Our Mission
Your English teaching adventure made simple. There’s no two ways about it, we love teaching English abroad! Passion for what we do at Premier TEFL is in abundance. Every. Single. Day.
And, from all of our combined experience, we know that embarking on a TEFL journey is simply life-changing. We can’t wait to support you to get started…
TEFL & Travel Experts
Aveen Healy
TEFL & Travel Specialist
Aveen has a diploma in PR, Advertising and Financial management. Next to planning your TEFL experience, her favorite thing to do is spend time with her family. This live music lover is also keen on a big fan of European city breaks!
Top Travel Spot: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Favorite Food: Pizza or Pasta
Best Part of Travel: Visiting new sites and immersing yourself in local culture
Would Love to Visit: Dubai and Mykonos
Sarah Goggin
TEFL & Travel Specialist
Five continent-traveled Sarah can’t wait to help you plan your TEFL career. From hiking Machu Picchu to a dawn visit of Angkor Wat temple, this TEFL Advisor will make sure adventure is at the heart of your plans! Book a call with Sarah today…
Top Travel Spot: Argentina
Favorite Food: Steak
Best Part of Travel: Meeting new people from around the world
Would Love to Visit: Alaska
Kate McCarthy
TEFL & Travel Specialist
Student of Marketing & Digital Media, Kate loves working with customers and creating informative content for them. She is also a keen sportswoman and plays camogie competitively as well as volunteering at events to help support charities at home and abroad.
Top Travel Spot: America (Vegas & San Diego).
Favorite Food: Risotto (Any type)
Best Part of Travel: Meeting new people, trying new foods!
Would Love to Visit: Italy & Vietnam
Academic Team
Jacob Thomas
Academic Director
DELTA trained Jacob’s international career has taken him across Thailand, Germany and Spain teaching English. His specialist teaching experience includes Cambridge assessment as well as IELTS preparation and online teaching.
Top Travel Spot: Koh Phangan, Thailand and Miedzyzdroje, Poland (his partner’s hometown).
Favorite Food: Thai street food – moo da deow (fried pork) & guy phet met ma muang (fried chicken with cashew nuts)!
Best Part of Travel: Having experiences that take your breath away!
Would Love to Visit: Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands and the Southern Pacific Islands…
Luke O'Dea
Academic Assessor
CELTA trained Luke is on the path to a Masters in Education & foreign language teaching. This soccer fan teaches English (and German) in Argentina and Ireland. Our favorite saxophonist is passionate about diversity and is also an avid reader.
Top Travel Spot: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Favorite Food: Medium-rare steak with a glass (or two) of Malbec
Best Part of Travel: Experiencing the diverse riches of other cultures; acquiring lifelong memories with expats and locals alike
Would Love to Visit: New York (I’m half American) and Cuba
Nikki Foley
Academic Assessor
Nikki’s experience teaching in Barcelona means she’s walked in your shoes and is
full of advice. This TEFL-qualified, Applied Languages graduate also cooks up a
storm, making traditional, local dishes from her travels.
Top Travel Spot: Berlin, Germany
Favorite Food: Lasagne (Di Carne o Vegetariana)
Best Part of Travel: Experiencing a new culture, especially the food, while broadening your own horizons
Would Love to Visit: Argentina (or anywhere in South America)
Laura Graham
Academic Assessor
Laura has been an English teacher since 2009 and worked as a TEFL teacher while traveling South America and China before settling down permanently in southern Spain. This has given her a wealth of experience in all ages and levels, class sizes, teaching methods as well as having designed courses for individual, private students
- Top Travel Spot: Ecuador, it’s an amazing country on every level – food, people, scenery, everything blew my mind when I was there!
- Favorite Food: The famous Xi’an lamb and cumin noodles, slurpy deliciousness!!!
- Best Part of Travel: Pushing my own limits and putting myself in new situations
- Would Love to Visit: I would love to visit Georgia or the Kingdom of Bhutan
Michelle Benson
Teacher Trainer
Michelle’s TEFL career spans over 20 years. After graduating with a BA Degree in English, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, and a TEFL qualification, she decided to teach English abroad for six years both in Botswana Africa and Tel Aviv Israel. Since then Michelle has been teaching English to adults in Limerick City. Her students come from over 30 different countries from Afghanistan to Brazil.
- Top Travel Spot: Italy
- Favorite Food: Lebanese
- Best Part of Travel: Having adventures into the unknown
- Would Love to Visit: India
Partnerships & Development
Rosie Mansfield
Managing Director
Rosie has an impressive business career spanning 10+ years in the ESL training
field. Always her favorite subject, she studied an English degree in Scotland. Her
passion for travel and exploration is infectious, and her expertise is second to
none.
