The Skills Network Reviews 2,275

***DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY*** Please read other reviews below which mirror my issues.

Signed up and had a course approved and funding in place. Completed first unit and awaited marking. I didn't hear anything for a month at which point I received an email informing me funding had been withdrawn because I had not submitted work! On questioning this I was informed there had been no funding available in the first place, which beggers belief when I was accepted by a learning body, given login details and was able to access and complete part of the course. Nothing but a waste of my valuable time. On raising my problem I was told to make a complaint via their complaints procedure. No thank you, given I have already wasted numerous hours completing a unit of work that means absolutely nothing.

Would not recommend. I communicated with them to say I was out of country for 4 weeks continously got messages and calls from them. When work was submitted you get email back to make changes . Make the changes and still the same. When I had inquired about a course I was told that I would not have yo spend much time as I had explained I work full time and also do overtime. I have now come of the course and paid the pentaly fee of 100 pound.

Excruicating. Having almost got through it I will say never again! The amount of questions asked in each unit and the detail required for each question is ridiculous. Many questions are also repetitive. At first I submitted short, to the point answers as I thought that would be okay but these were sent back to me so I then had to compile lengthy answers to each question which was so laborious. All I feel I've done is parroted back information given in the course rather than learning something new, enjoying the learning, and being able to apply the learning in a creative and thoughtful way. No questions were based on what you think, what would you do, what about this dilemma, etc. It was all related to policy/practice/procedures which were so repetitive and which could be asked through a combination of multiple choice and short answers. I could have just googled the information in this course and avoided spending hours and hours on writing words. Just wondering what the purpose is of it all, it's a very old-fashioned way of learning - give people information and get them to write it back to you. The overdue deadline reminders were quite harrassing - phone calls, whatsapp messages and emails. I think if it's clear someone is working on the course then it's best to give them space to let them continue, unless they have stopped interacting with the website in which case reminders, withdrawal, fines, etc is expected and fine. Please at the least give people realistic expectations about how long each unit is regarding number of questions, approx study time and expectations over detail expected in each answer. And please make it possible to send deadline reminders and replies as messages on the website for people who are interacting with the site - that would make it a lot easier to reply and less intrusive.
The one good thing was that the marking and feedback given for each module was really fast and positive/constructive. The markers are the one thing that were good about this course.

The course was boring and felt it was not meeting my expectations. Did not enjoy the way of the whole thing was created for learning. I have emailed them asking to withdraw me from it. I have just received £100 fee to pay. I’ve got the feeling this is created to make money from the people that don’t complete the training. A bit of a scam.

If I could give this company a -1 I would!

Started my course, had a confirmation email to say the funding was available but in my area. The course was going well and I was enjoying it, I was halfway through, passed my first two assignments and after spending a month studying I got a email saying WITHDRAWAL and to pay £100 because the funding was stopped!
I have been emailing now for the past week to get this changed and so I don’t loose all my work I have studied so hard for and to be told to pay for the course! I have proof of these emails and shocking responses from skills network.
Please avoid!

Started a course and then got an email stating a unit in my college course may have a clash with it and they asked for proof of what I studied. Sent it over to them numerous times but then got told I had been withdrawn!!!! Today I have received an invoice to pay £100 - DO NOT USE THESE.

Started my course had funding in place and everything. Was enjoying course and was very informative then received an email of withdrawal. When I called to query was told funding is no longer available in my area so wouldn’t be able to complete the course. Absolute waste of time all the hours I spent studying this course

Was excited to start my course and eager to get on with it. Enrolment took longer than I expected and my first contact with this company was to be told I had an assignment due.

Luckily I managed to log in and quickly progress through the course. That was untill the other day when I received a random email saying I had withdrawn from the course and I would be subject to a £100 fee! I emailed support and explained that I didn’t want to leave and was actually due to submit my final assignment the very next day. The reply stated that actually my funding has been withdrawn and that now they have it confirmed that I don’t want to leave they will continue to search for another funding provider. I tried to submit my final assignment anyway and was blocked on the website from doing so.

Absolutely disgraceful service! Not only have I wasted 3 months of my life studying but to be told I cannot complete the course and threaten me with a £100 charge speaks volumes for how little this company care about the students welfare. No timescale of when I can resume and submit my work so sat in limbo. Avoid at all costs!

Started a free course with this company a couple of months ago.
Red flag no 1 - I arranged a call with my coach, she didn't call me and cancelled my appointment. I then get a follow up email saying I haven't had my call this month. I reply saying I made an appointment but the coach didn't ring. They reply saying can I send you a form to sign as its needed for ofsted to say they've been in touch with me!! No one was in touch with me the 2 times I made a tel appt.

They also don't mark your assessment in a timely manner. It actually states not to start the next one until your previous one has been marked. At one point my first 3 assessments were still unmarked and I was in the middle of submitting assessment number 4 when they marked my first 3 giving me only 7 days to provide further information on 3 assessment, plus submit my 4th!!
I felt so rushed for time. I requested an extension but could only request 7 days.

