The Skills Network Avis 

Had a really positive experience with The Skills Network from start to finish. Communication throughout was very proactive and responsive, from the admin/CX teams as well as Tutors. Learning materials were very thorough and extensive, deadlines were sensible and it was easy to give myself an extra week when I needed. Tutor feedback was extensive, too. Overall I learnt a lot and would recommend doing a course with The Skills Network!

Gained so much more then a certificate. The knowledge was far beyond what I anticipated.

The Skills Network was easy to navigate and provided excellent service in teaching valuable skills for the future. I thoroughly enjoyed learning with The Skills Network.

I applied for and completed the Event Planning course. Initially they couldn't find funding for my spot, but after a few weeks of waiting, they were able to sort out.

While the course itself is a bit clunky and some of the information to repeats itself a lot, it was overall very good. Feedback was quick and helpful, and I eventually passed with flying colours.

My advice - be patient, understand that funding takes time, and when you do get on, answer questions in full paragraph format.

Online was very accessible.

The initial phase of funding and waiting for a business level 2 course to get start took longer than I was originally told. The course was for the most part very informative and I did enhance my knowledge. You receive email reminders a full week before each assignment is due and the day before. Using the portal was well explained though I never received my welcome phone call when it was booked by them so I had to rely on videos in the portal.Did get access to a zoom meeting to help explain the first assignment which the mentor went through the admin resources email detailing each unit and requirement notes. This admin resources email proved vital for me to understand what the course answer required. The last unit on this business level 2 course has no guidelines and some sections are out of date as the hyperlinks to resources required no longer exist or the articles have been moved. Feedback was repetitive in places and I received assignments back within a week. Some sections could do with a extending the deadline as there is a lot of information to do in a week. Overall I expected the course to require serious effort and as it was all to be completed within 10 weeks was going to be an extensive learning experience. I would do another course with this company. I would suggest that a review of unit 7 of the business administration level 2 course be done soon.

Brilliant communication, tasks are very well laid out and clear, timescale is achievable.

Excellent course. Very informative and the help I received was great. A good experience.

You can learn and complete your course independently and without any hassle. The quality of the learning material and methods are up to the mark and I was very well prepared for all the interviews with the qualification. No further study was needed for me to face the job market. It’s a holistic support and learning experience.

Really enjoyed doing the mental health first aid level 2 course feedback was brilliant

£100 fine if you fail despite finishing the course! Persistent phone calls and messages pushing deadlines was very intrusive. I completed the course then found a job, so I had little time to address feedback on my answers. The feedback for my answers was marked very harshly with little guidance. You are unable to copy paste your previous answer to add information to it, so you have to type everything again from scratch.

Rubbish! Signed up online, filled out all my personal details and did the entire enrolment process to be told I would hear in two working days about funding. I didn’t hear from them so had to contact them myself. Suprise suprise, no funding available. Waste of everyone’s time.

I applied to study nutrition course which prerequisite to study another course starting end September
I have chronic health conditions anxiety and stated I need the full time allocated to study
Sadly still waiting to start as no funding
Communication is poor and is me emailing to chase updates
The enrolnment process was focusing had to do a few times to point I asked if scam email
This was beginning June
10th June accepted now 12th July so nearly month lost to start
I sadly may not have the time I need and pace with health issues to do

There is a lack of transparency here so it's not clear how these organisations fit together, but I believe my personal details were passed on to The Skills Network from Free Courses in England, and in turn by them to another organisation, plus presumably partners. The Skills Network eventually, after three weeks, sent me a strange email that was actually a rejection for the original funded course, marketing their paid courses to me. Still not sure how or why the third organisation has my data. Perhaps they're somehow related? Seems unethical and exploitative. Hope this doesn't lead to the onslaught of spam other reviewers have experienced.

I work part time and felt that the calls I received chasing course material very intensive, more so as I have a young child to be mummy to. I shared the days I work and this was ignored, my work load was planned and felt this service was quite patronising. They can chase you for their own deadlines but when you chase them for feedback, they do not reply.

I had a really positive experience doing Counselling Skills Level 2. I was surprised by how comprehensive the course is, and the depth of feedback I received from my tutor was so helpful.

Course content is easy to understand and is worth doing.

However the confusion of the amount of different emails and unhelpful messages from the staff are not neurodiverse friendly and very unhelpful

Contacted a manager and get a typical copy and paste answer and not any helpful advise what so ever.

So all my hard work was lost and not continued due to staff not being trained in the neurodiverse area even tho it states they are.

I keep being accused of using AI for my answers, which I am not doing. It's incredibly frustrating; my tutor gives no constructive feedback either. I have one question left to answer which I have already attempted twice. I'm hoping for third time lucky but who knows.
It seems to be a theme though, and I really wish I'd read reviews before choosing a course through them.

Take all your personal data and then pretend they cant find finding for your course. You wont hear from them about it and they will ignore your emails. They've now blocked my e mail address. So I cant make a formal complaint

I feel so naive for falling for this without reading reviews beforehand.

Completed a lengthy application process, only to be told that they can’t secure funding for me. I would love to know what the real eligibility criteria is for this.

I want my personal documents/data removed from this system.