaching niche or specialty.
Test Prep English is a specialty that has grown in popularity as more and more English learners sign up to take official English exams each year. Most Test Prep teachers focus on preparing students for one or two official English exams like:
- IELTS (General or Academic)
- Cambridge (B2 First, C1 Advanced, for example)
- PTE (General or Academic)
- TOEFL
- TOEIC
- Trinity
- OET
Your job is to help students reach the right level of grammar and vocabulary to pass the exam, as well as train them to complete exam tasks related to reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You’ll also show them test strategies to maximize their score and help them with issues like test anxiety.
Why and how do Test Prep teachers charge more?
Many experienced Test Prep teachers offer students guarantees that they will pass the exam. This helps them charge a premium for their classes.
If you are new to teaching Test Prep, don’t worry! You don’t need to provide this guarantee yet. You can still charge more for Test Prep classes even as a beginner because this is a specialized skill. As long as you put the time and effort into understanding how the specific exam you are teaching is structured and know some basic strategies, you are already offering something general English teachers cannot.
For new teachers who are interested in becoming Test Prep teachers, I highly recommend enrolling in the International TEFL Academy Test Prep Skills Specialty Course since this will give you a solid introduction to teaching Test Prep and help you choose which exam or exams to teach.
International TEFL Academy Test Prep Skills Specialty Course Review
Structure
This Specialty Course is 2 weeks long. Each week includes two chapters of reading, a peer to peer forum discussion, and a written task.
This course is 100% online and the deadlines are strict, so work must be completed on time in order to earn a certificate.
There are some interactive activities and videos sprinkled throughout the course content as well as links to helpful resources for new Test Prep teachers.
Week 1
In the first chapter, you will learn about the basics of teaching Test Prep English like:
- The names of the different official English exams and how many learners take them each year
- The goals and purposes of these exams (this helps you understand your students’ motivation)
- Insight into how these exams are scored
The second chapter covers strategies and tips for improving your students’ reading and writing scores. You’ll get to see some sample tasks from a variety of exams and try out interactive activities to help you better understand how these exams are scored.
What I like the most is that this course includes actual strategies that you can use with your students. This is one of the biggest differences between teaching general English and Test Prep English.
Peer to Peer Forum
In week one, you’ll take part of a sample test and reflect on your experience.
Written Task
For the written task, you will analyze a student’s written response using a rubric that is provided. This will help you understand how to give scores to your students’ work.
Week 2
In the third chapter, you’ll once again learn some strategies and tips. This time the focus is on improving students’ score in listening and speaking. You’ll learn through examples and interactive activities.
In the last chapter, you’ll dive into additional English Proficiency Exam factors like test anxiety, test taking protocols, timing, accommodations, and more.
I wish I had taken this course before I started teaching Test Prep English because these topics are crucial to student success!
Peer to Peer Forum
In the second week, each student will find and analyze a listening test.
Written Task
For the written task, you’ll listen to a student’s speaking exam and compare it with a rubric.
At the end of the course, you’ll receive a certificate which you can add to your resume.
Who should take the ITA Test Prep Skills Specialty Course?
If you are interested in teaching Test Prep English but have no to little experience, or if you want a course that you can put on your resume, I recommend this course for you.
Sign up for the ITA Test Prep Skills Course
If you already know which exam you want to teach, then it might be better to find an exam specific teaching course since the strategies in the ITA course are more general.
Still not sure if this is the right course for you? Fill out my survey and I’ll email you back!
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Happy teaching!
Jamie
This review is NOT SPONSORED. I was, however, granted free access to test out the course. I only recommend courses I have personally tested and verified.
