Discovery Learning Reviews 122

Ok I would like to start with the positive. Discovery learning has great tutoring. I really enjoy my part time level 2 and met some great people. However, the marking for my paper took 2 months. I had to resubmit and edit a tiny bit of work, and I am still waiting for a reply 2 months later. I phone once a week to ask and I also get the same response... " Sorry we cannot find your submission" yet know it's gone through because of previous phone call - it's the same each week 😣 . I started in march and still waiting and it's now end of June. Please help.

I studied the part-time Level 2 Gym-instructor course with Discovery Learning. The course was presented incredibly well, the course manuals and online video tutorials were really helpful. I completed the practical days of my course on 7th April and managed to pass them, then submitted my worksheets online the same day, receiving an email that same day saying "Thank you for the work submission."

Unfortunately, I haven't heard back with regards to the results of my worksheet submission or if I've passed the course. This is despite me sending three emails asking after my results, two of which were acknowledged but then ultimately ignored. I also called student support several times, only for it to go to voicemail every time and I've had no response whatsoever to any of the voicemails I've left. It's now been over two months since I completed all of my work and still I've heard nothing even though I'm reaching out to Discovery Learning regularly.

Frankly the support has been appalling, to the point where I'm questioning whether I'll ever receive the qualification. It's such a shame because I really enjoyed the course and the content and support while I was undergoing my exams was excellent. It seems as though once you've paid and submitted all of your work they no longer care about helping you gain your qualification.

I hope that in the near future I can actually get in contact with student support and they can help me complete the course, rather than acknowledging me and then ignoring the help I've seemed.

I have completed my GP Referral Course with Discovery Learning. The course itself has been really good, the tutors have been excellent and their knowledge and support has exceeded expectation. The facilities for the exam and theory weekend was good, especially for me having to travel and stay in hotels, it was near a good choice of hotel ( Heathrow airport!) and east to find.
I did however have a series of issues that weren't dealt with or addressed at the time despite numerous complaints at the time. I have since had recent contact from Discovery Learning regarding my certification, they have had new management and some new support staff and this has completely changed my opinion of the company. They have been really helpful, understanding and supportive, given the fact the issues I had happened a long time before they took over. It's such a shame I didn't used the company under their new structure as I'm sure this would be a 5 star review.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those people I've spoken to at Discovery Learning and change my extreamly negative experience in to a positive one and wish you a very successful future.

I studied personal trainer level 3 followed by practical assessment. None of the detail of delivering personal training session was taught to us. When it came to assessment it was completely different female who scrutinise things that didn't need to be scrutinised.

Even though I delivered a good personal training session she referred me which will cost another £100.00. It is de-motivated and time consuming.

The assessor and tutors are not following the same guideline.

After looking around for pt courses, I came across Discovery Learning. After a phone call and a chat with a very nice advisor, I opted for level 2/3/4 full time course to start in March 2017, I paid in full and my money was taken very quickly! If only everything else was as quick!
I completed my level 2 on 15th of March and had the same tutor, I received a confirmation e-mail on the 20th March stating my certificate would be issued in 14 days( to date 12th May I still haven't received it)
My level 3 started on 16th March and finished on the 5th April. The original tutor left the business and we had three different tutors, this alone was extremely annoying, but we were assured it would all be fine! Well it obviously wasn't as I completed all the exams and portfolio, this is where it really started going wrong! My portfolio was marked by one of the team and some changes were requested by him for me to receive the 100% pass needed, I stayed late on his computer and made all the changes required, he said print it off and he will add the pass and his signature the next day.
Two weeks later I received another e-mail from another member of the team requesting my portfolio needed more changes? It turns out the other guy didn't put a pass and signature on it as he said he would! I was intrigued into what else they may need changed? After looking at the portfolio again it became apparent that they had been marking an old portfolio and not the updated version! My work was marked a total of three times! Very frustrating when I had handed it in before the deadline.
Since then I have been ringing to find out when I may receive a confirmation e-mail of a pass or my level 2 certificate! I have been fobbed off numerous times, with YMCA are so slow at marking the theory exams ( called them directly and all April's exams have been marked and sent back), people at student support are in a meeting in the morning and then have apparently been on holiday all week in the afternoon, the I V has left and they can't find another so all work cannot be verified for anyone who took their exams in March and April and will take as long as it takes them to find another IV, I was told the managing director is aware and is doing his best to find another! Really?
So I can't work, I have no work, I haven't been added to the REPs registry, so I can't get public liability insurance. I feel a laughing stock to anyone that asks how's it going?
I still have 5 CPD's booked and my level 4, at this rate I'll be retired before I get any sort of confirmation or certificates!
I will add that all the staff at student support are very friendly and where able are also helpful, I don't think it's their fault! It lies firmly with upper management, they need to sort this as people's livelihoods are at stake here. In summary I would say very unprofessional management.