Top Travel Spot: Vietnam – all of it!
Favorite Food: Anything spicy, extra spicy
Best Part of Travel: Diversity… of food, culture, people
Would Love to Visit: Japan
Ian O’sullivan
Co-founder
Ian’s educational travel career spans almost 20 years. In his opinion, travel is one of the most valuable educations you’ll ever get. This adventure-loving, dog-owning fitness enthusiast has a passion for living life to the fullest. Make every day count.
Top Travel Spot: Peru (and Greece)
Favorite Food: a Vindaloo!
Best Part of Travel: The unexpected
Would Love to Visit: Everywhere, I’m 1/2 way there at 100 countries
Deirdre Bounds
Co-founder
Deirdre’s inspirational TEFL journey saw her teach abroad in Japan, China, Australia and Greece. On returning home she began work to share the knowledge she’d gained from her time teaching English abroad, developing the world’s first online TEFL course in the 1990s.
Top Travel Spot: Greece
Favorite Food: Yakitori
Best Part of Travel: The surprise
Would Love to Visit: Bali
Sandra Lane
Operations Manager
Travel addict Sandra has visited more than 30 countries, it’s her favorite thing to do when she’s not playing guitar, baking treats or crafting. You’ll often find her nose in a great book or rounding up the family to set off on a refreshing hike.
Top Travel Spot: Bella Italia
Favorite Food: Empanadas con queso from the oldest Latin American restaurant in Berlin
Best Part of Travel: You learn to trust your instincts, learn new things (also about yourself). You can reinvent yourself and meet lots of interesting people.
Would Love to Visit: Patagonia and New Zealand
Megan Cronin
Marketing & Affiliates Manager
Megan is dotty about polka dots and rockin’ n’ rollin’ with her roller derby team. Media Meg also enjoys learning different languages, but never stuck with one long enough to become fluent! Fun fact: Megan collects an accordion fan from every country she’s been to!
Top Travel Spot: Greece
Favorite Food: Nachos (with all the toppings!)
Best Part of Travel: Experiencing different cultures and celebrations
Would Love to Visit: Mexico
Emma Jane O Donnell
Marketing Executive
Despite being a city girl, Emma Jane loves the countryside and the calmness it has to offer. She looks forward to experiencing new places as she is most at peace near the sea and in the sun! Her passions are marketing (of course), makeup, fashion, reading, blogging, and advocating for social issues.
Top Travel Spot: The Algarve, Portugal
Favorite Food: Anything Italian
Best Part of Travel: Getting the opportunity to enjoy new experiences and different cultures
Would Love to Visit: Italy and Greece
Digital Wizards
Przemek Solan
Website Developer
Chess-addict Przemek is our Web Developer. This movie buff enjoys Lord of the Rings and The Shawshank Redemption but they’re not the only classics he loves. Przemek also has a keen interest in literature and ancient manuscripts. #checkmate
Top Travel Spot: Kraków
Favorite Food: Chicken Tikka Masala
Best Part of Travel: Exploring new places
Would Love to Visit: Rome
Darragh Mangan
Lead Designer
#VisCom specialist Darragh is responsible for making sure our website looks on point. This guitar-owning rock music fan also loves a good soccer match. He’s the office comedian and has absolutely no guitar-playing skills.
Top Travel spot: Rome, Italy
Favorite Food: Beef bourguignon
Best Part of Travel: Meeting cool people that you can have a good laugh/beer with
Would Love to Visit: New York
Darragh in Thailand
Thailand Teacher Orientation
Visiting our teachers abroad is important to us and clearly, so is twinning. These two showcase our motto perfectly… “the team that travels together, stays together!’
Premier TEFL
Why are we the best choice?
Good question! It’s something we ask all new customers… we’re loved for our 4.6 star reviews, course quality and value for money. On top of that, we’re proud of our 14-day money back guarantee, lifetime study access and government regulated training too!
Our Story
So, what’s our history? Well, since you ask, it all began more than 25 years ago when one of our founders, Deirdre, landed back in the UK after four years abroad teaching in Japan, China, Australia and finally the mountains of Greece.
Her life had changed so profoundly that she wanted to pass her knowledge and ideas to others. And so, she did. With passion and determination, she founded a TEFL company that was to change the concept of teaching abroad for hundreds of thousands of people. She set about creating the first online TEFL course and worked with thousands of volunteers from all over the world.
She still has that same passion and knowledge today, but perhaps more importantly, empathy with fellow hopeful travelers as she has been exactly where you are now… standing at the beginning of something truly life-changing!
It takes top-notch people to produce industry-leading work. If you’re a smart, ambitious person with that can-do spirit, a penchant for working with awesome people, and chock full of talent, we should talk. Apply Here
