The Skills Network Reviews 2,275

Fantastic course I really enjoyed it

It was good to learn the different mental health problems and the tutor was helpful, the only thing I struggled a little with was how close the deadlines were to each other

I’m not the only one who has been scammed it would appear. The course was advertised as “free”, but I believe the course was designed as anything but, with such a high difficulty level, it was set up to fail.

I put a lot into that course, a fair few hours in fact, and answered all the questions as thoroughly as I could, but it was apparently nowhere near good enough, hence my suspicion.

With the ridiculous threat of proceedings, The Skills Network have properly scammed me, and it looks like I have no choice but to pay, fair play to them, I fell for it.

I will make sure to warn others away from attempting this, it’s very clever. Having seen the other dreadful reviews here on Trustpilot, it seems I’m not the only one who has been scammed, it would appear that they are indeed, cowboys. I will share my opinion accordingly, and I will look to escalate this wider.

Avoid this company at all costs!!!

Time wasters! Steer clear! From others experiences I figured it could have been way worse. I had to share all my details, provide id photos, pre-apply then apply then be assessed and wait for phone call and so on just to receive an email saying that my application has been withdrawn. My God these people are very busy scratching their heads with their toenails. But let’s all blame it on government compliance and not on over complicating things just so they can say they have a job and they’re “working hard”. Disgusting

I just wanted to say thank you to Lee for the time spent assessing my work over the past few months (in relation to a English Level 2 Functional Skills course) and for the valuable feedback (in conjunction with Gloucestershire College).

I feel in a far better place now to sit the Functional Skills exam now.

TOTAL SCAM

Following the previous review, exactly the same, completed the test, sent them ALL my details and i also received a text through WhatsApp that I had to complete the form because of the dead line.

It states the course was government funded.

BEWARE AND STAY WELL CLEAR.

Absolutely awful at communicating. They will chase and hound you to do things on their time when they want. Then when it comes to you getting certificates they will blame everyone apart from themselves saying “it’s with the college” “it’s out of our hands”. But they have been paid so they don’t care. After chasing a couple of times the complaints email address won’t reply. Steer clear!!! They are a total waste of time

A scam to con learners out of £100. God forbid if you fall ill or have personal or professional issues and fall behind with the learning. They are not here to help you they are hellbent on persecuting learners for falling behind. The actual courses and communication are total garbage. Avoid at all costs.

I’m absolutely devastated by my experience with this company. Last year, I signed up for what was advertised as a free online course, hoping to better myself and gain new skills. Like many people, life got in the way, and I forgot to complete it. Fast forward to today, and I receive an email saying they’re threatening to involve solicitors, Thomas Higgins Solicitors infact, to demand £100 because I didn’t finish the course. They add I will also need to pay them for debt recovery costs, which means if I can't find £100 before the 12th of February as they demand they will instruct bailiffs.

What makes this worse is that I never realised upfront that failing to complete the course would result in such a hefty penalty. There were no reminders, no warnings – just a sudden, harsh demand for money I don’t have.

I’m already struggling to make ends meet, and now I’m forced to look into payday loans to pay this unjust charge. The stress this has caused is overwhelming, and I feel completely let down by a company I trusted.

This kind of predatory behavior is heartless, especially when they know people signing up for "free" courses are often trying to improve their lives and finances. Instead of helping, they’ve pushed me further into a financial hole.

If you’re considering using this company, please think twice. They don’t care about their customers – only about lining their pockets at any cost.

PLEASE, PLEASE understand the dier consequences if you feel as though there maybe even be one barrier in the near future to you completing one of their courses. Or better yet, avoid entirely.

Absolute waste of time, after searching through a few free course websites I decided to apply here the application process was ok then you have to go through numerous skills questions which takes ages if you get through this stage you are told funding will take a couple of days after 3 weeks of waiting with no response I finally get a generic email saying there is no funding available for me at no stage are you told you might not funding but I can pay for a course, I hope I can find another decent company who I can train with instead please don't waste your time with this one

I do feel that expectations need to be better managed regarding the ‘free courses’ from outset. The initial application process is very slick and feels very professional, but you quickly realise that funding is very limited. Some reviews suggest the whole process is a scam, I would like to think that this is not the case and that this organisation is just trying to compete with many other companies offering the same proposition, but they should disclose more information about the availability of courses at the outset. Ironically I would have been prepared to raise the funds to pay for the course in the first instance, but I now have a lack of trust in the organisation to deliver what I require which is a shame.

