Program Reviews

I had a really good time with Gotoco when I went to Poland. There was good support in all aspects and good teaching material when it came to doing the tefl. I made some friends for life and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do this! I think one of the main highlights of my experience was having a chance to engage with so many enthusiastic students who were all so sweet and thankful by the end of it. Seeing that I made a difference made me feel much happier. I enjoyed having an opportunity to look around by ourselves as well on the last week and explore Warsaw and Krakow at our leisure.

I had an incredible experience with Gotoco! The program offered a unique opportunity to teach abroad, immerse myself in a new culture, and grow both personally and professionally. The support from the Gotoco team was excellent; they were always responsive and helpful throughout the process.

One aspect I particularly appreciated was the emphasis on community and cultural exchange. From engaging with local students to exploring the rich traditions of the area, the program provided a holistic experience that went beyond teaching.

For future participants, I would recommend preparing for some logistical aspects, such as long visa runs, and ensuring you communicate any specific needs (e.g., dietary preferences). That said, the challenges were more than outweighed by the rewards of the experience.

I would highly recommend Gotoco to anyone looking to step out of their comfort zone and embark on a meaningful adventure abroad. It’s an experience I’ll always treasure!

Overall,I had a great time.
I really enjoyed the planned excursions during and at the end of the trip as it allowed me to travel beyond the city in which I was staying. I have some amazing memories from these trips.
Another of the many highlights of the program was the opportunities to explore a different culture and way of life. In particular, living with a host family was such an incredible and unique experience.
Gotoco were very helpful and responsive throughout the time we were in Colombia.

I think the programme was a valuable use of a summer for a multitude of reasons. These include gaining transferable skills; making new friends; experience of traveling and working abroad; and general self-development! The program has enabled me to learn more about another culture, to make connections across Europe, and it has gifted me with transferable skills for my future career.

Highlights were definitely exploring a new country that I had little knowledge of and getting to engage with their traditions. For example, I went folk-dancing and wore traditional Austrian dress - this was a side of the country that I'd never have been able to explore without getting in touch with a host family, so this experience was invaluable!

I enjoyed meeting the other tutors after school to discuss what went well and what we needed to improve on. I also enjoyed trying out all the new games and activities we had learnt and bonding with the class.
The highlights of my experience were meeting new people and sharing the teaching experience with them. My favourite part of the trip was in the school when we were putting the training into action and had more autonomy over our planning.
I think it was a great opportunity to travel and meet like-minded people. The experience allowed me to gain more confidence in travelling alone, but knowing there is a group of people in the same situation that I was going to meet. It also allowed me to grow as a teacher.
The program benefitted me by giving me more confidence to travel in a foreign country, sometimes alone. It had also given me more confidence in teaching, being more active whilst teaching and using different teaching methods.
I enjoyed my programme because it was a good length of time for me and it was fun, as it was games and activity based. However, at times I would have preferred to have had more autonomy in our free time, such as evenings.

I took part in the Vietnam Summer Program and had a truly amazing time. The TEFL course helped teach me valuable skills while challenging my creative skills. The GoToCo team were so helpful and accommodating throughout the entire process. I would highly recommend the program to anyone who is interested in teaching as well as traveling a new country and exploring a new culture. The program helped me make amazing friends and the induction and ending weeks were so much fun and a great opportunity to celebrate our achievements. Would highly recommend and am very happy to have done the program, Thank you!

It comes with a heavy heart writing this as the trip itself was amazing, going to Thailand has changed my life in more ways than I can imagine. HOWEVER….
I began work on my TESOL qualification with Gotoco in June 2023 and I have still not been qualified despite completing all the original tasks we were assigned. I also haven’t received my final £100 deposit back as a result. Gotoco’s actions during the last year, (6 month delay in responding, creating extra tasks, setting impossibly short random deadlines), gave me the impression that they are deliberately trying to make students simply drop the course, thus losing their £100 deposit. We currently have 25 students on-board with more contacting us every day as the word spreads. If you have had a similar experience, please find me on Instagram and let me know.
So why do Gotoco get so many 5 star reviews? This is how it worked with my Cohort;
Each student got an email directly after the trip (when emotions were still very high after making so many great memories). They were given a link to leave feedback on Gotoco’s website with the following comment;
“Once you have completed the form, you'll be able to move on to the process for returning the first £100 of the deposit”.
So feedback appears to be compulsory if you want your £100 back.
In a following email from a second Gotoco director, he said this:
“As part of the feedback process, we would be really grateful if you could post something on ideally 3 out of one of 8 options below [options named with links].
Once you have done, please let me know, and I will move you to our final steps (deposit and TEFL processing). If you don't want to that’s fine, but we really hope you can consider doing it.
Our accounts team usually need 30 days for any finance processing, but if you help us with this process then as a gesture of thanks we will expedite your refunds ASAP - usually within 2 days or so. Just email us back once you've done it and we can move to the next part of the process.”
Asking students to write 3 reviews in order to get their £100 deposit back in 2 days rather than waiting 30 days? Are you still surprised why there are so many good reviews?
Also, we have evidence that Gotoco have flagged bad reviews and tried to have them taken down (I have been talking to one student who has had her negative reviews flagged and taken down twice!).
So in summary, Gotoco are good at the overseas element of your experience, but there is something seriously wrong with the TESOL side, which we intend to investigate further for the benefit of the many students who have suffered and lost money as a result.

The whole experience was wonderful, I would definitely recommend it. Doing the excursion at the beginning provided the opportunity to meet lots of people so that throughout we could meet up again. This programme opened my eyes to the opportunities and possibility of moving and working abroad, as well as teaching.

This programme gave me leadership skills beyond that which I had before. Furthermore, huge flexibility, both when dealing with difficult people, and when switching from younger students to older, and to parents as well.

Overall I had an amazing time, spending 10 weeks immersed in a new lifestyle, culture and way of living. It was a perfect way to spend my second year University summer, whilst getting an in depth experience of what it would be like to teach. I learnt so much about the local people in my placement, about how to teach throughout the TEFL course and I gained valuable skills; such as increasing my confidence, independence, and mt eyes were really opened about how much else there is out there in the world.

What a great experience!
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to do my TEFL fee-free course in Spain. I had an amazing time teaching and being around spanish teenagers. I learnt so much and just had an overall great time there. But most importantly I met some of the nicest people there, the other volunteers were lovely, we got along so well and I have made some life-time friends. I'm very greatfull for the experience and definitely recommend trying it. It is not easy but still fun. Thank you Gotoco!