Choosing an English teacher in London or online
Katerina Galkina · EN · 07/10/2026
Читать на русскомDefine the learning outcome
Beginners, IELTS candidates and people handling complex workplace negotiations may need different teachers. Describe two or three situations you want to manage: a medical appointment, interview, report or meeting. Give your deadline and available homework time.
Use the British Council level test ↗ for an approximate starting point. Its result is not an official qualification and does not replace assessment of speaking, writing and your actual tasks.
Check relevant experience
Ask about teacher training and experience with adults at a similar level. CELTA is one professional route; Cambridge explains the qualification ↗. A certificate alone does not guarantee a suitable teaching style.
A native speaker is not automatically a trained teacher, and a Russian-speaking teacher need not restrict speaking practice. Evaluate explanations, feedback and how much useful language you produce. Exam teaching needs specific experience with its assessment criteria.
Use a trial lesson well
Send your objective, a writing sample or a situation beforehand. Request a brief assessment and a sample activity. Afterwards, you should understand the priority mistakes, independent practice and how progress will be reviewed in a few weeks.
Notice whether you have thinking time, corrections are understandable and earlier material returns. Do not judge only by an enjoyable conversation: without a learning objective, you can keep repeating familiar errors.
Compare format and terms
Check the actual lesson minutes, price, materials, homework marking, cancellation, rescheduling and package expiry. Add travel for in-person lessons and time-zone and technical arrangements for online teaching. Begin with a small commitment.
For a school, check the British Council accredited-centre list ↗ and current inspection report. A private tutor may operate outside that list: it checks schools rather than serving as a compulsory register of every teacher.
After a month, compare the same task before and after teaching. If progress is absent and the plan never changes, discuss pace, method and objective. Avoid a long course solely for a discount or a promise of fluency in a month.