Sorry I'm all searched out... have a Spanish teacher looking to be coached towards an interchange interview. He seems happy for me to be the one, I'm happy for him to give my 9yo apoyo in exchange. It brought up the subject of TEFL in conversation at home. Have to admit I'm a bit out of touch. Well a lot out of touch. There's been a lot of mention of TEFL qualifications, and not taking the speedy ones, etc., but do you have to have a degree to start with? Be any kind of teacher? I'm not questioning whether or not having the piece of paper would make you a good teacher at the end of the day, just actually obtaining it. Are there other qualifications, for example, which might be relevant/accepted towards it, such as Oxford Proficiency/Use of English and the like?
Oh, and to the thread title, if there was an obviously definitive thread, can someone link to it!!!

Failed to say I'm not a teacher and have told him that up front.

I have sent you a mesage on FB - but simply put - no, you don't need any previous experience or teaching quals to study & pass any sort of TEFL qual - although of course the actual teaching will be easier if you have previous teaching experience

Thanks Lynn. Having done some brief research it seems I could take a degree and TEFL and all the other FLs in the time it takes to be sure if I've got the right bits of paper

honestly - if you're just going to do this one-to-one, & not planning on setting up in business, or applying for a job in a good academy - don't bother

your experience & knowledge of the English language is probably far greater than anything needed to pass any kind of TEFL course

If you're planning a career in TEFL then either the CELTA or Trinity qualifications are necessary. You should have a degree to be accepted on these courses. However, if you can show that you have a good educational background you may be accepted on a course. There are plenty of 'mickey mouse' TEFL courses but they're not accepted by the better EFL academies.