Why Do People Say CELTA Is Hard?

Connor O'Donoghue
Aug 2
4 min read

Understanding the challenges and intensity of a CELTA course

If you’ve Googled “Is CELTA hard?” or heard someone say it’s the most stressful course they’ve ever done, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. The CELTA can be done in just four weeks, it isn’t academic in the way a degree is, and it doesn’t require deep theoretical knowledge. So what makes it feel so intensive?

From years of running CELTA courses across the UK and online, here’s what we think.

1. You’re teaching real lessons, in front of real people

At the heart of CELTA is Teaching Practice, where you plan and teach real lessons to real adult English learners. These learners are usually friendly and appreciative, but they’re still adults with questions, opinions, and varied needs and that can be intimidating.

For many trainee teachers, the experience of standing up and teaching in front of others can initially be nerve-wracking. Even people with demanding professional backgrounds, like lawyers, nurses, bank managers, tell us they’ve never felt quite as exposed as they do when delivering their first lesson on a CELTA course.

2. Feedback is very detailed

After every teaching practice, there’s a feedback session with your tutor and peers. Tutors give comprehensive comments, often with guidance about every stage of the lesson: how you gave instructions, how you managed feedback, how you monitored the students. It will comment on things that might feel personal, like where you stood or sat in the classroom or how you used your voice when speaking to students.

It’s not about being harsh. CELTA tutors are trained to deliver constructive, supportive feedback. That said it is thorough. If you’re used to vague university feedback like “well argued” or “needs development,” CELTA’s line-by-line analysis can come as a shock.

3. Lesson planning takes time

Cambridge recommends setting aside 80 hours for lesson planning and assignment work during the course. On a full-time CELTA, that’s about 20 hours per week outside of class.

The workload can spike, especially if you’re juggling planning for the next lesson and submitting an assignment and resubmitting a previous one. It’s not unmanageable, but good time management makes a big difference.

4. The learning curve can be steep

CELTA isn’t difficult in the “brain surgery” or "rocket science"sense. But it does throw a lot of new information at you quickly:

Classroom techniques: giving instructions, asking questions, correcting errors
Language awareness: tenses, conditionals, modal verbs etc
Lesson frameworks: how to structure different lesson types (a listening lesson follows a different framework to a vocabulary one)
Practical skills: using whiteboards or Zoom breakout rooms effectively

And on top of all that, you’re also learning your students’ names and personalities, managing time in class, and trying to meet your lesson aims. The cognitive load is real.

5. The assignments can feel high-stakes

There are four written assignments on CELTA. You get one resubmission per assignment, and resubmission isn’t a fail, it’s a normal part of the process.

Still, we often see people feel deflated when they’re asked to tweak an assignment, even if it’s just a small fix. The key is to approach assignments with a desire to learn more and to remember: resubmissions are expected, not shameful.

6. The course moves fast

On full-time courses, you’ll usually teach your first lesson in the first couple of days. That can feel like being thrown in the deep end, but it also means you get stuck in quickly. On part-time courses, your first teaching practice might not happen until week 2 or 3. Some people feel the stress build up while they wait and the first teaching practice can be a real stress crunch point on a part-time course.

Another typical crunch point is around the halfway mark of the course, when assignments and teaching demands may overlap. That said, very few people withdraw from CELTA. We see a withdrawal rate of around 3 or 4%, which is low, but worth acknowledging.

7. Online CELTA can bring its own stressors

Some people assume the online version will be easier because they'll be sitting in their own bedroom, with access to their favourite snacks all day, but managing a Zoom room during a lesson can add some extra cognitive pressure.

If you’re thinking about doing CELTA online, make sure you’re comfortable with basic tech and open to learning new tools. You don’t need to be a tech expert, but you do need to be able to learn new online skills quite quickly.

So... is CELTA stressful? Or just intensive?

We’d say intensive is the better word. Yes, some people certainly experience stress. But others manage the workload well, plan ahead, and still find time for rest and fun.

It’s not about being a superhuman multitasker. It’s about understanding the demands of the course, planning realistically, and being kind to yourself when things feel tough.