Acacia Learning Reviews 226

Absolutely incompetent! Stay away. No replies, no feedback, platform is freezing, assignments being sent to different tutors , 3 or 4 different tutors! without informing a student. No proper communication. There is no way to discuss anything. Feedback that is given, every general, probably produced by AI. Some of the tutors are disconnected from the real world. My assessment was graded as passed, and 3 months after i saw the grade was removed and sent to be graded to the 4th tutor. Who took another 6 weeks to grade and didn't pass it because it exceeded by 4 words! 😂😂 If I didn't randomly check my grades I would not even know what is happening. Following steps were never delivered, and I asked like 6 times,wrote multiple emails. And when I made complaint, they said they never received anything 😂😂 total waste of time and ££. They teach subjects on high school level. Everything can be found on acas or gov site. Avoid. I'm not sure why employers are requiring this qualification. This course is not teaching you critical thinking, or any proper knowledge. it teaches you how to fit the box and stay in the box.

TRULY AWFUL - STAY AWAY

I completed my CIPD Level 5 through Acacia and couldn't fault the service.
Unfortunately my experience of my Level 7 could not have been more opposite.
It has been almost 3 weeks since I contacted Acacia to withdraw from the course due to the appalling service, and am still yet to have any contact from them.

It took multiple attempts to be booked onto the correct taster session by Samson, whose communication was severely lacking.

The assessor for my first assessment had misunderstood the question, leading to it being graded as a referral. When I asked my tutor about this, I was advised the assessor has misunderstood the question, but in order to pass I need to do what they are asking, despite that not being what was required from the question.

It took 13 days to receive feedback on a draft submission for the next module. When this feedback was received though, there wasn't actually any feedback attached. This then took multiple times of me chasing multiple people to have this resolved - 3 weeks after I had submitted the draft, and only 1 day before the assessment was due.
In the interim of waiting for this feedback, my personal tutor provided feedback which contradicted the information given on how to complete the assessment. When questioned about this, there was no acknowledgement of this fact.

As said at the beginning, it is now almost 3 weeks since my original complaint to Acacia and asking to withdraw from the course. I have emailed multiple times chasing a response and am still yet to hear anything.

Hopefully a public review will prompt them to respond.

Do yourself and stay far away from this provider - they are not worth a penny of your money. All care ceases as soon as they have your money.

**UPDATE after Acacia’s response. I have received automated replies to my emails to them, so they have received my contact. I have been advised my complaint has been passed onto management, however this was 3 weeks ago and still no response**

It’s been a brilliant experience throughout with Acacia. They take care of everything one needs for enjoyable and successful CIPD studies: very experienced and highly knowledgeable tutors, up-to-date, competent and easily structured study materials, easy to navigate study portal and, notably, great Student Support Team who are responsive to students’ needs and represent Acacia to its greatest advantage. Thank to the whole team and highly recommend Acacia to prospective students.

Looking for the perfect CIPD course can be hard with so many online learning options out there. But Natalie has been absolutely incredible on supporting me with the process. I can’t wait to get started 🥳!

Natalie Baxter has been really helpful, answering all my questions and making the registration and onboarding process very smooth and easy. Looking forward to commencing my studies!

Excellent and smooth Onboarding. Very simple and clear on how to enrol, what are the next steps and complete information. Highly recommended.

Natalie was extremely patient with me as I blasted her with countless questions and queries. To this I am extremely grateful for her.

I signed up for Prince2 course without realising theres a difference between Prince2 and Prince2 agile as i am new to project management. When my colleague at work advised me that Prince2 is outdated and holds no value in the job market and i shouldnt be spending money on a course thats not useful, i rang and also emailed the Acacia, i was told they would un enrol me and refund the 2 payments i made. This was on 7th Jan, after that i heard from no one. I called a few times, nothing. I raised a dispute via my bank yesterday so i can get my money back, and today Acacia told my they will pass my account to collections.
and they also lied saying they sent an email saying i have to pay £111 cancellation fee. its diabolical, a) i signed up for a course thats outdated, b) i paid £250 which i was told i will get back and now c) im asked to pay another £111. Thats extremely unfair and what do i get in return, absolutely nothing. there should be better customer service, and companies shouldnt be allowed to sell courses that hold no value. Id advise to watch out when enquiring about any course with this company and ask for written confirmation and proof of everything. They change quicker than the british weather

Natalie was so friendly and communicative. I felt like I knew what I was getting into and she really supported my enrolment in the course. Very grateful :)

Natalie was really impressive, she was friendly and approachable and knew the answers to any questions I had and was happy to give her advice. The process was straightforward to sign up and also really quick.

