Common Question: CELTA Course Cost
I’ve got another common question to answer this time about CELTA course prices. Namely:
- How much is the CELTA course?
- Where’s the cheapest place to take the course?
Choosing the Best Celta Course Centre
Now, first of all, before we go into that, I just want to say that cost, as I’m sure many of you know, isn’t always the best indicator of quality.
However, just do what you can to research your CELTA centre/course before you start and make sure you’re happy with your choice. If needed, you can see a previous article about finding the best CELTA course for you here for more information.
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Things to consider before the cost of your CELTA course are things like:
- Do you need a visa?
- How much does the visa process cost?
- Will you need an agent for it?
- Will it take months of stress and lots of paperwork?
- Do you need flights or transport?
- Do you need local accommodation, or is that included as a package deal?
- What is the local cost of living? This can vary greatly!
So, obviously those budgeting aspects are for you to think about, but it gets complicated by the fact that CELTA course fees do vary surprisingly, and I was amazed when I did this exactly how much different they can be, as you will see below!
How Much is the CELTA Course in Thailand?
So, in no scientific way or particular order, let’s start with CELTA courses in Thailand.
I tried to look at a broad spread across different continents.
The first thing I found online (see Reddit post on CELTA courses here) mentioned International House (IH) Thailand, specifically IH Bangkok and IH Chiang Mai, as some of the cheapest places to take the CELTA. So, from there, I did some research on CELTA prices.
I can tell you at the time of writing, with IH Bangkok, the CELTA course:
- costs $1,600
- or, with a full package costs $2,100
- a ‘package’ includes accommodation and weekday (but not weekend) meals
- this package also includes things like trips on a Sunday – check the IH website, if interested!
If you wanted to go to Chiang Mai, which I believe is a slightly more touristy area, then that’s a further increase of $500 for the package deal. So, the CELTA course with IH Chiang Mai in Thailand::
- costs $1,600 (the same as IH Bangkok)
- or, with a full package: $2,595
- package includes includes accommodation and weekday (but not weekend) meals
So, we’ve got approximately $2,100 and $2,600 to take a CELTA with IH in Thailand, depending on whether you prefer a capital city or somewhere much quieter.
How Much is the CELTA Course in Latin America? Is it cheaper than Thailand?
Then after that, I changed and I thought I’d have a look at Latin America.
I was trying to find somewhere I thought might be cheap in Latin America, in terms of cost of living: I chose to look at CELTA prices for Ecuador.
In Ecuador, you can do a CELTA in IH Montañita, and that course:
- costs $2,195 at the moment, according to their website.
- includes accommodation – there is no other cost written (i.e. administration fee)
- includes accommodation – there is no other cost written (i.e. administration fee)
IH Montañita in Ecuador don’t give a cost without the accomodation, and, after a bit more research, I found the following quote on the FAQs page on their website:
“24. Can I stay somewhere else in Montanita and attend the course?
No. This is a residential course only. All participants must stay at Casa Cacique and pay for the whole package (food accommodation).”
So there is no flexibility there – take the package deal or no CELTA in IH Montañita!
How Much is the CELTA Course in Europe? Is Italy Cheaper than London?
So, from there, I thought I’d consider Europe and have a look at costs in a few different European countries.
I specifically wanted to find an independent school, not in the UK or Ireland. So, I started off with Italy because I know there are a lot of independent CELTA centres there, and you can find all of these on the Cambridge Assessment website.
I chose one at random called Globally Speaking, a CELTA centre in Rome, Italy, and:
- CELTA course fee is $2,025 , but that does not include any accommodation
So, you can see on balance, that is considerably more for the course alone compared to the previous Thai and Ecuadorian examples.
However, if you have friends or family there, then that changes things considerably.
A final point is food: the IH CELTA course packages mentioned above include most food. So, there is a fair difference in price there, too!
How much does the CELTA Course cost in London?
From there, I went over and had a look at the cost of a CELTA course with IH London because it is one of the most well-known centres in the world, and obviously being in one of the most expensive cities in the world, as many of you well know, – London is rather costly in all aspects!
To do the CELTA course full time at the current rate of exchange:
- it costs $2,275 with IH London
- includes your Cambridge fee, or administration fee
That does not include any accommodation or anything else for that price. And of course, London accommodation is going to be very expensive, so think about that!
Therefore, unsurprisingly, a CELTA in London is pretty expensive by comparison to the ones we’ve looked at so far.
CELTA Course Cost in Jordan?
From there, I had a look at the price of a CELTA course in the Middle East. Again, at random.
I was trying to find some CELTA centres in that part of the world and many listed on the official Cambridge website have apparently closed in other, nearby countries I tried, so I chose Jordan as an example.
What I found was surprising.
- A CELTA course in Jordan with the British Council costs $2,800. Whoa!
- NB This was at the current rate of exchange – actual price in local currency is JOD 1,900 (Jordanian Dollars)
So, that is quite a lot more than what we’ve seen so far (even London), and there is no mention of accommodation. In fact, there’s no mention of anything else for that price.
As you can see, we’ve already got a range of prices here!
One Last Check: Cost of a CELTA Course in Prague, Czech Republic
Then to round off, I had a brainwave. I’ve heard a lot of people going to Prague to do the CELTA.
I’ve never been, but I hear lots of nice things, and that it’s got a cheap cost of living.
So, I thought, the last one I’ll check is Prague as, although I had heard about the popularity of the CELTA courses there, I had not heard people say whether it was much cheaper than other places.
So again, my search results keep coming back to IH CELTA centres, because they seem to be everywhere, and I found the following:
- A CELTA course with IH Prague only costs $1,360!
- NB that is at the current rate of exchange and with a discount if you book in advance
- Book approximately 6 weeks before the course starts to get the ‘early bird’ discount (see link above for more)
That’s an early bird booking. So, that was pretty impressive.
A CELTA course in Prague was by far the cheapest I could find!
So, if you’re comparing the Czech Republic CELTA cost with Jordan, we’ve got a huge range there, with a difference in price close to $1,450, just for the same course!
Prague is also a very popular tourist destination, and since people always tell me about how cheap it is out there, perhaps the price isn’t as surprising after all.
Summary: How Much is the CELTA Course Around the World
There you have it.
The main points are that:
- IH London is NOT the most expensive place to take the CELTA
- British Council Jordan was the most expensive I found, at $2,800
- IH Prague was the cheapest at $1,360
- Packages with IH in Thailand and Ecuador (among other places) offer competitive prices with minimal hassle
If you know of any cheaper places, please share them in the comments below!
Overall, the main point is that, if you are able to do so, shop around to get a deal you are happy with but remember quality and reputation of a CELTA centre have value, too!
Hope that was useful for you, and remember to consider all the other factors when making your decision about where to study your CELTA course. I hope you make the right one for you!
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