I have just completed my Gym Instructor Level 2 training course on a part time basis at Discovery learning Birmingham location. I can only say how pleased I was with the training I received, its been well over 20 years since I have studied for exams. however both the theory and practical sections were taught in a clear and concise way making the learning easier, whilst giving me the confidence to sit the exams. I would definitely recommend using Discovery learning if your thinking of completing your Gym Instructors course, I've already booked an additional one day course in Kettle bells with Discovery.

Discovery Learning, I do not even know where to start.
I got a package deal from them which included:
Level 2 Gym Course (part-time weekend) - finished
Level 3 Personal Trainer (part-time weekend) - finished
GP Referral course (part-time weekend) - finished but awaiting certificate
Level 4 Obesity or Lower Back Pain - yet to book
Business and Marketing Course (online) - finished but awaiting certificate
5 CPD courses - yet to book

I now want to take you through my dealings with Discovery Learning throughout these courses:

Level 2:
Tutor on the attendance weekend - Absolutely brilliant, have nothing bad to say about him.
Student support - Turnaround for correcting portfolio where 100% pass is required, 2 weeks.
First submission I got back within the time frame, final submission I had to chase up on and it took three weeks to get it back.
Exams/assessments - The assessor for my physical assessment did not pass my "pass" onto Discovery Learning, which resulted in a delay in getting my certificate as I found out months after the assessment took place.

Level 3 PT:
Tutor on the attendance weekends - I mainly had the same tutor as for Level 2, and he was great! One of the days we had a different tutor, he did his own thing (and not what was planned for us) and bragged about how much he earns per hour, learnt nothing from him.
Student support - Turnaround for correcting portfolio where 100% pass is required, 2 weeks.
However mine went like this:
Submitted 3rd of June, resent 23rd of June as I heard nothing, got it back 7th of July that is 5 weeks…
The other resubmissions came back in two weeks more or less.
Exams/Assessment - I had to resit an exam due to lack of personal time to study for it, which was fine. But Discovery learning first forgot to set the exam up (I was taking it online), then I was told misinformation when trying to book it which resulted in this not being set up for a second time. The third time it was still not set up, but managed to get a hold of student support who managed to set it up on the spot. Basically studied for one exam two times extra (at least I know it by heart now). They "compensated" me by adding £50 (which the exam cost) to any future purchases, which I am very likely not to use as I am not impressed with them.

Level 3 GP:
Tutor on attendance weekend: Female tutor this time, she was great!
Student support: Turnaround for correcting portfolio, 2 weeks.
Submission 8/12 got this back within two weeks.
Resubmission 26/12 (but as they were closed for Christmas they received this 3/1), got it back 3 1/2 weeks later (after first receiving an empty email and no portfolio attached).
Exam/Assessment: No problem.
Additional problems:
When I passed my coursework on the 27th of Jan, the Student support asked me to do the other elements of the course. But as I have passed them all (with Discovery learning) I provided proof of this on the 28th of January. On the 15th of February I chased up on this, and heard nothing back, until the 20th of February when the "quality manager" emailed me wanting to discuss the next step of this course. I replied saying that I am not sure what he means as I have passed all the elements and am just waiting for my certificate. Which I found out had not been requested, as he replied that he would review my portfolio and start the application for certification. I emailed him on the 1st of March asking for an update on this, his response came the same day saying that he would claim my certificate that week. As of today I still have not even received a confirmation from Discovery Learning that I have officially passed this course (even though I have passed all the elements), I do not have a problem with it taking some time to be awarded the actual certificate, but some sort of recognition that I have passed would be great.

Business and Marketing Course
This was done online, so pretty hassle free, passed the coursework on the 28th of February but waiting for the certificate (which can take up to two months).

Summary:
I have only good things to say about their tutors (and the tutors are the only reason DL is not getting a 1 star), but the administrative bit is massively lacking (and as I have done part-time courses the admin/student support is a BIG bit of it) and I have lost all faith in this company. I am looking forward to finish the courses I have left to do with them and never have to deal with them ever again.

I have a lot of other people on my course who are feeling the same way towards Discovery Learning and I hope that they too will give their full review of the company.

Update 10/3:
Upon reading my review Discovery Learning has now acknowledge that I have passed the Level 3 Exercise Referral Course and has provided me with a temporary certificate.
I also had a chat with the quality manager about my experience, which has not changed my opinion about this company.

