Open Colleges Reviews 

Prompt call to explain course offering
Consultant informative but not pushy
Daniel Acland was my consultant

Deciding to return back to studies after more than 15 years can be daunting. However, it was easy to speak with Gabrielle over the phone who provided all the necessary information that I needed. It was nice that when she spoke with me and answered my questions, it didn't feel like she was trying to make a quick sale, but to make sure that this is something for me and help me.
It was definitely a great start to this journey of seeking higher education!

The video role play is not good for everyone especially if you are using other people..nobody has time any more and finding people to act in what you are studying is not fair

I paid by credit card in full on sign up. On the day of the cooling off they advised I hadn't paid and couldn't find my money. I cancelled immediately and its now almost a month of fighting to get back my $3500. Absolutely sickened by the whole thing and may never get my money back.

Cancelling is very hard. Have tried for months now explaining i can no longer afford this, and they keep taking payments every week

This company is shocking, misleading, and unethical. They advertise courses as flexible, accessible anytime, and supported 24/7 but none of this is true. Trainer support is almost impossible to access: you must book weeks in advance, wait 3–4 weeks, and even then trainers are only available 1–2 days per week during business hours. This wasn’t disclosed at enrolment, yet it’s essential information that would have changed my decision. Trying to get help while working full-time or managing family responsibilities is a nightmare.

Their refund process is equally deceptive. Despite following their own policy and submitting my cancellation request within the proper timeframe, they refused my refund, demanding “evidence” that is not required anywhere in the policy. They trap students with false promises, fail to deliver the support they sell, and then block exits when things don’t go as advertised. Avoid this company!! Their sales tactics are manipulative, and their customer service actively works against your rights.

Be cautious when considering Open Colleges. I thoroughly enquired with them regarding an online course, and chose not to proceed.

The majority of their reviews are very negative for aggressive sales tactics and lack of support once enrolled.

I found out for myself in my dealings with the sales person. They employ very aggressive sales tactics, like pressuring you to sign up on the spot, pretending to offer limited-time discounts, being pushy with verbal communication, spamming you with emails, and not answering your own questions.

I feel they target vulnerable young and migrant students whom may fall for this and also may not be prepared for the reality of online study.

I am confident in my ability to study online, so I tried to put my mind at ease. I even emailed them a list of detailed questions regarding their standards for support and other items, which was entirely ignored, only to receive further calls regarding signing up.

If you do proceed, be fully aware of the cancellation requirements, as many complaints concern students not being able to obtain refunds.

Their sales practice needs to be outlawed.

If you feel uncomfortable with them or unsure, do not proceed as they are a profit-driven venture that have caused many people financial distress.

I have not studied for some time and have been blown away with the support I’ve been given especially by my assessor Paris, she has been patient and guided me through modules that I’ve found a bit tricky, I’m grateful for her help and knowledge! I have found the role plays a little too much at times but I love the content of the course.

Over the past few days I have been exploring to enrol for a diploma course and as soon as I contacted Open College, Ms. Anjum has been polite, professional and supportive in the process of applying for the course. Within two days my enrolment is complete and I am happily ready to undergo my course. Appreciated the prompt and positive experience. Cheers to the team!

Ada took the time to get to know me and why I would like to do this cert. She put in the time and effort to make it possible for me to be accepted and was very helpful through out the whole application.

My consultant was Ada and she made the experience a very easy an happy one. She explained everything I needed to know with ease and covered all bases.

My feedback
The support I received from admin Selafina and student support was great.
But there was a time I couldn't get a hold of anyone that was before you signed over to the new system.
I want to also thank the assessors over the years marking my assignments and there feedback and comments were honourable.
I'm not academic nor did I past high school, I left quite young so this was a big challenge for me. So my learning was slow for me.
But I want to express the course content itself. I couldn't quite grasp the questions, how the question was written I couldn't understand. Maybe the structure of the question could be written clearer to have a better understanding, as I felt I had to research more what the question said than the actual research of the topic itself, I just found that a bit of a time waster and sometimes frustrating.

