Is Quality English Teaching Worth the Investment?
And how to tell
There’s a phrase sometimes used in marketing: reassuringly expensive.
It suggests that price can signal depth, design, and quality.
But does it apply to investing in English teaching?
This page explores the truth in this idea, with advice on how to tell the difference between price and value.
These days, you can pay £10 for an online English lesson.
And you could pay £80.
From the outside, they can look almost identical.
A Zoom link and an hour of English.
Both call themselves “English teachers.”
They are not offering the same thing.
There is a reason one costs £10, and one costs £80, including:
depth of expertise
professionally related training
experience
innovation and confidence
These combine into knowing how to move someone forward (and knowing what forward looks like).
And if you risk the cheapest option without understanding what you’re buying (or not buying), you are not just risking time or money.
You are risking your relationship with English.
That relationship is often more fragile than people realise.
The Behemoths
Price alone is not proof of quality.
Commercial language schools are among the most expensive options available.
They carry large overheads:
-
buildings
-
administrative teams
-
marketing departments
-
recruitment pipelines
-
brand dominance
- shareholder expectations
For decades, they controlled the market.
Online teaching has shaken that foundation.
Commercial schools can offer:
-
safe progression
-
standardised systems
-
predictable outcomes
-
trained teachers working within a framework
That’s not nothing, but it leans into:
-
generic
-
homogenised
-
slow-moving
-
and, in many cases, overpriced
You are paying for infrastructure as much as expertise.
Being global corporations doesn’t automatically make them the best option.
The Independent Shift
The independent ELT revolution has been a gift.
It has exposed:
-
specialist teachers
-
creative methodologies
-
flexible formats
-
genuine expertise
But it has also created noise.
Because now everyone can appear equal online.
The polished commercial brand.
The experienced independent specialist.
The enthusiastic gap-year tutor.
From the outside, they can look the same.
They are not the same.
→ About Being an Independent Language School
You don’t need to care beyond understanding how to navigate this noise, because marketing budgets in ELT are designed to convert uncertainty into enrolment.
Let this page help you identify the right reasons to sign up for a course.
A Market Shaped Inquiry
Where teachers meet most learners is when they are looking for an hourly rate.
But hourly English means you meet, you speak, you stop. (I call it Wind-tunnel English).
Transformation rarely happens over isolated hours (unless they are part of a bigger structure – more later)
Charging for a defined block or course usually means: there is an entry point, a sequence, and an intended result.
You are not paying for time, you are paying for movement.
About Experience
Experience is not the same as expertise.
But the overlap between the two is worth paying for.
Not just to save you time, prevent detours and confusion by poorly explained (or vastly overloaded) grammar points.
That doesn’t make all new teachers bad. They can work well in an externally designed language system.
But how can they possibly design transformation if they have never led people through it?
To detect expertise, the right question isn’t:
“Do you teach English?”
The better question is:
“How do you get results?”
Or even better:
“What does progress look like with you?”
English Teachers are All The Same
There’s a misconception that one English teacher is much like another, but language teachers bring their backgrounds into every class and every conversation.
We are a diverse, skilled bunch: AND we also know how to help you get strong in English.
Speaking a Language Is Not the Same as Teaching It
Just because someone can play the trumpet beautifully does not mean they will be skilled to teach someone else to play it. Obviously, their own knowledge is part of the expertise, but it’s not all.
It requires explaining how something as automatic as breathing.
It requires hearing exactly what kind of “wrong” a sound is and knowing which instruction, like blow harder, softer, or change the shape of their mouth, will help.
It’s knowing when not to intervene and let the person fix the problem themselves.
It’s supporting someone through the embarrassment of being the only person in the room making a noise like a farting duck, and making that feel powerful.
You need the mutually understood language to describe what’s happening and the judgement to know what to adjust.
Speaking English fluently is not the same as understanding how someone learns it.
The idea that being a native speaker automatically makes someone a good teacher is one of the most persistent myths in English education.
Fluency is not pedagogy.
Confidence is not design.
Enthusiasm is not structure.
Excellent ELT professionals stand head and shoulders above someone on a gap year with a short certificate.
Both may call themselves “English teachers.”
They are not offering the same thing.
About Learning Progression and Investment
And at beginner level, a lower-cost option can genuinely help.
