TEFL, how to start please?

[Wilkolampshade]

Hi, my eldest is in her 3rd year of a 4yr Uni course (in Scotland) and scoping around for meaningful experiences and opportunities to help her work out what she wants to do with her life.... wondering about TEFL? I know she's thinking about working abroad not just in schools but also in refugee camps?? Any use?
Her peer group all seem to glide into internships or know someone who knows someone etc and find fabulous career enhancing posts every Summer... We just don't know where to start!
We would so appreciate any advice.

You can do a TEFL course for about £20 on Groupon and many of the less...careful language schools abroad will accept this. If she wants a qualification accepted by good language schools, she needs the Trinity TESOL or the Cambridge CELTA qualification - will cost at least £1k to get in about 4 weeks.

F she wants to work in an international school teaching the UK curriculum and qualifications, she’ll need a PGCE in whatever subject she intends to teach.

Few people working in the development/refugee sector without Masters level qualifications and I imagine reputable agencies will minimally want the qualifications mentioned above, if not a PGCE as well. There will undoubtedly be volunteer schemes if she wants experience.

I did CELTA last year and would recommend it. It's much better than doing an online course because you get real teaching practice. Warning - it's a very intense 4 weeks though!

I've found work in the U.K. with mine, which was always my intention, but I'm still in touch with the other people who did the course and they are all over the place. Some went to China and the Far East where there is a lot of demand for English teachers. Another is working in refugee camps in Greece, so it is possible. There's also work online to tide you over if necessary. I think there was an "Ask Me Anything" thread about this recently.

Thank you all, v helpful. @Sotiredofthislife it's voluntary work she's actually after, certainly at this stage, and would like to develop a useful skill to take with her and make her more attractive as a volunteer as she's not a medic or law student.
@TranquilityofSolitude, I'll check it out, ta.

I did Cambridge CELTA 20 years ago and can fully recommend it if she’s one to hack it under pressure. I immediately got work in London then overseas, but I remember that VSO came and gave a presentation to the cohort. So voluntary work was a clear route from the CELTA (I was so tempted myself, but they need a two year commitment which seemed too much at that particular time)

And yes, TEFL seemed to be a desirable skill for VSO. From what I remember two decades later, it was largely a case of training teachers how to teach English. So passing on training.

If she's not planning on going into teaching, there are cheaper options. I'm a qualified teacher and did the i-to-i level 5 TEFL course last year. They have a range of courses to choose from.

CELTA is a waste of time and money unless she wants to teach when she comes back home. You can get great jobs abroad with just a tefl cert. I did it when I graduated. Amazing experience.