After CELTA, I noticed how much people valued the qualification. I received positive comments from my workplace, and there was a noticeable respect for the effort and standard CELTA represents. It felt good to be recognized, not just for the certificate, but for the growth that came with it.

I’m honestly so thankful for the experience, the friendships, and how far we’ve all come. This journey has been such a meaningful part of my story. 💛

I completely agree with what you’re saying. This course gave us so much more than knowledge but it helped us discover who we truly are and what we’re capable of. Even though the time was short, we shared our experiences, supported each other, and stood by one another. That bond meant a lot.❤️

This journey helped us grow, both personally and professionally. What we gained was even recognized in our workplaces. From the very beginning, it was intense and constantly pushed us to challenge ourselves, to learn, and to uncover our hidden strengths.

As you said, those were some of the most challenging , yet unforgettable days of our lives. And honestly, we didn’t just gain knowledge or experience. We gained something much deeper. We truly achieved something meaningful.💝

Truly proud of you everyone

We’ve come a long way together on this CELTA journey, and it’s been an unforgettable ride! From lesson planning stress to those proud teaching moments, we’ve grown so much. But this is just the beginning—there’s so much more ahead for all of us. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved, and I truly believe we’re now special among English teachers. Wishing you all the very best for your next steps—keep shining, keep inspiring, and never stop learning. Here’s to exciting new adventures and making a real difference wherever you go!

The experience and knowledge I gained over these three years have been immensely valuable in helping me maintain my current role as a lecturer at the Cambridge College of British English.

I would specially like to highlight the trust and recognition that society places in KDU TESOL graduates. This strong reputation is the result of the dedication and guidance of our lecturers. Thanks to their efforts, we now stand confidently in the field as proud KDU TESOL undergraduates. ❤️🥳

And also after completing CELTA, my workplace truly appreciated my hard work. I received kind words, more respect, and trust from my team. They now see me as a stronger teacher. CELTA helped me grow with better teaching ideas, and I feel proud that my efforts are valued and recognized at work. I’m forever grateful for my lecturers and for the KDU for giving us these all higher qualifications to grow up more and I highly recommend all these for all who are willing to join with KDU to make their lives success. 🫶🏻♥️🥳

It’s great to see how my workplace values the CELTA from KDU so highly. I even received appreciation from the managing board (which doesn’t happen often), and being seen as someone who can take up any challenge is one of the biggest compliments I’ve received.

Finally, the love and interest I get from students make it all worth it. I’m truly grateful for how far CELTA has brought me.

Bihansa Yenuli (Intake 39)

I’ve also attended several interviews, and every time, the interviewers have been genuinely surprised and impressed by my CELTA qualification, especially when they see it combined with my degree. Their reactions made me realize how globally recognized and respected CELTA is. It gave me a clear edge and made me stand out.

Even though I’m still at the start of my professional journey, I already feel like I have a strong, internationally backed foundation. I’m excited to carry everything I’ve learned into the classroom and make a real impact. I’m deeply thankful for the growth this course has brought into my life — personally and professionally.

Personally, I don't think many people in Sri Lanka, especially in the university context are familiar with CELTA, unless they already have some awareness of international teaching standards.

That said, having the CELTA has been a real personal advantage and something that makes us stand out. At KDU, we’ve had to manage a lot of things last minute, and because of our CELTA training, we’re already used to working quickly and efficiently without skipping any key parts of a lesson. So, whenever there’s sudden teaching work or prep involved, that CELTA mindset kicks in, and honestly, I don’t feel stressed.

Another skill that’s come in handy is adapting existing materials to suit our learners, something we practiced both in CELTA and TESOL. Whether we have a lot of resources or barely any, we’ve learned how to make it work.

CELTA also trained us well in reflection. It’s become second nature now, after a lesson, I automatically start thinking about what went well, what didn’t, and what I could improve. It’s such a useful habit to have, and it really prepares you for whatever might come up in class.

Something I’ve also noticed in my work is how much CELTA helped with giving and receiving feedback. I’ve gotten comments on how I give feedback like how I balance the positives and the things that need work, and how I express both constructively. That critical but supportive way of handling feedback was definitely something CELTA helped shape.

In terms of student feedback, I received a lot from state university students in particular. Many of them mentioned that they really enjoyed the interactive and collaborative lessons. They shared that their English improvement classes usually follow a lecture format and rarely feel student-centered. CELTA definitely trained us to reduce teacher talking time and to always keep the students at the center of the lesson.

One issue I’ve faced, though, is explaining the CELTA grading system and how it is transferred to KDU TESOL grades. Both during interviews and work. Since CELTA doesn’t give out numerical grades like university modules do, people tend to misinterpret the results. The general “Pass” is listed as a “C” on our transcripts, and the CELTA grades (Pass, Pass B, Pass A) which are subjective and not based on numerical descriptors, end up being converted into letter grades like C, B and A without any explanation.

During interviews, I’ve been asked whether the KDU CELTA is different from the standard CELTA because of this. Some even questioned its legitimacy, thinking it might be a different qualification altogether. A few assumed CELTA is only a British Council certificate, so they weren’t sure where the KDU version fit in. They pointed to the transcript grade as evidence. It’s disheartening, especially when that grade ends up significantly affecting our final results of our degree. Directly affecting the class we get. I do understand that this is a tricky situation, but I thought it was worth sharing this for your awareness. Cambridge CELTA is great, but it's hard explaining how essentially a certificate qualification can change the results of a BA degree that directly affect everything we'd do moving forward.