I attended the Software Development Skills Bootcamp in 2024. Unfortunately, my experience did not align with the promises made in the course advertising or by the Learning Advisors, who painted a picture of a bright future after completing the programme. The Careers Support Team and Personal Tutor support were also far below expectations, and the course description on their website did not reflect the reality of the programme.

The course content was disappointing, with 95% focused on theory through slide presentations, which tutors merely read aloud, and only 5% dedicated to actual coding — an alarming statistic for a software development course. Communication between the Learning Advisors, Personal Tutors, and Careers Team was disjointed, with no clear understanding of responsibilities. For example, the Learning Advisors claimed the Careers Team would provide individualised job-seeking support, yet it took the Careers Team two months to respond to a single email. When they finally did reply, their response was unprofessional and dismissive, including one instance where they simply asked, "What do you want?" in response to an enquiry I made via WhatsApp after receiving a Skills Network bot message about needing support. Personal Tutor who is supposed to guide you with 1:1 support has no knowledge and experience in coding and the software at all, doing only administrative tasks like asking how is our course.

It is disappointing that such issues persist in a programme funded by government resources through the Department for Education. These funds are intended to help eligible students gain skills and secure employment. However, in my experience, the quality of training provided by this bootcamp was subpar. The guaranteed job interview, a key selling point and a requirement for obtaining the course certificate, was not delivered.

Extremely laborious and intrusive application process only to be told "Sorry, we were unable to secure funding BUT here's some courses you can buy!"

Don't waste your time

A scam to con you out £100. Can't finish a course that is advertised as FREE, expect an email with an invoice to pay in 30 days.

Response below states "cancellation fee". I didnt cancel, I was unable to complete due to ill health. Big difference!

A balanced and convenient way of learning! I researched courses I could do in my spare time to better understand and grow my knowledge in digital marketing. The course material gave me an overview of digital marketing and how it works and how it affects businesses. I found the skills network to be very good at providing feedback very fast and I completed my qualification a lot quicker than scheduled. Having that flexibility meant I could work as and when and get assignments done before deadlines. The only thing I would say is that it did take me a long time to be allocated a funding partner.

My experience with The Skills Network has been amazing. So far I studied 2 ( Digital Marketing and Understanding Autism).I currently study Cyber Security- all level 2.

The topics of each course are very interesting and helpful. Each course offered me new knowledge and set of skills which I can use later in life.
The side of each college were extremely helpful and always there to offer support where needed.

The Skills Network team are helpful and always managed to sort any problems or enquiries with fast replies.

I can't say I had any issues as my experience is extremely good.

Worst company ever worked for. Toxic is an understatement.

I'm currently doing a level 2 qualification in digital marketing that was created by The Skills Network. The content is repetitive and of poor quality, and I don't feel the value I'm getting is worth the time it takes to complete the assessments (which are really tedious).

Here's an example of some of the content provided in the section on SEO:

There are many advantages to increased visibility for a business. These include:
More success for the business
More money for the business
Increase in customers buying your products/services

Instead of endlessly repeating obvious, mindless stuff like this, there should be some practical application of the theory being taught.

In the assessment I am basically just being asked to answer the same question over and over, worded slightly differently.

I don't want to pay £100 to leave the course so I am sticking at it but I find it depressing that government funding is being used to pay for training like this.

Not a good experience at all. Lots of tests, ID uploads and emails. Was promised a fully funded L2 counselling course and told my chances were good in my local government area, then suddenly received an email saying they can’t fund the course after all but I could just buy one from them (no thanks!) Now I can’t login to my account to see any of my saved data.

Having been made redundant this seemed like my chance to upskill without having to spend hundreds of pounds. Now, like some of the other reviewers on here, I’m wondering if it’s just a scam.

I'm very concerned that I've signed up to a course that hasnt given me any start dates and looking at the reviews seem like a scam. To top it off someone was asking more information and a copy of my passport via email claiming they was from this company with the email response of:
Many thanks for your email.

I have contacted The Skills Network to follow up your enrollment and will update you on a response.

In the meantime, please feel free to follow up using any of the following details.

This in itself seems contradicting.

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I will continue searching and report if i find it being involved in illegal activity using my details