ITTP TEFL Prague Review - Neville Thomas

My experience at ITTP was far from a positive one. I don’t think I have ever had certain expectations for something and been so sorely disappointed. I am amazed that there have been so many positive reviews posted about this Language School. The general consensus from the students that took part in my particular course was that they felt misled and immensely disappointed. The accommodation was horrendous. Speaking to locals about the prices we paid to live in a shared flat in Prague 6 with six other ITTP students was obviously inflated. Poor beds, mouldy bathroom, cramped living quarters exacerbated by one toilet/shower between 7 people. Midway through the course two new students were also offered a place in this apartment. Thankfully, they declined the preposterous offer. I found a beautiful apartment in Prague 1, two bathrooms, four bedrooms for a fraction of the price. Now THAT was a ‘good deal’. The malfunctioning washing machine was swapped with a smaller broken washing machine which remained in the apartment. (For our convenience??) Some students from the course previous to us said the same little trick was done to them. The fridge didn’t work either and we were forced to put all of our perishables outside. Once they have your money, they’re very reluctant to help you. Job guidance was literally, a piece of paper with a list of schools that we were ALL given. Some of the schools on the list were broken links, other TEFL schools or no longer existed. There were a total of 19 students in our course. The website states and I quote: ‘’ We accept a maximum of just 14 trainees per Course date. We think this is a sensible number and our small class numbers reflects our commitment to education.’’ Or in reality it reflects their commitment to profit? I saw a recent review complaining that they had 20 people in their January course. Not surprisingly, we weren’t the only ones. Due to our oversized class we all on average received a total of 6 hours of teaching practice. Considerably less than stated on ITTP website. I asked Neville if there was anything I needed to bring with me to get a visa as an non EU citizen. 'No, you do not need to bring anything. You will get all the visa info on the second week of the course.' Little did I know I actually needed a Australian Federal Police Check that had to be done through Australia and would take longer than my 90 day tourist visa would allow due to the time of year and the process itself. And in all honesty, I did not approach ITTP about this because what could they do? They don’t have the power to extend an EU tourist visa! We should be made aware of what visas are available BEFORE we leave for Prague. Some visas require at least $6500USD in a Czech bank account to apply. This is the visa that most employers expect you to have. Especially as a non EU citizen. They wanted ‘proof’ of how much work you had done in order to get a job. Sorry, but I think most students showed initiative and drive to get work by giving up leases on their houses, selling their possessions and leaving their families to fly to Prague to do the course in the first place. I paid ITTP nearly $2500USD (inc. accomm.) and I really did not get my money’s worth. Neville did agree to meet one of my fellow students to discuss his options before his visa ran out but not before being hounded and interrogated about how much he had done towards finding work himself. So the way I see it is, you pay ITTP a lot of money and if they actually have to bring themselves to doing any work, they will do so, begrudgingly. Hardly service with a smile let me tell you. Ask yourself this; do you really think I would take the time to write a review like this just to ruin their day? No. I wrote this review to help prevent other people like myself with dreams of living in Europe happily and living a decent life be exploited and disappointed. I look forward to the inevitable retort in an attempt to justify ITTP’s business practice or to expose my review as an elaborate fabrication. However, I can assure you my comments are justified and on behalf of every ex-student from ITTP I have met before, during and after the course. If this review does not put you off ITTP, then you deserve to be in the same position as me. Living back at home, broke and starting at square one.