Qualification and teaching background
Mike holds the Cambridge CELTA (July 2017). The CELTA is a Cambridge teaching qualification. He has been teaching English and IELTS for more than 12 years, in three countries: Vietnam, Turkey and Iran.
This is the actual certificate, with the name field covered for privacy. Cambridge English's online Results Verification Service does not cover CELTA; for results outside that system, Cambridge says it may still be possible for institutions to verify them using its verification request form. What you can check yourself, right now, is that the qualification itself is genuine and currently regulated: search "CELTA" on the UK government's own Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications, or look up accreditation number 501/1891/2 directly - it matches the number printed on the certificate above.
He is based in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he currently teaches 250 students across 10 classes at Newton Grammar School. Band Booster IELTS is the one-to-one online coaching he runs alongside that school teaching.
Where he has taught
| Country | Schools named | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | Newton Grammar School, Hanoi | Current: 250 students across 10 classes |
| Turkey | Çevre Koleji, Gökkuşağı Koleji, Bahçeşehir College | Previous |
| Iran | English and IELTS teaching | Previous |
Across those three countries he has taught at nine schools in total; the table lists the ones named on this site. For a student, the practical point is that his experience is not limited to one country: he has spent years teaching people whose first language is not English, in three quite different places.
His own IELTS result
Mike has sat IELTS himself and scored 7.5 overall, with 8.5 in Speaking. Students reasonably want to know whether their teacher has been through the test they are preparing for. He has, and he knows the format from the candidate's chair as well as the teacher's.
What Band Booster IELTS is
Band Booster IELTS is a one-to-one, online IELTS coaching service. Every session runs live over Google Meet, and every session is taught by Mike. There are no group classes and no rotating tutors. He has taught more than 500 one-to-one sessions. If you are weighing up whether one-to-one is right for you, the page on working with an IELTS tutor in Hanoi goes into more detail.
More on how sessions work: one-to-one IELTS Speaking with a CELTA-certified teacher, which also explains how to check any tutor's certificate; the guide to choosing an online IELTS tutor; whether a private IELTS tutor is worth it; and, in Vietnamese, gia sư IELTS online 1 kèm 1 với thầy Mike.
A session can cover any part of the test, or general English:
- Listening – 30 minutes, 40 questions in 4 parts, and the recording is played once.
- Reading – 60 minutes, 40 questions, 3 sections.
- Writing – Task 1 and Task 2, marked against the public band descriptors. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the Writing band, which is worth knowing when deciding where to spend your time. See IELTS Writing feedback.
- Speaking – Parts 1, 2 and 3 run in the real test format, with feedback in the moment rather than afterwards. See IELTS Speaking coaching.
- General English – conversation, pronunciation, job interviews, presentations and work email, for students who need English beyond the test.
How Mike teaches
Three things stay constant from the first session onwards.
- The same teacher every time. Because Mike teaches every session, there is no new tutor to bring up to speed. He knows what was covered last time, which errors keep returning and what the target band is.
- Feedback during the session, not days later. A Speaking answer is corrected while it is still fresh; a Writing paragraph is discussed on screen while you can still remember why you wrote it that way.
- Written progress notes after each session. The notes go into the student's account, so there is a record of what was worked on and what to do next. Sessions can also be recorded on request.
Writing is marked against the public band descriptors, which means the four published criteria: Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, each weighted equally. Speaking is also scored on four equally weighted criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Marking against named criteria, rather than giving a general impression, is what lets a student see which one is holding the band down.
What he does not promise
No band score is promised, to anyone. IELTS is scored from 0 to 9 in half-band steps, and the overall band is the average of the four skills rounded to the nearest half band, so the overall band only moves when the individual skills move. How far a student gets depends on where they start and how much work is done between sessions.
Results that students have reported back include 6.0 → 7.5 overall, 5.5 → 7.0 in Writing and 6.5 → 8.0 in Speaking. These are individual outcomes, not averages or typical results. No band is promised; progress depends on the starting point and the work between sessions.
Mike does not publish pass rates, percentages, star ratings or named testimonials. His only link to Cambridge is the CELTA teaching qualification, and the site makes no claim beyond that. What a student can check for themselves is the format of the sessions, the price, and how the trial goes.
Prices, payment and policies
Prices for students in Vietnam are shown in VND in the pricing section of the home page:
| Session | Length | Price in Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Trial session (once, on the first booking only) | 30 minutes | 150,000 ₫ |
| IELTS coaching session | 60 minutes | 500,000 ₫ |
| General English | 60 minutes | 450,000 ₫ |
More than 5 regular sessions in one order: 10% off until 31 December 2026, once per student on their first qualifying order. There is no subscription and no package to commit to: a student can book one session and stop. Students outside Vietnam see prices in their own currency automatically, because the site uses regional price tiers.
Payment is by PayPal (cards can be used through PayPal guest checkout where PayPal offers it for your country and payment), bank transfer in Vietnam via VietQR, or USDT (TRC20 or BEP20). The site never sees or stores card details, and a receipt comes from the payment provider and from the site. A session can be rescheduled free of charge up to 12 hours before the slot; a cancellation inside 12 hours is not refunded.
How to book a session with Mike
- Go to the booking page and book a trial session (30 minutes, 150,000 ₫) or a full 60-minute session.
- Choose a time from the live calendar, which is shown in your own timezone.
- Pay by PayPal, VietQR bank transfer or USDT.
- Check your email: the Google Meet link and a calendar invite arrive immediately, together with a link to set up an account for session history, receipts, progress notes and rebooking.
Learners in the United States can see how lessons, time zones and booking work on the online IELTS tutor page for the USA.
Studying from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain or Oman? See online IELTS tutor for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Students in Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang can see how lessons and booking work on the online IELTS tutor pages for Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.
How to contact Mike
Questions before booking, whether about a target band, a test date, or whether General English or IELTS coaching is the better fit, can go directly to Mike:
- Email: mkcenter007@gmail.com
- Phone: +84 383 390 963, also on Zalo, WhatsApp and Telegram
Teaching is in English. The website itself can be read in English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Korean and Japanese, so a student can check the prices and policies in their own language before they book a trial session.
What you can check about Mike before booking
Some claims on this page can be checked outside this site; others rest on Mike's word.
What you can check yourself
- The CELTA. The certificate near the top of this page shows accreditation number 501/1891/2, name covered. The same number is the CELTA entry (Cambridge English, Level 5) on Ofqual's register of regulated qualifications. That shows the qualification is real, not who holds it; the note under the certificate covers Cambridge's own verification service.
- The prices, in the table above and in the pricing section of the home page; students outside Vietnam see their own regional price before they pay.
- The reschedule rule (free up to 12 hours before the slot, no refund inside 12 hours) and the receipts from the payment provider and the site.
What is stated but not documented
- Mike's own IELTS result: 7.5 overall, 8.5 in Speaking.
- More than 12 years of teaching, more than 500 one-to-one sessions, and his current post at Newton Grammar School.
- The three anonymous student results quoted earlier on this page.
No document on this page backs those points. If one of them matters to your decision, ask Mike before you book. None of it is a promise about your own result.