Why TEFL Trainees Fail Assignments A, B and C (and How to Fix Your Own Work Before Resubmission)

1. What A, B and C are really testing

Different providers use slightly different formats, but in many courses:

• Assignment A focuses on planning or analysing a skills lesson, often reading.

• Assignment B usually tests language awareness: grammar, vocabulary and how you’d teach it.

• Assignment C often brings in speaking or listening work plus reflection on your teaching.

So the marker is not just checking “is this lesson plan ok?” but:

• Can you follow instructions?

• Do you understand level, aims and staging?

• Can you explain language clearly?

• Can you reflect honestly on your own teaching?

Keep that in mind as you check your work.

2. Reason One: The brief is treated like a suggestion

A very common fail: you glance at the assignment sheet, think “I know what they want”, and then write something slightly different.

Typical problems:

• You design a great lesson, but not the one they asked for (e.g. focus on speaking when the brief wanted reading).

• You answer one part of the task and forget the others.

• You ignore boxes or headings on the template and re-arrange things in your own way.

How to fix it before resubmission

1. Print or open the brief next to your work.

2. Use a highlighter to mark every action word: plan, explain, justify, analyse, reflect, evaluate.

3. For each one, find the exact place in your assignment where you have answered it. If you can’t point to a clear paragraph or section, you haven’t really done it.

4. Add small headings that mirror the brief, for example:

   • “Rationale for Staging”

   • “Justification of Materials”

   • “Reflection on Lesson Outcome”

Your goal is that a tired marker can see, in seconds, that you have answered every part.

3. Reason Two: Lesson aims and stages don’t match

On planning-type tasks, many trainees fail because the aims, stages and activities don’t really line up.

For example:

• Aim says “to develop students’ reading for gist skills”, but most of the lesson is vocabulary explanation.

• Stages are in a random order (e.g. detailed questions before a quick first reading).

• Timings are unreal (10 minutes to read a long text, 2 minutes for a pair task that clearly needs 8–10 minutes).

How to fix it before resubmission

• Write your main aim again in one short sentence. Keep it in front of you.

• Read each stage and ask: “Does this step help students move towards that aim?” If not, change it or cut it.

• Check that your stages follow a logical shape, for example, for reading:

• Lead-in → pre-teach key words → first reading (gist) → second reading (detail) → follow-up (speaking/writing).

• Adjust your timings so they match real classroom time for that age and level. If you are not sure, be safe and give more minutes to pair and group tasks.

If your lesson looks like a clear, believable journey from start to finish, you are less likely to fail. The similar information is also given at The TEFL Academy

4. Reason Three: Level and learner profile are not taken seriously

Markers look closely at whether the work really fits the group in the brief:

• Text is far too hard for an A1 or A2 group.

• Instructions have long, complex sentences for lower levels.

• Activities assume adult experience when the class in the brief is teenagers, or the opposite.

How to fix it before resubmission

• Re-read the class description in your brief: age, level, reason for studying, class size.

• Check your text length, task wording and topics against that profile.

  • Would a B1 teen group really manage that dense newspaper article?

  • Would adults preparing for work enjoy that very childish cartoon?

• Simplify instructions where needed: shorter sentences, clearer verbs, one action per sentence.

• Make sure topics feel normal for that group (e.g. jobs, travel and family for adults; school, hobbies and social media for teens).

Small edits here can make a big difference to how “real” your plan feels.

5. Reason Four: Weak language analysis (especially Assignment B)

Assignment B is often where trainees lose the most marks. Common issues:

• Only a dictionary-style definition, no clear explanation of meaning, form and use. Studypool+1

• No example sentences, or examples that don’t match the level.

• No mention of likely learner problems or how you’d check understanding.

How to fix it before resubmission

Pick one language point from your assignment and check whether you have:

1. Meaning – a short, clear explanation in your own words, not just copied from a grammar website.

2. Form – tense, word order, contractions, important spelling points.

3. Use – when we normally say this in real life; what other options it contrasts with.

4. Examples – at least two or three sentences that sound natural and match the level.

5. Problems and checks – one or two likely mistakes and one way to check understanding (simple CCQs or a quick task).

Repeat this check for each item. If any part is missing, add it.

For general ideas about lesson planning and language focus, you can also look at the British Council’s Teaching English resources and then bring the ideas back to the exact task your provider has set.

6. Reason Five: Reflection with no real learning

On reflection tasks, many trainees write either:

• “Everything was fine, the students loved it, nothing to change.”

• Or: “It was a disaster, I did everything wrong.”

Both can lose marks, because they do not show learning.

How to fix it before resubmission

Try this simple pattern:

• What happened? Two or three specific details from the lesson.

• What went well? One or two things, with a reason (e.g. “pair work gave shy students more speaking time”).

• What did not go to plan? One or two issues, again with a reason.

• What will you change next time? Concrete changes, not general dreams.

Keep the tone steady and honest. You are showing that you can notice what happens in your own teaching and act on it.

7. Reason Six: Layout, word count and referencing are messy

Some fails are not about content but about presentation:

• No headings or labels, so the marker can’t see where one task ends and another starts.

• Word count too short or far over the limit.

• No references where they were clearly required by the brief.

How to fix it before resubmission

• Use clear, simple headings taken from the brief or template.

• Check the word limit and trim repeated points. If you are far under, add missing explanation rather than padding.

• If your provider expects references, add a short list at the end using a simple, consistent style (you do not need to be perfect, just clear).

Think of it as making your work easy to mark.

8. Reason Seven: The text looks copied or machine-written

Providers now run assignments through plagiarism checks and tools that flag machine-like text. If you have copied from sample answers, online model work or used automatic paraphrasers, this can trigger a fail even if the ideas are good.

Signs of risk:

• The language in one paragraph sounds very different from the rest.

• There are strange word choices or over-formal phrases you would never say out loud.

• You cannot explain parts of your own assignment if a tutor asks.

How to fix it before resubmission

• Read your assignment out loud. Any sentence you would not naturally say should be rewritten in your normal way of speaking.

• Remove long chains of synonyms that make the text sound stiff. Go back to simpler words.

• If you used any outside source, put the idea in your own words and, where required, add a short reference.

• Keep your voice consistent from start to finish.

You want the work to sound like one person – you – thinking clearly about teaching.

9. A quick checklist before you upload again

Before you resubmit, go through this short list:

• Does every part of the brief have a clear answer in my work?

• Do the aims, stages and timings line up sensibly?

• Is the level and learner profile respected in text, tasks and language?

• For language analysis: have I covered meaning, form, use, examples and problems?

• Does my reflection show real learning, not just “perfect” or “terrible”?

• Is the layout clear, with headings, sensible word count and any required references?

• Does the writing sound like me, in simple UK English, from start to finish?

If you can honestly say “yes” to most of these, you have already fixed the main reasons people fail A, B and C.

Need extra support with your resubmission?

If you feel too close to your own work and want a TEFL specialist to look over it before you upload again, you can use our internal TEFL assignment help service. A TEFL-trained writer can check your brief against your draft, suggest clearer staging and wording, and highlight edits so you stay in control of the final version.

However you choose to do it, treat a failed assignment as a second chance to tidy your thinking, not as the end of your TEFL journey.