I also felt the workplace portfolio itself was to large to complete. I couldn't complete the tasks at the time of the work placement I felt I didn't have enough time. I was quite exhausted when I got home. I was more focus at the work placement on learning what they do there rather than the tasks itself.
I could only take notes for myself and make sure my logbook was signed off. Luckily I managed to get time later to finish off my portfolio and get my supervisor to sign off when she and I was able.
It could be good if the portfolio tasks could be condense down. I feel supervisors sometimes can't take the time out to check the your work due to time restraints and because of the magnitude. I was advise that other online courses don't have portfolio's or do have portfolio's but is minimal not so much which suited the supervisors better.
That's all my feedback. Its been great. Thank you.

I thoroughly enjoyed my course at Open Colleges. The content was good and applicable and the Case Studies were very realistic. My Mentor, Kelly, was very informed and could give good advise and guidance throughout the duration of my course.

I found the feedback provided by my trainer to be helpful and instructive making this one of the most effective courses I have undertaken. The structure suited me perfectly with flexibility to undertake the course as I was free. Being a mother and business owner, this was a massive bonus for me.

I completed my Certificate in Nail Technology and had a mixed experience.
The staff are AMAZING and always offer great support. Ellena, the course instructor offers excellent insight and advice around the realities of being a working Nail Technician.
My issues are with the platform itself and the out of date education being provided (which is NOT the fault of Open Colleges) and the lack of emphasis of WHERE nail products are manufactured for higher safety.
For example:
1. Having to upload a 8-10 minute recording, in mp4 format, that is under 470mb is ridiculous. (It says 500mb
but anything over 470-480 won’t work)
2. The overwhelming typos and confusing sentence structure is absolutely unprofessional to say the least
3. The constant going on about nail polish when MOST NAIL TECHS DO NOT USE this is out of date (again not the fault of OC)
4. The lack of actual education around Nail Art is disappointing given the reality of today’s working Nail Tech and what we are expected to be able to do/create

Overall, the staff are fantastic but the platform itself? Definitely needs to be improved.

the reading materials were often set for the American context rather than Australian and often full of typos. Navigating around the modules when doing assignments was clunky. Assessment tasks included menial activities that were time consuming but not a reasonable test of skill or knowledge (eg 'write an email to explain your findings'). Requirement for role plays wih multiple actors was a burden on family.

One of the great services of Open Colleges was having quick access to a teacher and get feedback within an hour. The times when the teacher was away they would contact me via email or phone when back at work. This service made learning blockages minimal and thus made studying easy and enjoyable.

The mini video lectures, quizes and written material was straightforward to understand and the assignments were all applicable to practical accounting work.

A few months after finishing my Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping I obtained a full-time accounting job. A big reason for this was the quality of the course from Open Colleges was of a high standard and the assistance from teachers was excellent. Highly recommend Open Colleges

I almost done my Certificate III in Nail Technology course. Happy with open college and appreciated the course and im really happy and thankful my trainer -Ellena. She is very patience and guidance and helpful and response my every emails very quick. I truly appreciate everything she have done to help me get thru my cause.

My name is Georgie and i am studying animal care. My experience has been amazing with open colleges! My trainer Sharon has been so encouraging and friendly along the whole way and goes out of her way to support me whenever I need it. I have loved animals my whole life and I always wanted a career out of it so I decided to start getting qualifications, for my future as I am 15. Through looking for experience I now get my work experience from the local Zoo, and complete my placement at the farm that i have always worked at. Open colleges was so helpful with the process and i could not recommend them enough! Thank you! 🤩 ❤️❤️💕

My time with this company has honestly been a roller coaster, and not the fun kind.

I’ve been studying with them for the past 12 months. The course itself was fine, easy to follow, and the trainer was amazing. Every time I needed help, they were there, and I really appreciated that.

But everything outside of the actual course has been incredibly frustrating. The support team has been basically unreachable. The last 6 months have been the worst. I’ve lost count of how many times I had to go to the trainers just to get answers because the support lines were useless, no response for weeks to emails, always on hold, rarely helpful and not giving the right information when they do decide to reply.

And now I’m trying to cancel… and it’s been a nightmare. I’ve emailed five times, sent the cancellation form multiple times, and I’m still being ignored. It honestly feels like they’ve vanished the moment I asked to leave.

It’s a real shame because the course itself I was enjoying, but the rest of the experience was a total letdown

It's disappointing that a company offering education would operate with such poor communication and customer service. I wouldn't recommend them to others based on this experience.