www.gov.uk Reviews 

Takes a whole month of letters going missing just to set up one payroll, having to live off of no money since I cant even get my payroll set up on time and their customer support takes 40 minutes just to pick up the phone just to tell you they'll resend the letter and to wait 10 more business days. We're in 2025 and they havent grasped the power of emails for these types of problems. As a business owner I'm disappointed.

I would like to share my bitter experience with trying to study in the UK.

At first, all universities welcomed my applications warmly. But once I accepted an offer from the University of Greenwich, the real struggle began. Unjustified delays, wasted time, and an almost impossible task of reaching any responsible administrative person — all of which caused me significant loss of time and money.

Then I moved on to the Pre-sessional English course at Oxford ELLT, which turned out to be one of the worst academic experiences I’ve ever had — completely unprofessional and unfair — and it made me doubt the credibility of the institution itself.

Finally came the biggest disappointment — the UK embassy.
Despite my full cooperation and answering every question in the interview, my application was refused. The reasons were, frankly, absurd:
Because I have 17 years of work experience (so I am “too old”), my English was said to be not good enough, and my desire to study was questioned as “not genuine.”
They even wrote that my answers lacked depth about the Master’s modules — but if I already had deep academic knowledge of those modules, why would I apply to study them in the first place?

What makes it even more unreasonable is that the refusal reasons completely contradict the official documents I submitted.
For instance, they claimed that my English was weak, while I had already completed a Pre-sessional English course in the UK itself — officially recognized by their own system.
How can both statements be true?

Through this process, I was deprived not only of my chance to study, but also of the opportunity to develop my future, enhance my experience, and pursue the professional growth I’ve been dreaming of.
To simply describe my feeling as disappointed would be an understatement — the frustration and emotional damage are beyond words.

It became painfully clear that the real reasons were my age and nationality.
As if after a certain age, people are no longer allowed to grow, learn, or improve themselves.

I completely respect the UK’s right to decide who enters its country — it is their land, and they have the right to choose.
But if age or nationality are unspoken barriers, why allow people to go through a long, exhausting, and costly process only to reach a predetermined outcome?

You call for transparency and honesty — yet all I saw was a dismissive and unfair response.
If transparency is truly your value, then say it clearly:

“Applicants of certain ages or nationalities are not welcome.”

That would at least save many from wasting their money, time, and dreams.
Is this fairness? Is this justice?

The platform needs a serious rethink. I did not want to install any app. I opted for 'desktop'. I haven't driven for a while and do not have a car, but in case I rent a car, I wanted to renew my driving licence. First for id, you would not accept an expired licence - just today I managed to view and verify it on DVLA so all data is there and no points ever on the licence.

Next I tried using a valid UK passport. (I'm British - born and bred). It was fine until the last step 'verify with 3rd party agencies). Is Experian so incompetent that they only check against loans? What about people who have no debt? Of course utilities are in my name with everything in good standing.

I then get a notification that you can't validate me. What nonsense!! Electric, water and council tax are all in my name at the address provided. So now I must waste time, visit a Post Office and pay 50% more.

This bodes really badly for any digitalID system you try to create. Next we'll be refused who know what service, just because your systems are ill thought-out!

I applied for a visa for London, but never received it. Yesterday they debited 34 euros from my account again and the first time also 21 euros. I really think this is bad. I don't know how to reach them either.

Absolutely useless. Trying to renew my driving licence and downloaded app etc . Followed instructions and scanned everything. But keep saying we have trouble logging you in try again later .

They need to realise that not everyone has a passport to prove who they are; I'm born and bred in uk but because I've never left the uk I cannot prove who I am, ironic really.
I don't drive but I was forced to get a provisional license in order to prove my i.d to get a bank account years ago, but it has expired but was impossible to renew it online at gov.uk one, so have to fill in the dvla form with a new ugly photo attached.
Gov.uk will not accept any other form of i.d except passport and driver's license, which is very frustrating.
All I want to do us top up my national insurance, but ringing up always fails as they keep redirecting me to future pensions which then tell me to wait till I get my pension, but I won't get a pension if I don't top up now, so that's why I want to try to do it online but am prevented time and time again of going any further because I don't have a passport or driver's license.
I own a house, I have bank accounts, I pay tax but I don't exist.

Trying to review my driving is unnecessarily difficult. They can’t find my details despite having my birth certificate, driving license, and passport. Wants me to confirm my identity using their new app. I think not.

As a self employed person, i have to have my own company [for some strange reason]. From november, i found that i must provide photographic ID of my identity.

So i tried to sign up with the gov.uk website. Oh lord. So my choices are:

1) Tie my government identity to my smartphone app and tell the government everything i say and do online
2) answer security questions like what month and year i opened one of 2 bank accounts 25 years ago and pray that the government has the right date, that the bank kept the right date, and that teh two coincide to be the same, and we are talking about the right account (it doesn't specify). Ask me about credit card limits, which is problematic because i have two credit cards and the limits on both of those cards don't match what the government thinks those limits are.
3) Drive around scotland looking for a postoffice that will authenticate my passport, take my mugshot and spend 30 minutes swearing because the passport biometrics wont scan, the passport image wont stay in focus long enough to photograph etc.

Needless to say after trying and getting locked out of 2), i had no option but get a taxi to a post office 40 miles away to do 3).

I can't renew my driving licence until my identity on gov.uk is complete. Needless to say, it still isn't complete, so i guess i just can't drive unless gov.uk finally get their act together.

What a mess. The worst part is, the previous websites worked just fine.

And all these extra security steps to stop fraud, you just know that fraudsters are just going to completely bypass all these things, and so we are jumping through these hoops for nothing.

