I personally wouldn't have started this discussion here (there is a UniTEFL thread which seems more relevant), but as my blog has been mentioned several times I feel like I should reply. Apologies if this comes across as more hijacking of the thread.
In my blog post on UniTEFL I was very careful to say that I cannot compare its academic standards to Cambridge or anyone else, and in fact that I'd been involved with a non-CELTA and non-Trinity course that I personally thought provided decent training. Looking back, though, I still think our trainees were ripped off. They paid the same as a Cambridge course but then had to go through the rest of their careers having their qualifications questioned or not accepted. That is the main thing - how well will your qualification be accepted? Luckily, that is also something that people with no experience of TEFL can judge (unlike the quality of teaching they will be able to produce by the end of it). There are many job ads asking for Cambridge CELTA (and often "or equivalent"), there are other job ads asking for Cambridge CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL (and usually "or equivalent"), but there are no ads asking for UniTEFL. Whether it will be accepted as an equivalent or not depends on the employer, but at the moment it does not even have name recognition going for it. And with all that it is more or less the same price as a CELTA.
Then there is the dubious relationship between the (whole) truth and the information given on its website...
With no connection to a university (anymore), no name recognition (presumably even in Thailand, at this early stage in its history), no monetary savings, and the dodgy marketing, why would anyone choose this course?
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I personally wouldn't have started this discussion here (there is a UniTEFL thread which seems more relevant), but as my blog has been mentioned several times I feel like I should reply. Apologies if this comes across as more hijacking of the thread.
In my blog post on UniTEFL I was very careful to say that I cannot compare its academic standards to Cambridge or anyone else, and in fact that I'd been involved with a non-CELTA and non-Trinity course that I personally thought provided decent training. Looking back, though, I still think our trainees were ripped off. They paid the same as a Cambridge course but then had to go through the rest of their careers having their qualifications questioned or not accepted. That is the main thing - how well will your qualification be accepted? Luckily, that is also something that people with no experience of TEFL can judge (unlike the quality of teaching they will be able to produce by the end of it). There are many job ads asking for Cambridge CELTA (and often "or equivalent"), there are other job ads asking for Cambridge CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL (and usually "or equivalent"), but there are no ads asking for UniTEFL. Whether it will be accepted as an equivalent or not depends on the employer, but at the moment it does not even have name recognition going for it. And with all that it is more or less the same price as a CELTA.
Then there is the dubious relationship between the (whole) truth and the information given on its website...
With no connection to a university (anymore), no name recognition (presumably even in Thailand, at this early stage in its history), no monetary savings, and the dodgy marketing, why would anyone choose this course?