International TEFL Academy Wins Top Award for TEFL/Teaching Abroad in 2026

International TEFL Academy (ITA) and our staff are thrilled and proud to have won the People's Choice Award for Best International Education Organization for the sixth year in a row (and the seventh time overall) at the presentation of GoAbroad Awards for Innovation in Meaningful Travel held on May 28, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. 

This award honors the top international education organization as selected by study & work abroad professionals and students by popular vote. The top five finalists in this category were chosen by the nomination of their peers, including study abroad advisers from colleges and universities and representatives of other international education organizations. This year, alumni could also nominate organizations. International TEFL Academy is proud to be the first TEFL certification school ever to win this prestigious award and has now won it seven times. ITA first won the award in 2018 and then, before this year, won in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In addition to the people’s choice award, we are thrilled to announce that ITA has also won the 2026 Innovative Student Video Award for the first time since 2020. The winning entry, "Discover Yourself," was created by our very own alumna, Ta'mia Fannin. Her inspiring video was the winner of our student video contest last year, held during the milestone celebration of our 15th anniversary and reaching 50,000 students. We couldn't be prouder to see her talent recognized on a global stage. 

For nearly two decades, GoAbroad.com has been a leading online resource for information on "meaningful travel," including studying abroad, volunteering abroad & teaching English abroad. GoAbroad’s annual Innovation Awards were created for the purpose of "showcasing the best in innovation, originality, creativity, and exceptional ideas in international education."

Since 2010, International TEFL Academy has certified and assisted over 50,000 people from all backgrounds to gain employment teaching English abroad in 80 countries worldwide. In recent years, thousands of ITA students have also been hired to teach English online as more countries open up to digital nomads and remote teachers in a post-pandemic world.

International TEFL Academy CEO and Founder Bruce Jones accepted the People's Choice Award for Best International Education Organization and Innvoative Student Video Award on behalf of ITA in 2026.

ITA offers accredited TEFL certification classes online & in over 20 locations worldwide.  Students receive comprehensive pre-enrollment guidance & access to thousands of articles, videos, alumni stories, & other resources to learn about job markets & the process of moving abroad.  All graduates receive lifetime job search guidance, including personalized assistance from ITA's Student Affairs experts, in addition to access to the Alumni Corner website and networks of more than 50,000 graduates across the globe. Since 2023, ITA has also offered guaranteed job placement programs for individuals seeking end-to-end personalized support in gaining an overseas teaching position.

In past years, in addition to winning the People's Choice Award, ITA has also won the 2020 Innovative Student Video Award and the 2024 Innovative TEFL/Teach Abroad Program Award.

For our Innovative Teach Abroad Program submission, ITA highlighted its specialty Teaching Test Prep Skills course, providing in-depth training on preparing students for English proficiency exams.

This course, consistently innovating new tools and courses for our alumni and prospective students, is among a variety of advanced training options that can be taken to enhance English teaching ability and confidence. Read more about ITA's specialty course offerings here. 

Prior to Ta'Mia's win, the first ITA alum to win the Innovative Student Video Award was Jack Ross, whose video, "Thank you Vietnam," won the 2020 Innovative Student Video Award.

In addition to these accolades, ITA has received nominations for awards in TEFL Innovation (2020, 2023), Alumni Engagement (2017), Philanthropy (2016, 2021, 2022), and the STA Start the Adventure Award (2016), an honor for an individual most influential in international education, of which our founder and president, Bruce Jones, was the nominee.

International TEFL Academy would like to thank the GoAbroad Innovation Awards Academy Members for the honor of being selected as a finalist, all of those who voted for ITA in the winning of the People's Choice Award, and we salute all nominations & winners. Check out a full list of 2026 GoAbroad Awards winners here.