Parent guides

Online English classes: what parents should know before booking

Online lessons vary enormously in quality and the differences are not obvious from a website. These are the things worth checking before you pay anyone, including us.

Group or one-to-one

This is the biggest single difference and it is often buried in the pricing page. In a group of six, your child speaks for roughly a sixth of the lesson at best. One-to-one, they speak for most of it.

Group classes are cheaper for a reason and can work well for older, confident learners. For a child who is shy or behind, the talk time gap is usually decisive.

How teachers are selected

Ask directly: did anyone watch this teacher actually teach before listing them? Many marketplaces verify documents and nothing else, which is a much weaker check than it sounds. A recorded teaching sample reviewed by a human tells you far more than a certificate.

Whether you get feedback

Written feedback after every lesson, automatically, is the difference between knowing how your child is doing and guessing. Ask to see a real example. Feedback that says "great lesson, well done" is worth nothing; useful feedback names what was practised, what went wrong and what to revise.

The refund and cancellation terms

Check before paying, not after. Reasonable terms look like: cancel a lesson with some notice and the credit returns; unused credits refundable within a stated window. Be wary of large upfront packages with no refund route — that is where most complaints about online schools originate.

Whether the trial is genuinely free

A free trial that requires card details is a subscription with a delay. A genuine trial takes no payment information at all.

Questions worth asking any school

Is the business registered, and can I see the registration number?
Is every lesson one-to-one, or are some group classes?
Did a person review this teacher teaching before approving them?
Do I get written feedback after every lesson? Can I see an example?
What happens if we need to cancel? What is the refund policy?
Can we change teacher if the match is wrong?
Do we need to install software, or does it run in a browser?

How we answer these

For transparency, our own answers: registered with the Philippine DTI under Business Name Registration 5274092; every lesson one-to-one; every teacher passes a recorded teaching interview reviewed by a person; written feedback after every lesson; cancel 12 hours ahead and the credit returns; unused credits refundable within 14 days; changing teacher is a routine request; lessons run in the browser with nothing to install. The first class is free and takes no card details.

We publish our refund policy and a legitimacy page precisely so these are checkable rather than claimed.

Questions parents ask

Are online English classes as good as in-person lessons?

For one-to-one language practice the evidence is that they compare well, partly because a screen-shared lesson keeps materials in front of the child. Group online classes are weaker, mainly because talk time drops.

How do I know if an online English school is legitimate?

Check for a published business registration number, a stated refund policy, a genuinely free trial that takes no card details, and whether they explain how teachers are vetted.

Should I choose group or one-to-one lessons?

One-to-one if your child is shy, behind, or needs speaking practice specifically. Group classes can suit older, confident learners and cost less.

What should good lesson feedback contain?

What was practised, what went well, what needs work, and specific words or structures to revise. "Great lesson" tells you nothing.

Lessons with a teacher

If your child would benefit from working on this with someone, every new family gets one free lesson. One-to-one, no card required, from $7 per lesson afterwards.

Book a free first class See exactly how our lessons work

Last reviewed: 22 September 2026