Overall, I don’t want to compare, but from what I’ve seen, the training we received through TESOL and CELTA has made us highly adaptable and confident in the classroom especially when compared to graduates from other programs. Of course, there are great individuals everywhere, but speaking generally, our preparation has been solid.

On a personal note, for all of us doing TESOL with CELTA at KDU, the only real drawback is how our results get translated into grades. Unfortunately, many people only see what’s on paper before they give us a chance to show how we teach.

After finishing my CELTA course, I got great comments from my lecturers and the company I work with The course helped me a lot to become a better teacher, especially in planning high quality lessons, handling the classroom, and keeping students interested , effective monitoring and time managment.

My CELTA, along with my TESOL degree and my experience as an English lecturer for Intake 42 at KDU, helped me find a good job easily. Now, I’m happy to be working as an English lecturer at the Technical College in Balapitiya. I’m currently in a 3-month training period, and I can already see how much CELTA has helped me. It prepared me to handle my classes better than before and gave me more confidence in my teaching.

CELTA gave me useful teaching methods, teaching skills, and the motivation to do my best. I feel more confident and excited to help my leaners learn and grow. During my job interview, the panel really liked my teaching style and was very interested in the CELTA certificate. They said it shows strong teaching knowledge and proper training.

We've come a long way and learned so much during this journey. But this is only the beginning, there’s still so much more to explore and achieve. I’m proud of what we’ve done, and I truly believe we are now stronger and more skilled as English teachers.

(Maneesha )

It’s a qualification that’s respected and recognized, and it gave me the tools I needed to grow professionally.

After the course, I started working at CCBE, and I could clearly see how well the qualification was valued. I’ve received encouraging feedback from both the management and fellow teachers.

The most vital part was how practical it was. Every session felt real, and I improved through lesson planning, tutor and peer feedback, and hands-on experience. CELTA didn’t just change how I teach but it made me feel more confident as a teacher.

I’m proud of what I learned and grateful I get to use it every day in a place that values both my degree and CELTA.

One of the most important parts was CELTA. During CELTA, we often had to prepare lessons with very little time, and that experience has helped me a lot. Even on my first day at work, I had to teach without knowing the lesson in advance. I had only a few minutes to get prepared, but I still managed it well. I think that’s because of how we were trained during CELTA.

After teaching a lesson, if I feel something didn’t go well, I know exactly what to change and how to do better in the next one. That’s something I learnt through all the self-reflections we did. Also, using games to teach new words and grammar has worked really well, because students love them and learn better through fun.

I’m really grateful to our lecturers for sharing their knowledge and for giving us the chance to do CELTA. I’ve learnt so much and grown a lot as a teacher because of it.

When people hear about the KDU TESOL degree, it leaves a positive impression. Many of us from our batch who completed the TESOL program are now holding main roles in various institutions and demonstrating our skills. We can proudly say that we are CELTA-certified teachers from the KDU TESOL batch.

When working with other co-workers, I feel confident that I can give my best. Sometimes I don’t even need to prepare too much for lessons because we had extensive practice during the CELTA teaching sessions. The knowledge and experience I gained from this degree have fully equipped me for my career path.

I must especially mention the guidance of Madam Bimali, Wimansha sir, Madam Ganga, and Madam Esala. The knowledge they imparted is truly unmatched. They gave their absolute best to support us. During CELTA, the commitment shown by Madam Bimali and Madam Lesley was outstanding and unbelievable, even. They worked harder than us to make this a success.

I deeply respect every lecturer who gave us the knowledge and helped us reach where we are today. The praise I receive in my current workplace is all thanks to the dedication of these educators. I remain forever grateful for their dedication and proud to be a product of the KDU TESOL AND CELTA programmes.

Sumodya Sewmini

Intake 39

TESOL

Over the past few months CELTA became a life changer to me in my life. Of course, CELTA was an intensive course but also it became a part of my life that I will never forget 🫶. At the beginning when I firstly joined to the degree I didn't have a clear idea how valuable CELTA is and I have to say that I had the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally. I was able to learn how to practically apply the methods and techniques to the classroom and also the immense guidance and assistance that was provided by my lecturers and the assistance I had from my dear colleagues was unforgettable as well🥰❤️.The loveliest part is that,as a batch we were able to make our bond stronger with our colleagues❤️✨.

After completing CELTA, I was able to stand on my feet as a strong and confident teacher in the teaching field. After I joined my workplace I kept receiving lot of appreciation for my skills and for my hard work from the board directors and from everyone in the workplace and even they highly appreciate KDU and our TESOL degree which I am grateful for the most❤️✨.

At KDU, we received high-quality education from the beginning. Unlike some other universities in Sri Lanka, our classes were consistent, and we didn't face cancellations. The lecturers gave individual attention and knew each of us well. We learned both theory and practical skills that directly related to the CELTA program.

The CELTA training was a turning point for me. The methods and experiences I gained are now part of my daily teaching. I feel well-prepared for real-world teaching, and now I notice that some teachers who are much older than me with more degrees still struggling to make a proper lesson plan. This makes me appreciate the training I received even more. When I share my experience, others are surprised by the quality of education at KDU TESOL, and some regret not choosing this path. I hope future students will also benefit from the excellent education that KDU TESOL offers.

-Asirini-