I would like to retract my previous review as all issues are addressed and resolved.

I decided in January 2016 to make a career change and pursue a new opportunity in the fitness industry. Although the Level 2 gym instructor and Level 3 personal trainer were not paramount to the opportunity I personally felt it necessary to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible.
I did a lot of research over the month of January into different companies which offered the same courses but in different guises and at wildly varying cost to the student. Discovery was so much better value than any of the other 7 companies I considered. A major plus when stepping into the unknown with further learning.

I signed up for the online learning package due to my lifestyle, kids and work commitments. Discovery give you 18 months to complete the courses and you are able to use very well detailed hardcopy and online course material as well as clearly explained video content.
The tests on each module were very helpful to consolidate learning too.
Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm there were always people to help at the end of the telephone line. I never felt rushed or brushed off. Raymond was particularly legendary and helped me think outside the box and gave fantastic guidance.
Everyone at Discovery was helpful, polite and went out of their way to accommodate me. For example, I went to the Centre to do both my Practical Assessments and they made it possible for me on both occasions to perform them at a time that was convenient for me. Service above and beyond what was expected.

I would (and have) highly recommend Discovery Learning and assure you from having experienced their service that you will not be disappointed.

I passed my Level 2 and Level 3 Personal Trainer just last October I really enjoy my course. Because English is not my first language was think will be very hard but I get a lot of support from my teacher and all the discovery staff I'm still doing some CPD with them had very good experience. The are very professional
I couldn't choose others !!
Thank you for all support!!!!

From the moment I contacted them their service was outstanding. Any questions I had were answered as soon as possible. There was one or two problems getting my military credits sorted but they did everything to fix it. The two ladies I dealt with awesome and the instructor of my course was fantastic. No complaints from me. Great service!

I recently just completed my level 2 and 3 fitness instructing and personal trainer course within the last few months. The experience itself was fantastic, I met some wonderful people that I'll be sure to keep in contact with. The course itself was great, the staff are very helpful with any enquiry you need attending so and will answer any questions if you are unsure. I did the full time course and recieved tons of help, I personally would recommend the full time course rather than the part time since you get so much more out of it! I'll be sure to take on more courses with discovery in the future! Thanks once again discovery!

Really enjoye the course. All the trainers/teachers were friendly, knowledgable and helpful. Great experience, would definitely reccommend

I have enjoyed the course and found the tutor and all the other staff to be friendly and helpful.

I found my course to be a bit challenging, especially Level 3.

I did get plenty support throughout though and had no issues passing my exams at the first go. Online learning was a handy tool. I liked hard-copy manuals as well but found interactive online platform making course content more digestible. Course was very intensive and I wish I had more time to digest the information at times but I’ve managed to do everything in about 5 weeks.

Very good course overall, plenty of support and great atmosphere on the course.

I’ve just booked onto a Gym and PT course with Discovery, and thought that the sales and booking process was fantastic. I spoke to James who was really interested in why I wanted to do the course and then was really informative and guided me to the right package. There were several ways to finance the course too and no pressure at all – just friendly advice. So far – can’t fault it!

Excellent service thus far. Very friendly and accommodating. Great customer service, so helpful.

My personal trainer diploma course was well structured. Content was interesting, well delivered and had a good practical to theory part ratio. My tutor Rob was knowledgeable and got us through some difficult parts of the course explaining content using real world examples. Big thanks to student support who helped me out when I struggled a bit with my workbooks. I appreciate your time and effort. Overall I had nothing but a positive experience and am happy to recommend Discovery.

I've benefited from my time with Discovery and developed knowledge and skills that can be helpful in my career. The staff seem friendly, helpful and always willing to answer quesitons. I've learned a lot about exercise and weight management. I think it's good that the Discovery courses deal with nutrition topics as well as just the physical exercise. At no point did I regret becoming involved with this company.

It took me 9 months for a 6 month course to get qualified on both my LV2 gym instructor and LV3PT courses.

Staff were slow to responding to emails and when I eventually received emails they were miscuminicated and all of the information was wrong, I received wrong test scores for theory exams, wrong time frames and wrong information in general.

When I had to go to the day courses most off the pt's didn't know what they were talking about, they had there own agenda and talked about what ever it is they wanted to, one pt decided it would be good to show us how his food crystal worked on a day where we had to learn about the muscular system. The class and myself had to keep correcting the pt's on the information we were reciving, any 'gym bro' could have do a better job in my opinion.

I paid £1550 for a few books, online system and a qualification, I could have just used the Internet, YouTube, (anyone reading this YouTube is the best) and some common sense and I would be £1.5k better off.