TEFL Academy
Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a handy qualification. Tom Gibbons explains why this UK business put down deep roots in Dublin
Ireland has been good for Brighton entrepreneurs Andy Norman (62) and Rhyan O’Sullivan (33), the co-owners of the TEFL Academy.
Norman started his Teaching English as a Foreign Language business in the UK, and about ten years ago he decided that there was a market for the service in Ireland, too. Norman’s interest in an Irish location was buttressed by the love of horse-racing, an enthusiasm shared by the company’s new boss, Tom Gibbons.
The TEFL qualification is a passport to occasional work for individuals who want to top up their funds when undertaking extended overseas travel, and domestically, there is also an opportunity for teaching English to overseas students.
It is estimated that there are over 300 million people in China alone who want to acquire English-language skills.
Gibbons says that the demographic for TEFL Academy customers used to be female graduates aged 21 to 24. Now the customer base has expanded to older demographics, male and female.
“Our 40-to-65 market has increased massively,” says Gibbons. “Globally, the number of active TEFL teachers is around 100,000, so it’s not a huge pool, given the demand.”
TEFL Academy’s Dublin base operates courses not only in Ireland, but also in the UK and North America.
The model used to revolve around a mixture of inclassroom teaching and a much longer spell of online assessment. To secure the Academy’s accreditation for Level 5 TEFL takes a total commitment of 168 hours.
The business would assess demand in a particular city, based on enquiries and online course bookings, and then set up the in-person tuition in a rented hotel space.
This model was upended last year by the pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions. TEFL Academy pivoted to online-only delivery, with the addition of webinars devised by Gibbons.
“With e-learning, you can feel isolated, no matter how much support you receive from emails or phone calls.
“While many people were enjoying the sunshine in April 2020, we put together a 20-hour teaching-practice webinar. This was later trimmed to 10 hours, after customer feedback. It was a unique selling point and of huge benefit to us, though within six weeks our competitors had copied it.”
TEFL Academy founders Andy Norman and Rhyan O’Sullivan shared €690,000 in dividends from operating Everything TEFL Ltd in the year to March 2020, and €515,000 the year before. The founders stepped back as directors last February, leaving Gibbons in charge.
He says that business in 2020/21 held up well, though he acknowledges that the current remoteonly tuition model doesn’t appeal to everyone.
“With everything opening up again, it will be interesting to see where the market goes,” he adds.