As we celebrate our fifth birthday in October 2021, it’s got us reflecting on our origins. Take Your Time DELTA has grown so much in just five years, and all from a 3am idea. But what was the idea and how did we get there? Our founder, Sandy, started working towards her Cambridge DELTA in September 2012. At the time, she thought there were only two ways to do DELTA: a 9-month part-time online course or an 8-week full-time face-to-face course. She chose the first option, because she couldn’t afford to take 8 weeks off work and pay to live somewhere else. She didn’t realise you could take the three modules separately, and she didn’t know you could space them out as much as you like. Cue 9 months of stress, triggering a genetic illness that Sandy has got for the rest of her life and regularly has to go to hospital to be treated for. During her course, she was teaching full time, then spending 15-20 hours every weekend on DELTA. By the end of November, she was getting burnt out, and she ended up having to take the whole of December 2012 off work sick. When she was sick again in March and April, it was clear that this wasn’t sustainable. She decided to drop Module 1, focussing on Module 2 until it was complete in April, then Module 3 ready for submission in June. By focussing on one module at a time, Sandy was able to work much more efficiently. She then took a break and came back to her studies in October 2013, eventually passing Module 1 with Distinction in December 2013. Throughout her DELTA studies, Sandy kept searching the internet to find help and support, but at that point there was very little out there. She started blogging about her experience, starting with the post Arghhhh! sharing her frustration with DELTA, a feeling unfortunately still shared by many people who have taken the qualification but who haven’t discovered Take Your Time DELTA! Over time, she built up a bank of DELTA resources on her blog which became a popular place for DELTA trainees to find information they needed to support them in their studies. She ended up chatting to many people at conferences and online about their DELTA experiences, consistently hearing stories of stressful courses, burnout, a lack of support, and feeling lost, with only occasional beacons of light of great courses and trainers. There was a narrative of ‘survival’ surrounding DELTA, not least in the title of the DELTA & DipTESOL – Candidates & Survivors facebook group, and many teachers Sandy spoke to feared the qualification because they had heard so many bad things about it. One night, shortly after going freelance in June 2021, all of this came together in Sandy’s brain. She woke up and thought ‘Why not run a slow DELTA course? Why does it always need to be so stressful? Why should teachers have to burn out to get professional development? Why are we surviving DELTA, not thriving on it?’ And so, Take Your Time DELTA was born! In October 2021, four brave trainees took a risk on Sandy’s brand-new Cambridge DELTA Module 1 course, unlike anything else on the market then and now, created to counter all the problems Sandy faced in her own DELTA studies. We had a great time in our sessions, and Sandy is still in touch with all four trainees and eternally grateful that they trusted her with their development. Since then, the Take Your Time DELTA Module 1 course has evolved beyond all recognition, as trainee feedback and trainer learning have come together to create what we believe is the most effective, most supportive Cambridge DELTA Module 1 course currently available. We now regularly have 30-50 DELTA Module 1 trainees on our courses with five trainers and run three other courses…but that’s a story for another day!
