CertPT FAQs

In order to run courses for any of our TESOL qualifications, a centre must first become a validated course provider.

We welcome applications from centres and institutions globally, and support them throughout the validation process. Further details on this process can be found on our Become a validated TESOL course provider page.

The minimum is 6 months and should be in a teaching context relevant to the area being studied (eg online teaching, CLIL, Young Learners). Trinity considers six months to be sufficient for a practising teacher to understand their teaching context. What constitutes as ‘relevant’ is determined by the validated course provider.

If you are entering for the English only assessment, you should have a minimum B2 level of English. If you are submitting bilingually (English and Spanish or English and Mandarin Chinese), you only need a minimum B2 level in either of these languages. In every case, the final decision on language level necessary will be decided by individual validated course providers.

Course dates and fees are set by validated course providers. Contact course providers directly for this information.

No. The course requires a minimum of 100 hours’ work, 30 of which should be input guided learning hours with from the training centre.

Yes. The main input could be conducted in a week, but the training centre will need to have systems in place to continue to guide participants as they complete their tasks. This may include online support.

Participants can only complete the CertPT through a Trinity validated course provider. The course centre may choose to run the course online, in which case physical attendance of candidates would not be expected. However, only a centre can register a teacher participant, mark tasks and send marked work for external moderation by Trinity.

There are four 750-word assessment tasks. You need to submit all four tasks for the CertPT. The CertPT is only awarded once all four tasks have been successfully completed.

All four tasks need to be submitted to Trinity at the same time for final certification. However, different course providers will have different schedules for task completion and internal assessment, helping enable flexibility for teachers. Contact course providers for details of their assessment schedules.

All four written tasks have a recommended word count of 750 words (1,000 words maximum) although this does change according to language used. See the downloadable assessment rating scale on the main CertPT page for details.

If a candidate has been entered for English only, all tasks must be completed in English. If a candidate has been entered for bilingual assessment, tasks can be in either language, or a mix of both.

All internal-awarded marks are provisional until validated by Trinity at external moderation. On occasion, Trinity may overturn the grade given by a course provider, regrading a piece either higher or lower. Your course provider will let you know if this has happened.

Once a course centre submits your task marks to Trinity, certificates for successful candidates are forwarded to course centres in 4-6 weeks.

Yes, there is an appeals process for externally moderated work at:

www.trinitycollege.com/help/customer-services/enquiries-about-results

If you don’t yet have an advanced-level teaching qualification, the DipTESOL provides an excellent route of progression for teachers developing their professional practice.

The CertPT is at the same level as the final year of an undergraduate degree and is entirely context-based, focusing on what teachers do with teaching resources in their own classrooms. This is unlike other qualifications, which focus on teaching skills and methodology in general. The CertPT helps teachers evaluate, adapt, create, use and reflect on the use of teaching resources relevant to their context. Master’s degrees, at a level higher than the CertPT, are longer and tend to be more theoretical in content.

We take complaints very seriously and want to make sure that courses and assessment run according the Trinity’s requirements. Trinity requires every centre to have a centre complaints process. In the first instance, you should speak to your tutor / course director or centre manager/principle about the complaint. They will be able to advise you about the complaint.

If your complaint does not get resolved after following this process, you can let Trinity know by following our complaints procedure and we will do our best to help.