The enrolment process was really easy, quick and straightforward and access to the course was provided instantly.

Very straightforward to register interest, decide on the course and enroll. Natalie is fantastic and very helpful and I'm looking forward to kicking my course off!

The enrolment process was simple and straightforward. I spoke with Natalie over the phone, and she was extremely helpful and more than happy to assist.

straight forward and willing to answer queries quickly and thoroughly. Would recommend Natalie

Incredible customer service and very smooth enrolment process with Natalie.
Natalie was super helpful, with very timely replies and very informative!

I have recently enrolled in the level 7 CIPD programme and Natalie was a tremendous help during the process. We had a number of calls to determine the appropriate course level for me and she worked with me to look at options for a suitable course that will allow me a timeline to suit my current life between my career and personal life as a mother. I would highly recommend Natalie as a contact through the enrollment process.

I have recently enrolled for my Level 5 through Acacia and found the whole process really easy. Natalie was a great help at answering any questions I had and completed my enrolment quickly once the paperwork was complete on my side. Thank you for your support Natalie. I look forward to starting my studies.

I had a great enrolling experience today. Natalie was very helpful and went the extra mile to help me sign up to the course modules.

Thanks, Jennifer

Good enrolling experience. Natalie Baxter was particularly helpful and available throughout this process, including take phone calls and emails for my numerous questions, and I was enrolled on the course very quickly once the admin was done on my side. Happy to recommend.

Unfortunately, Acacia Learning have seriously let me down with the marking of one of my assignments for the CIPD Associate Level Diploma in People Management. I submitted my assignment for marking and didn't pass first time, which is fine - I wasn't expecting to having not written an essay in years. However, I followed the marker's feedback very closely and was sure I would pass the second time round (you get 3 chances). After submitting my essay for the second time, a completely new person marked my essay and scored me 1 out of 4 (which equates to a fail) for a question I had previously scored 4 out of 4 in by the person who originally marked my assignment the first time round. Additionally, the person who marked my essay the second time round was factually incorrect in their feedback - they're supposed to be a HR expert and their feedback contained false and wrong information. This highlights huge inconsistencies in HR knowledge and ability to mark assignments in the so called HR professionals that Acacia get to mark students' assignments. How on earth can I go from passing one of the questions with full marks, to failing it, without changing the answer to the question from my first submission to the second submission? And why am I having my work marked by someone who is factually incorrect? I have complained to Acacia and their response was to speak to my tutor which was unhelpful as this isn't something a tutor can help with, and low and behold when I contacted my tutor about this they said I need to speak to Acacia Student Support Services (what a surprise!) Acacia have a shocking 15 working day SLA for their response time, and I haven't heard back from them yet.

If you're thinking of choosing Acacia for the CIPD Associate Level Diploma in People Management, be prepared for huge inconsistencies in the marking of assignments. You'll most likely pass some Assessment Criteria and fail others the first time round which is normal - you need to pass all of the Assessment Criteria within 1 assignment to pass the whole assignment - you get 3 chances to submit your assignment. However, prepare to be screwed over when a completely different person marks your assignment for the second time and fails you for aspects you previously passed, making your life much harder!
And when you try to reach out to student services, be prepared to wait for ages only to receive an unhelpful response and be sent to the bottom of the queue again when you go back to them.

**Update as of 4/09/2024** I have received a response from Rory on behalf of Acacia (below) asking for further information via Trust Pilot, like my case number and phone number, which I have replied to, and hopefully I will get a proper response to.

**Update as of 9/09/2024** I have now heard back from Acacia saying they've passed on my complaint to the curriculum team, but I haven't heard back from them or any update as to where my complaint is with them.

I've also noticed a pattern in negative reviews for Acacia - all negative reviews seem to have the standard line that they don't have any record of students with the names given to post these reviews, whereas the 4/5 star reviews never say this.