BBC Maestro Reviews 26

Content is good but playback can be frustrating
Lessons themselves are interesting and easy to follow, but the videos take too long to load sometimes
If the connection drops even a bit, everything just stops and you have to wait

One of the best web pages to learn content that I found on the web, which allows you total freedom to check the content at your own pace. It offers different courses to learn several skills, from cooking and decoration to well-being and the development of creative skills: writing, painting, music, and acting. For those who seek reliability in content and a thirst for knowledge, without the pressure of educational institutions that offer an official title. BBC Maestro assures that the content has been checked and is suitable for all audiences.

The BBC Maestro course - How to Write a Love Story by Jo Jo Moyes - was so great that I purchased an annual subscription. Enjoyed different perspectives from her agent and publisher which expanded the view of an author’s career. The authentic nature of each teacher makes them easy to watch and learning fun. I’ve already taken six more courses (Graphic Design by Paula Scher, Bread Making by Richard Bertinet, Intro to Photography by Rankin, Interior Design by Beata Heuman, The Art of Influence by Evy Poumpouras and working on Happiness by Mo Gawdat.)

Love the channel, but sadly don’t use it. The reason is that when I stream it on my Chromecast, the stream drops out after each episode and the subtitles are shown twice, which is annoying.
If these things were fixed, I would give it 5 stars.

I subscribed during the Black Friday sale. I opened an account then paid through Google Pay. BBC's system somehow didn't link my account with my payment, so BBC has my money and I have no access to the courses. This happened 10 days ago, and BBC hasn't responded to numerous emails to rectify the manner.

BBC Maestro is excellent - the teachers are inspirational. Just completed the Harlan Coben writing course and Beata Heuman on interior design. Both 5 out of 5. I want to write a thriller now and renovate an interior! And breathe! Next course James Nestor on the Power of Your Breath..

First course Johnathan Yeo's Painting Portraits. Liking his style, very engaging videos, made me look forward to benefitting from his teaching. I do find it disconcerting the way the camera angles kept changing - I much prefer to watch a tutor face on when they are talking, not from the side.

The course handbook is 162 pages long, and the information is presented in a well structured way, with a summary of key takeaways and exercises at the end of each section. But a significant quantity of the pages in the handbook are not numbered, so when I printed part of it out, and the pages fell on the floor, I had quite a task trying to sort them as theres nothing else on the pages to identify which section they are a continuation of.
As its 162 pages long, and 13 of the 25 pages are unumbered, I sincerely hope this isnt indicative of the proportion of unnumbered pages in the remainder.

I emailed BBC Maestro to advise of this error, and the support I got was poor. Basically told to manually number those pages which required it, myself! They suggested the lack of numbers was part of the design! Clearly its an error where large images have pushed the numbering off certain pages. So I replied to advise this in the hope their graphic designers might correct the original. But no, they clearly dont want to be bothered with correcting errors in course material.
So, all I can say is, scrutinise your course materials carefully, and if you find errors, dont expect BBC Maestro to do anything to help.

I'm really enjoying the content, just finished the Evy Poumporas course and was hooked from the start, looking forward to the next course
Thought initially it was on the expensive side but now believe its worth every penny

I completed this course and it was excellent, I would highly recommend. I don't normally leave reviews but the high standard of the content inspired me to share my experience. The videos are great and the pdf that accompanies them is an excellent reference point. I have read a couple of his books before and used to read his articles, this course is an excellent summary of his cumulative experience and how that has shaped his latest thinking on Time Management - superb. I see from some of the reviews that there were issues with access and support - I didn't experience any trouble but to be fair I didn't need to contact support and everything worked perfectly.

I was and still am interested in paying for good content, however, the promised "free lessons" - to give an impression of what I am to expect from some rather high priced recordings that have NOT been produced specifically for this service - are not available. Instead, you get some very dubious PR bla bla that is borderline nonsensical, no "free lesson", no information, nothing.
There is no support whatsoever. No response to email, no online support. I am not going to invest into a service that considers their (potential) customers a nuisance that must be ghosted.
Disrespectful.

I purchased an annual subscription and am very impressed! The course content is very thorough and the technology or learning management system works seamlessly.

The pdf materials that supplement the video are excellent, also.

Worth every penny!

Support very poor - avoid

It's a good site with lots of good course. The biggest problem with it is that the recording are very heavy and when you drive away from towns, it freezes until data quality gets better! So basically you cannot listen while driving, which is a shame.

Not easy to access what one has paid for.
Shockingly poor customer service
No compassion, mean organisation
I do not recommend this . there are much friendlier and nicer options elsewhere

Excellent site easy to use. Learning so much

I have been unable to access any content and despite having emailed customer support I still cant access any courses. As this has happened to a number of us, I suggest we join forces and make a complaint to the ombudsman. Please do contact me if you would like to take your complaint further.

shocking. I bought the course and paid £50 that was on 1st December. I looked at the book and then closed it as I was busy elsewhere. Before buying I was told I would have access for 1 year. I just tried to access but got blocked!!!! ADDENDUM bbcmaestro has now given me a refund.

I paid for a course but I can't access the course through my account and support is doing nothing about it.
I could watch a few lessons on the first morning of purchase but later that afternoon I couldn't access the course through the Maestro site. My money has been taken but support are not helping resolve the issue despite numerous emails. It's appalling. I can see I'm not the first one with this problem. Very disappointed. Not what I expect from the BBC and very damaging to the reputation of the BBC. I would not recommend based on my experience eventhough the course did seem very good (if only I could watch the rest of it!!).

Jonathan Yeo painting course is designed to help you with painting portraits. It is fantastic, loved every minute and it helped me with a problem I was having with a portrait.
The course is always available on my Maestro account for me to access. Great value for money.

I have recently renewed my annual subscription for BBC Maestro after completing several courses last year and find myself watching most days. For budding writers I would recommend the Lee Child, Alan Moore and Jojo Moyes courses.

You get access to course notes and hours of detailed insights from experts, that you can't find anywhere else. I'm hoping to follow more of the cookery and art courses this year.