On 16 January 2025, I submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspector regarding East Suffolk's decision to refuse planning permission for a minor single-storey rear extension on my private land. This extension was intended to significantly improve my inclusion, quality of life, and general amenity, particularly as I am a disabled and vulnerable individual. There were no reasonable alternatives available, nor was it possible to make a further planning application.
The Planning Inspector's Validation Team and Customer Service declined to consider my appeal, stating (Purported) that it was received 22 days after the prescribed time limit. I contend that this decision did not fairly account for the extended Christmas holiday period, my ongoing complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, or service limitations experienced by both their office and East Suffolk during this festive season.
While the Planning Inspector has the authority to overturn a refusal and grant an extension of time, this discretion was not exercised in my case; instead, I was referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
I believe the decision-making framework was not applied in a fair or proportionate manner, and strongly maintain that I was not out of time.
I also question whether the institution is fulfilling its intended role impartially and proportionately, rather than contributing to potential discriminatory barriers. Both the Chief Executive and the MP have been informed, as they possess the authority to intervene, but neither has exercised this option to date.

When applying for a visa, one appears as a petitioner. One strives to meet every smallest requirement. There are many obstacles along the way. It is pointed out multiple times that the lack of even the smallest requirement can lead to the non-issuance of the visa. For example, it is required to upload all pages of the passport (including the blank ones). This is, of course, impossible due to the data volume with 40 blank pages. In the end, one makes 40 copies, which are then not needed at all during the meeting. One feels cheated of precious time and unnecessary expenses. However, the staff were extremely friendly.

Chagos Islands.
What s government disgrace. I cannot believe the government and their reasoning.
I also think the Conservatives were terrible in even allowing a discussion on it.
Come on Nigel Farage- hurry up and get into No 10.

As directed by gov.uk for online change of bank details for my pension requires passport and driving license details + NI number + phone number + receipt of various codes from them. Logging in twice to be told REPORT YOUR CHANGE BY POST.
WOW! I have so much faith in our civil service that I despair. Perhaps the postal service is safer than our trusty government. Dont tell Putin.
However, after waiting on the phone for 40 mins I was able to sort it

Sarah Exworthy the nurse was very good as I was very nervous to start with as she put me at ease within minutes.she was very patient and professional.
She stayed with me until I fully understood the procedure.

School Complaints Compliance Unit

I put in complaint to the School Complaints Compliance Unit DfE on the 7th July 2025 about how my children's school handled a formal complaint I made about a serious staff misconduct issue.

I informed the School Complaints Compliance Unit about the nature of my complaint from the outset. They confirmed that they were the right department to contact, and I was requested to provide them with a list of documentation e.g. copy of my complaint to the school, response to my complaint and the school's complaint policy.

I had to email the member of staff several times because it was evident that they had failed to do the following:

(1) Read my emails carefully.
(2) Read the school's response to my complaint carefully.
(3) Read my complaint form.

I expressed my concerns about the above to the staff member. However, they still continued not to read my messages carefully and address the concerns I raised.

To make matters worse, after I had taken the time to provide them with the documentation listed above and several email exchanges later, I was then informed that they do not actually deal with complaints about how schools have handled staff misconduct issues.

I think most of the staff are either incompetent, unknowledgeable and lazy mouse jigglers that overuse AI to respond to queries and complaints, or they just use chat bots to deal with complaints.

Due to my suspicions, I did do some research online and I did read that the DfE do use chatbots. That's fine for general queries but no serious complaints.

General Complaints Department.
I also think that the general complaints team are useless. I contacted them twice by phone to query if they were the appropriate department to put in a complaint about how the Teaching Regulation investigated a complaint I made they informed me that the DfE was the correct department. As a result, I completed a complaint form. However, all the DfE did was forward my complaint to the TRA, which I could have done myself. To make matters worse they sent my complaint to a less senior member of staff that I had already been in communications with.

I'm shocked by the incompetence of the resolution centre. And, of course, we have to pay the consequences. Every time I call, they tell me something different, and after months, I still haven't been able to do what I want to do. It's shameful!!!

I waited for more than 3 weeks, and still did not receive the ETAvisum. Bad bad service.

I waited three weeks for my application to be processed, only to receive £65 for an entire month — barely enough for food. The “support” provided was laughable: I was told to ask friends or look on social media for jobs. No guidance, no real help. The office was depressing, the staff uninterested, and the whole experience felt like punishment, not support. Why even bother coming here if they treat you like a burden?

⭐ 1 star

“The justice system is broken — and they’re defending the failure, not fixing it.”

For 15 months I’ve been dragged through an absolute nightmare with HMCTS after winning a small claims case. The enforcement process was a complete disaster — and no one would take responsibility.

Emails went ignored. The court system bounced me between departments. I was told to chase the bailiffs myself. A £150 “goodwill payment” was offered for all the stress and failure — but even that hasn’t been paid. I gave my bank details as requested. Nothing. Silence.

When I raised this with Beth Collins, the Operations Manager, her response was a textbook example of bureaucratic arrogance:

“We regret the inconvenience caused.”
That’s how they brush off 15 months of incompetence and outright obstruction. They defended a staff member who ignored multiple emails by saying she was “on authorised leave.” No apology. No action. Just a shrug and a shutdown.

This isn’t justice. It’s a decaying system run by people trained to deny and deflect. They don’t help you — they protect themselves. It took me months to even get a reply, and when it came, it felt like a template designed to wear me down.

If you think going through the courts will get you justice, think again. Winning your case is only the start of the fight — HMCTS will make sure you pay for daring to expect enforcement.

A disgrace to the very concept of justice.

Absolutely terrible site. Not user friendly. Extremely confusing and dumb.

Customer service is shocking – impossible to get through to anyone who can actually help. Endless delays, no updates, and when things go wrong they take no responsibility. A taxpayer‑funded service shouldn’t treat people this badly. Needs serious reform.