About us
The English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) is part of The University of Sheffield and one of the largest university English language centres in the UK.
Much of the centre and many of our courses are accredited by external bodies such as the British Council and BALEAP. The centre is authorised by Cambridge Assessment English as an exam centre and for teaching awards.
With around 90 academic and professional services staff, the ELTC teaches and supports thousands of learners a year on a range of specialised, pre-sessional and in-sessional English language and skills programmes.
Our staff have experience of teaching international students in a wide range of locations and situations, both in the UK and overseas.
The ELTC is housed in a purpose-built facility which includes modern classrooms, well-equipped computer suites and social spaces, as well as advanced audio-visual and learning resources.
Our courses also take advantage of classrooms and facilities across the University of Sheffield campus.
Accreditation and memberships
- The British Council
Many courses at the ELTC, the University of Sheffield are accredited through Accreditation UK. This means that we meet agreed quality standards guaranteed by the British Council. Courses not accredited include Teacher Training (Cambridge accredited) and our work on the Academic Skills Modules at USIC (ISI quality assured).
The British Council have assessed the standards of management, resources and premises, teaching and welfare, and have accredited the ELTC with meeting the overall standard in each area inspected.
The British Council inspected and accredited the University of Sheffield English Language Teaching Centre in November 2024.
Sheffield ELTC British Council Accreditation Report - November 2024 (.pdf, 243kb)
The large English language teaching department of this university offers courses in general, academic and professional English for adults (18+) and young people (16+) and for closed groups of adults (18+) and young people (16+) on campus and online.
Strengths were noted in the areas of strategic and quality management, staff management, student administration, publicity, premises and facilities, learning resources, academic staff profile, academic management, course design, learner management, teaching, care of students and leisure opportunities.
The British Council
November 2024 University of Sheffield ELTC inspection report
- Cambridge Assessment English
The ELTC is a University of Cambridge Assessment English authorised centre for both teaching awards and exams.
Teaching Qualifications:
- CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
- DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
- TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test)
Cambridge Exams:
- B1 Preliminary (formerly Cambridge PET)
- B2 First (formerly Cambridge FCE)
- C1 Advanced (formerly Cambridge CAE)
- C2 Proficiency (formerly Cambridge CPE)
Cambridge Assessment English is a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge and Europe's largest educational assessment organisation.
- English UK
English UK is the national association of accredited English language centres.
Formed in 2004 from two previous associations (the Association of Recognised English Language Services and the British Association of State English Language Teaching), there are around 450 member centres in private schools, educational trusts and charities, further education colleges and universities.
All the members are accredited under the Accreditation UK scheme, which are managed in partnership with the British Council.
- Other memberships
Professional memberships include:
- BALEAP: the global forum for EAP professionals
- English UK North
- IATEFL: International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
- NATESOL: Northern Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
IATEFL 'Special Interest Group' membership includes:
- BAAL: British Association of Applied Linguistics
- Business English
- English for Specific Purposes
- Learner Autonomy
- Learning Technologies
- Materials Writing
- Pronunciation
- Teacher Development
- Testing, Evaluation and Assessment
- Teacher Training and Education
Experience Sheffield for yourself
The best way to find out what studying at Sheffield is like is to visit us. You'll get a feel for the atmosphere, the people, the campus and the city.