If you’re learning basic vocabulary, simple sentence structures, and getting used to speaking at all, there are many people who can support you well.
But as you move through learning, the number of teachers who can coach you effectively diminishes.
Not because English becomes harder.
But because your needs become more subtle.
You’re no longer asking:
“What’s the past tense?”
You’re asking:
-
Why do I freeze even though I know the words?
-
Why do I sound flat in meetings?
-
Why do people misunderstand my tone?
-
Why do I still hesitate at B2 level?
-
Why does English still feel uncomfortable?
That level of coaching requires:
-
diagnostic skill
-
emotional intelligence
-
linguistic awareness
-
experience with adult psychology
-
and the ability to see patterns beneath the surface
That’s not entry-level teaching.
And that’s where the gap between £10 and £80 becomes very real.
When Cheap Goes Wrong
People have different budgets.
Not everyone can or should spend £80 an hour on English.
But if your budget is limited, the answer is not to replace strategic teaching with the cheapest option and hope for the same result.
The answer is to build a plan.
Invest in a stronger programme once a year.
Supplement the investment with daily self-study, targeted practice. Even £10 conversation sessions have a role— as part of the picture.
Cheap and free conversation practice can absolutely have a place.
But it cannot be the whole picture.
It never will be.
What damages people isn’t low cost.
It’s low design.
Poor-fit teaching doesn’t just waste money.
It erodes confidence.
When adults fail an online course, they don’t usually rush out and buy another one.
They step back.
They feel embarrassed.
They tell themselves:
“I’m just bad at English.”
“I can’t do this.”
“It’s too hard.”
When, actually, they stepped into something that promised “confidence” and “fluency” but wasn’t backed by structure or professional skill.
It is worth knowing what those real costs are.
Immediate Help for Traumatised English
We believe it is worth healing the negative feelings around English before ‘pushing through the pain.’
Helping you Beyond “Better English”
Many learners look for English classes, saying they want/need “better English.”
But to find the right help, you need to know what that means – for you.
More vocabulary?
Fewer mistakes?
More confidence?
“More English” is like standing in a wind tunnel.
There’s movement. There’s effort. But no direction.
Good teachers know results are directional, and they have specialities to get you there.
Pass the exam.
Lead the meeting.
Stop freezing.
Feel at ease.
Be ready for something.
Activity is not the same as progression.
Your relationship with English is worth protecting.
These blogs can help you orient yourself
→ You Don’t Need to Decide the Future of Your English
→ Is Face-to-Face Better Than Online English Learning?
→ English for Professionals | What to Know Before Choosing Your Next Course
Lessening the Load is a Skill
At Blue Noun, we stand for carefreeness and excellence.
Carefreeness in learning does not come from casual teaching.
It comes from someone else holding:
-
the rhythm
-
the sequencing
-
the cognitive load
-
the stress
-
the arc
So you don’t have to.
If you relax with us, it is because excellence is doing invisible work behind the scenes.
The same applies to online English.
Ask yourself, is this making me feel lighter or heavier?
About Language Holidays
The Same Is True of Language Holidays
You can book a £500 “kitchen table” language holiday.
Or you can book a £2,000 professionally designed English experience.
From the outside, both look like travel and conversation.
You can’t slap an add-on excursion on the first and expect the same results.
You pay for:
-
safeguarding
-
qualified coaching
-
structured progression
-
reacting and updating arc
-
cognitive load management
-
reflection
-
integration
The £500 option leaves you responsible for your own progress.
The more expensive options work out the goals that matter to you and design an experience that optimises getting there.
→ Blue Noun English Language Holidays in Scotland
→ How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Kind of English Holiday for You
So What Should You Do?
If you’re serious about changing your English, choosing based on price alone is a gamble.
That doesn’t mean you must always choose the most expensive option.
It means you need a plan.
You need to know:
-
what you’re aiming for
-
what level of investment matches that goal
-
where cheaper tools can support you
-
and where professional design is essential
If you’re still exploring your options, start by understanding how different English courses really are.
If you want to talk that through properly, in relation to what the best options are for you, that’s exactly what a Review and Revive session is for.
→ Review and Revive English Consultancy Sessions
→ Confident English: Why Feeling Good Speaking Matters More Than Progress