This company are very unsupportive and I'm really upset that I've failed to complete it through no fault of my own.

I have done a few funded courses through other providers and in comparison my experience with Skills Network has been awful. I had no notification to tell me I had a course and no log in provided. The first I knew was when I had an assignment due and was told they'd move the dates along, but didn't. I managed to gain access to the course and have submitted assignments but nothing has been marked. I have then been told that I have no funding partner but to carry on the course. I have had no correspondence since, even when calling to find out what was happening I had no response. I keep getting emails telling me i'll be thrown off the course if I don't get the assignments complete but don't even know if the course is worth continuing. Just a bit of a shambles!

I Honestly couldn't fault the experience. I've just completed the technical support course and the information provided to you alongside the extra ciricular material you'd need to get your first entry level job was extremely beneficial and I feel a lot more aligned with the path I want to take going forward. I've seen a few comments from people complaining about the amount of work needed to complete the course, but I'm not sure how these people expect to land a job without putting the effort in.

My tutor Idir was extremely informative and gave great advice whilst also making the lessons entertaining.

I did two courses with these marking was fast and if I needed support I didn't had to wait long. I will in future come back to do more courses to gain more knowledge.

I am writing to share my disappointing experience with the course support team regarding my recent withdrawal from the course - which I did subsequently complete.

Despite agreeing that I would complete the course by 31st July, the support team did not honour this agreement, leading to my withdrawal. This situation has been incredibly frustrating and stressful, as I was fully committed to meeting the agreed deadline.

Moreover, I was informed that I would need to pay an additional £100 to be reinstated in the course. This unexpected charge is unfair and contrary to the initial agreement, and I stated I would not be paying this fee. The lack of clear communication and understanding has only added to my frustration.

While I appreciate the offer of additional support and resources, the overall handling of my case has been unsatisfactory. The communication has been inconsistent, and the actions taken have not aligned with the commitments made to me.

Clearer communication and adherence to agreed terms are essential to maintaining trust and ensuring a positive experience for all students.

Additionally, the course content is dull and feels like "death by PowerPoint." It's painful to complete and not engaging at all.

I did manage to complete all the modules by the 31st and then did submit my work - but it's still not the point.

They reported my previous review as it stated a persons first name.... How can one provide an honest review if you can't name the person you were dealing with

Yet again I'm chasing them for a certificate.

I would never do a course through these people again. I explained that as a full time carer and business owner that my time was limited on the course and everytime i submitted an assignment it was referred. When i explained i didn't have time to re-submit, and the work i had done would have to stand I was passively aggressively threatened with a £100 fine every time. They didn't look at my case with any compassion and didn't even adhere to their own complaints procedure. It seemed like their funding was dependent on a 100% pass rate and that was more important than a students mental health.

I couldn’t agree more with what Jade said back in May 2024- the level of work and tight deadlines are honestly not achievable - I did not realise the amount of hours expected to do this work. I work full time and have two children and I was expecting to do maybe 2 hours work a week and take my time.
I have a degree and a PGCE and so it isn’t that I am not used to studying, but these expectations are not achievable for me. They are now harassing me to pay £100. I never would have signed up had I realised that a) you have to pay if you don’t finish and b) how hard it is!

Beware if these course is too much for you they will change you £100 to leave the tutors send back your assessments without any positive help just generic advice which doesn’t help much . The free course is far from free

SCAM!!!
i wanted to sign up for government funded course. Was sent an email that finding is available and to hurry up as the funding will quickly be gone.

I signed up, completed assessments, provided all details and copy of ID and next day was sent an email that funding unfortunately was not available.

Imagine that - the same day i received an email that funding is not available, I received another email to hurry up as funding was available.

SCAM, do not sign up, do not provide your details !!!!!!

I took the course in Health & Nutrition. I completely underestimated how much time I would spend on it. Looking back at the overview and FAQs about this course on The Skills Network website it didn't specify an estimated hours per unit or total hours. Maybe it would put people off, maybe it would help manage expectations. For a beginner the content was great, but the platform itself has a few issues when it comes to user experience. When I was logged out and had to log back in, I was taken to the main home screen, rather than last place I was at. I found this really irritating and it felt like I wasted valuable time over and over again going back to the last place I was at. Also found having to type URLs in the assessment question box, which I used as references, was tedious and really time consuming. It'd be great to make that a bit more user friendly! The tutor was helpful and provided useful feedback and further reading to support my learning. Overall it was a positive 12 weeks.

Purchased a course through the website and duly paid the fee. Expected to have an email within the hour (as I have with other online course providers) with a link to start the course. Nothing.
Left it 24 hours and chased it up nothing. We're now 4 days in and no contact.
Shame as I had identified a number of courses to complete with them but if this is how it goes I'll have to look elsewhere.
Very poor experience.