DELTM qualification

English UK DELTM 600x230

DELTM: Diploma in English language teaching management

The DELTM is the diploma-level qualification for managers and directors working at English language teaching centres. 

Over six months and ten modules, our trainers cover a breadth of management disciplines to give participants the knowledge and confidence to succeed as ELT managers. 

The DELTM is suitable for staff already working in managerial roles in an ELT centre, and those aspiring to work as a centre manager, academic manager, principal or school director.

Participants should have line management experience in an educational or business context. It is also desirable to have an English language teaching qualification and at least five years' experience in either ELT teaching or ELT centre operations.

Validated by LanguageCert.


DELTM course calendar

Our DELTM course runs annually from October to March. During this period there are two face-to-face training sessions, eight online training sessions, five assignments and a final project.

Register interest for 2024/25

If you have any questions or want to register interest in our 2024/25 course, please contact our project manager Eleanor Thomas

Course fees 2023/24

English UK member centre staff £2,115
Full price (non-members) £3,115

 

Course calendar 2023/24

In-person sessions last a full day and typically run from 10:30 to 17:00. Online sessions run from 09:30 – 15:30 and include a break.

Date

Venue

Module

Friday 6 October

In-person

1: Organisational behaviour 

Friday 3 November

Online

2: The modern manager

Friday 1 December

Online

3: Managing your team 

Friday 8 December

Online

4: Staff recruitment and beyond 

Thursday 11 January

Online

5: Making a profit 

Friday 12 January

Online

6: Marketing and sales

Thursday 8 February

Online

7: Academic management 

Friday 9 February

Online

8: The customer journey 

Friday 15 March

Online

9: The principled manager

Friday 22 March

In-person

10: Managing change

 


DELTM course content

The programme covers management skills from the day-to-day operational level up to the strategic level, exploring fundamental questions about organisational goals over a three to five-year time span.

Participants will explore a number of areas including leadership and organisational behaviour, people management, product development, marketing and profit.

Organisational behaviour

  • The organisational mission
  • Organisational structure and culture
  • Organisational development
  • The organisation and its environment
  • The role of the manager
  • General management and the
    Accreditation UK scheme

The modern manager

  • Personal effectiveness
  • Time management
  • Goal setting and prioritising
  • Stress management
  • Effective delegation
  • Motivating yourself and others

Human resources: managing your team

  • People as a resource
  • Communication within the organisation
  • Organisational conflict

Human resources: recruitment and beyond

  • Recruitment
  • Employment law
  • Equal opportunities
  • Health and safety
  • Grievance procedure
  • Disciplinary procedure

The principled manager

  • The principled manager's characteristics
  • Safeguarding staff and student wellbeing
  • Decision making
  • Evidence-based management and
    counteracting biases
  • EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) principles and frameworks

Making a profit

  • ELT products and the product mix
  • Base units for measurement and comparison
  • Margins
  • Fixed and variable costs
  • Budgeting
  • Cash flow
  • Breakeven Analysis
  • Documents of account

Marketing and sales

  • Sales vs. marketing
  • Your brand
  • Developing new products
  • Creating marketing plans and campaigns
  • Working with agents vs. direct channels
  • Understanding and using industry statistics
  • Digital marketing: websites, social media and customer-centric content
  • How to involve the wider business

Academic management

  • Academic systems including placement, timetabling and record keeping
  • Curriculum, syllabus and course design
  • Student progress and feedback
  • Maintaining and enhancing academic quality
  • Academic quality control measures
  • Managing technology including online and hybrid course delivery

The customer journey

  • Customer service and quality
  • Total quality management
  • Service blueprinting
  • Moments of truth
  • Setting performance standards
  • Best practice benchmarking
  • Self-evaluation

Change and project management

  • The management of change
  • Managing resistance to change
  • The project management approach
  • Planning your project assignment

Study structure and assessment

Participants complete five assignments during the course, consisting of research, reports and presentations and one 5,000-word final project. There is no final examination.

The assignments have been designed to put into practice the theory contained in the training sessions and the module handbooks. The end result of the Diploma should therefore be a bank of assignments and a project covering practical aspects of your job.

The course involves approximately 360 hours of work, of which 40 hours are allocated to training sessions, 80 hours to self-study, including completion of mini-tasks and 240 hours on the assignments and the final project.

Find more information about the assignments and assessment criteria in the 2023/24 DELTM course information.


Bespoke DELTM for organisations and associations

Bespoke closed group courses can be organised for language centres, school chains and associations.

The DELTM is the ideal solution for the development of your managers and your business. The programme constantly evolves in line with the latest management trends and can be shaped to match your needs.

The bespoke DELTM is a flexible, blended programme that can be tailored to you – whether delivered in the UK or overseas, as an intensive block or over the course of several months. Flexible pricing also allows you to reduce the cost per head for larger groups.


Meet the DELTM tutors

The DELTM tutors are experienced members of the English language teaching community who have worked at teaching centres, as academic content creators or as inspectors on behalf of Accreditation UK. 


George Pickering

George Pickering is the academic course director for the DELTM. 

George is an educational coach, trainer and consultant who has worked in over 60 countries. In addition to being the academic course director on the English UK DELTM course, George is also a tutor on the International Diploma in Language Teaching Management (IDLTM).

He is a senior inspector for the Accreditation UK Scheme and was the first director of Bell's Teacher Campus at Homerton College, Cambridge. For many years George was a trustee of IATEFL and the co-ordinator of the Leadership and Management SIG. He holds a PGCE, an MA in Second Language Learning and Teaching and diplomas in management, coaching and counselling.


Terry Phillips

Terry Phillips has worked in ELT for more than 40 years as a teacher, teaching supervisor, manager, language school owner and consultant. As a consultant, he has worked in more than 25 countries in all parts of the world, advising state and private language institutions on all aspects of academic and financial management. For the last 15 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer with his wife Anna, producing more than 200 published books in all areas of ELT. 


Anne Hawkings

Ann Hawkings, with over 20 years' experience of sales and marketing in the language travel industry, has been involved in product development and marketing strategy for both chain and independent schools. Since starting her own consultancy company based in an East London design studio in 2016, Ann works with creative brand and design teams to help Language Travel Organisations achieve their business development goals and produce effective marketing materials that inspire student journeys.


 Fiona Dunlop 2 Fiona Dunlop has over 30 years worldwide experience in the field of English language training, including such areas as Teacher Training, Business and Soft Skills Training and Academic and School Management. She holds an MA in Psychology and the English UK DELTM.

She currently provides training on many aspects of ELT management such as internal customer care, manager CPD and wellbeing, effective project management and motivating and developing well established teaching teams. She has written articles for ELT publications and most recently consolidated her years of experience in the form of a language school management book published in June 2019.

 


 

What did past participants think?

  • "Quite simply, it is the essential training programme for managers in the ELT industry. From the very first session, the insights I gained from the DELTM inspired me to conduct research and implement change to the benefit of myself, my staff, my customers and the organisation as a whole. It was transformational on both a professional and a personal level." – Byron Skelton, Torquay International School of English

  • "The DELTM is a great opportunity for anyone who has moved into management from teaching, with little or no training, to build on their experience with the theoretical and practical tools it provides." – Shila Nadar, Twin ECL
  • "It was very interesting and made me reflect on my practice as a manager and my organisation's operation. It was lovely to network with like-minded people. The trainers were very knowledgeable and delivered classes in an engaging manner." – Agnieszka Cieszynska, Coventry College
  • "A very professional course taught by industry specialists which provided knowledge and skills that could be applied in my organisation from day one." – Dan Smith, Riversdown House