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Privacy Policy
Last Updated: October 11, 2026
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1.1 TEFLmasters (part of the International TEFL Group) is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide how and why it's used, and we're responsible for looking after it.
1.2 TEFLmasters is a UK registered learning provider (UKPRN 10089401). If you have any questions about this policy or your information, email support@teflmasters.com.
1.3 This policy covers teflmasters.com, our learning platform at tefl.institute, our emails and our certificate verification service.
2.1 We only collect what we need to run your course and our website:
- Your name and contact details: your first and family names (as they will appear on your certificate), email address and billing address.
- Your account and course activity: your login, the courses you buy, your progress, quiz and exam results, and the work you submit.
- Practical work you choose to submit: lesson plans, tasks and, with Practical Demos, video recordings of your demo lessons. For the 24-hour practicum, your teaching logs, reflections, supporting evidence and the contact details of your placement.
- Your certificate record: your name, certificate number, course, hours, completion date and transcript.
- Payment information: handled by our payment providers, as explained in section 5. We never see or store your full card details.
- Your contact history: emails and messages you send us, and our replies.
- Information about your device and how you use our websites: such as your IP address, browser, device type and the pages you visit, collected through cookies and similar technologies.
2.2 You don't have to give us any of this information, but without your name and email address we can't enroll you or issue a certificate. You can try our free lesson without giving us any personal details.
3.1 We only use your information when the law allows us to. The tables below show what we do and why.
Your name, contact details and account
| What we do | Why we do it |
|---|---|
| Enroll you, deliver your course and issue your certificate | To perform our contract with you |
| Answer your questions and give you support | To perform our contract with you |
| Take payment and give refunds | To perform our contract with you |
| Prevent and detect fraud, including someone completing a course for another person | Our legitimate interests in protecting you, our graduates and the value of our certificates |
| Send you service emails, such as your course access and certificate | To perform our contract with you |
Your coursework and practical work
| What we do | Why we do it |
|---|---|
| Mark your quizzes and give you feedback | To perform our contract with you |
| Have a tutor review and mark Practical Assignments, Practical Demos and practicum evidence | To perform our contract with you |
| Check that submitted work is your own, which may include automated tools that flag possible AI-written text. A person always makes the final decision | Our legitimate interests in protecting the integrity of our certificates (see section 6 of our Terms) |
| Use short, anonymized extracts of practicum work to train our tutors, as set out in our Terms | Our legitimate interests. Nothing that identifies you is shared |
Your certificate record
| What we do | Why we do it |
|---|---|
| Let employers, schools and visa offices check your certificate (see section 6) | To perform our contract with you, and our legitimate interests in keeping certificates trustworthy |
Marketing and our websites
| What we do | Why we do it |
|---|---|
| Send you news and offers by email | Your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time |
| Show you TEFLmasters adverts on other websites | Your consent to advertising cookies, where the law requires it |
| Improve our websites and courses, and understand what students find useful | Our legitimate interests |
| Keep our websites secure | Our legitimate interests and to meet our legal obligations |
3.2 We also anonymize and combine information, so it no longer identifies you, to test our systems, analyze how our courses are used and improve them.
4.1 TEFLmasters courses are sold and delivered on our learning platform at tefl.institute. When you enroll, you create your account there, and your course activity, results and submitted work are stored there.
4.2 The platform is run for us by a specialist third-party learning platform provider. It processes your information only on our instructions, under a written data processing agreement, and keeps it secure.
4.3 If you enrolled on teflmasters.com before our move to tefl.institute, we still hold your account and certificate record so you can keep studying and your certificate can still be verified.
5.1 Payments are taken on our learning platform through secure third-party payment providers, such as Stripe and PayPal. They process your card or PayPal details under their own privacy policies.
5.2 We never see or store your full card number or security code. We receive a record of your payment, such as the amount, date and the course you bought, so we can enroll you and handle refunds.
6.1 Every TEFLmasters certificate has a certificate number and a QR code. Anyone who scans the QR code, or enters your family name and certificate number on our verification page, can see your certificate and transcript. This is how employers, schools and visa offices confirm that your certificate is real.
6.2 Your record is only shown to someone who already has your certificate number. It isn't listed publicly or searchable by name alone.
6.3 Because verification protects you and every other graduate, we keep certificate records for as long as a certificate might need to be checked. If you have a concern about your record, email us and we'll talk it through.
7.1 We do not, and never will, sell your personal information.
7.2 We share it only when we need to, with:
- our learning platform provider, payment providers and the companies that host our websites and send our emails, so we can run your course
- our tutors, who review and mark your work
- anyone who checks your certificate with its number, as explained in section 6
- your practicum placement, if we need to confirm your teaching hours
- advertising and analytics partners, through cookies, where you've agreed to it
- law enforcement, regulators and fraud prevention agencies, when the law requires it or to tackle fraud
7.3 If you choose to have your certificate apostilled, you send it to our partner Apostille.org.uk yourself, and they handle your information under their own privacy policy.
8.1 If you've said we can, we'll email you about new courses, resources and offers.
8.2 You can stop marketing emails at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" in any email or by emailing support@teflmasters.com. Stopping marketing won't stop service emails, such as your course access, feedback or certificate.
9.1 We use cookies and similar technologies to make our websites work, understand how they're used and, with your consent, show you TEFLmasters adverts on other websites and social networks. These can include pixels, tags and services such as Facebook's Custom Audiences.
9.2 You can choose which cookies to accept in our cookie banner, and change your mind at any time. For details, see our cookie policy.
10.1 Some of our service providers, including our learning platform, payment and email providers, may store or process your information outside the UK and the European Economic Area, for example in the United States.
10.2 When that happens, we make sure your information is protected by appropriate safeguards, such as an adequacy decision or the standard contractual clauses approved by the UK and the European Commission, including the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. You can read more on the Information Commissioner's Office website.
11.1 We keep your account and course information for as long as you have an account with us, or as long as we need it to provide our services.
11.2 We keep certificate records for as long as a certificate might need to be verified (see section 6).
11.3 We keep payment and refund records for as long as the law requires, usually 6 years for UK tax and accounting.
11.4 We keep support emails for as long as we need them to help you and to improve our service. We may keep some information for longer where it's reasonably needed to meet legal, regulatory or accreditation requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or enforce our Terms.
12.1 Under UK and EU data protection law, you have the right to:
- be told how your information is used, which is what this policy does
- get a copy of the information we hold about you
- ask us to correct information that's wrong. You can update most account details yourself on our learning platform
- ask us to delete your information, or to stop or limit using it, in some circumstances
- object to us using your information for our legitimate interests or for direct marketing
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it
- ask us to transfer your information to you or another provider
- complain to a data protection regulator. In the UK, that's the Information Commissioner's Office
12.2 To use any of these rights, email support@teflmasters.com. We'll reply within one month, and there's usually no charge.
13.1 Our courses are for people aged 18 or older, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you think someone under 18 has given us their information, email us and we'll delete it.
14.1 We may update this policy to reflect changes in how we use your information or in the law. If we make significant changes, we'll make it clear on our website or tell you by email, so you can review them before you continue to use our services. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
15.1 We always want to hear from you, especially if you feel we've let you down. Email support@teflmasters.com if you:
- have a question or feedback about this policy
- want to use any of your rights, or would like us to stop using your information
- want to make a complaint
15.2 We usually reply within 2 hours, and always within 24.