wea.org.uk Reviews 

WEA Learn is a scam. Why on earth are they charging so much money for eventbrite courses when you can watch the topic for free on youtube?

Who ever came up with this concept should be fired.

I enrolled for a course with WEA and everything seemed to go fine until the tutor suddenly disappeared and no one seemed able to tell us when we could resume or even if it would be possible. After about a month, we finally get to catch up with another tutor (even though we had to do a lot of hours at once to be able to finish in time but everyone complied without any complaint). When done with the course we've been assured that we were all good and would get our certificates one to two months later... which didn't happen. Instead, we had to call and send emails to get updates about the certificates and the management was either ignoring it or finding excuses.
We finished the course in July and eventually in November, we got a message from our first tutor (the one who disappeared without any explanation) telling us we had failed our assignments (that she had passed herself previously and that we needed to send them again). It was concerning the whole class and nothing was mentioned about it on the website where we all had indeed passed all the requirements for each assignment given.
When we complained about it, we've been told that it was the quality assurance had noted there were issues in our assignments and therefore that the certificates couldn't be delivered to any of us (note that the whole class had to redo different assignments, not just some students).
We raised a first complaint, which was dismissed with poor excuses (after a long delay), around Christmas we raised a new complaint level 2 and are still waiting for the answer.
During this time, the missing tutor who contacted us to redo the assignments has been changing our marks and added comments on the website (6 months after we finished the course). How is it even normal?
And why the very same tutor that first said we had met the criteria for all the assignments and actually gave us the indications that we used in those, is now the same one supposed to mark again the assignments we're supposed to redo?
I have no idea about other people's experience with WEA, but in this particular case, that's a complete shame and a scam. From the tutor to the management, the level is so low that there is no word.

I began taking WEA course during lockdown. These were great and much needed at the time. Since then I’ve done several courses. The tutors I’ve encountered have been very good and helpful with my learning. However, the administration of WEA leaves a lot to be desired. I applied for a course (which began on the 5th November) back on 5th October. My user account e-mail said my application was being considered. I heard nothing back by the end of last week. Having had issues in contacting the WEA in the past ie. being 18th in the queue and waiting for almost and hour before having my call answered only to find the course had been cancelled, I filled in the contact form on the WEA website. I didn’t receive any reply for this, so yesterday morning (the day the course began) I telephoned the WEA. I was 8th in the queue this time and hung on the 35 minutes before being connected to someone. This was a very pleasant man who looked at my case, only to tell me I wasn’t eligible for the course as it was part-funded by Greater London Authority. There was no mention of this when the course was being advertised on the WEA website. I’m not in receipt of any benefits, so am usually paid the full fee anyway. Then, this morning I receive an e-mail from the WEA, presumably in response to me message left on the website last week, asking me to provide photographic ID and proof of address. They said one received, they would enrol me on the course. It’ll be interesting to find out if this will happen or if I even get a reply. Very disappointed with the WEA and will likely not take any more of the offered courses – it’s just too much hassle.

Terrible experience with WEA Learn. I booked one online course - the date kept on changing and was eventually cancelled. Booked another one - on the starting date I waited 45 minutes to be let in to the course, sent emails with no reply, same thing the following week - after contacting support the WEA finally contacted me to say the date had changed. I have kept going and started the course on the right date - unfortunately there are only 2 students - the other woman has dropped out so I am the only student. How they can run a course with only 2 students is really strange. Totally chaotic organisation, never answer emails or communicate. The WEA Learn should be boycotted until they sort themselves out and behave like the professional educational organisation they are supposed to be. Avoid!!

My position was remote but I was still expected to attend in-person meetings. By the end, I was out of the house 3 times a week on average.

The training for the position was non-existent. I spent days completing numerous modules on health & safety and diversity but was never taught how to actually do my job.

I wasn’t working for long when a round of redundancies was announced. I gathered this wasn’t the first time this has happened. They promised to do as much as possible to save jobs but this didn’t amount to much.

Despite their ethos of education in the community, management staff are now hundreds of miles away. Upper management are incredibly demanding, micromanaging, and corporate. Staff turnover is huge and the staff still there are expected to cover all the responsibilities of those sick, on maternity leave, or recently left, whether it’s your job or not.

You are supplied with a work phone and computer but you are expected to be available 24/7 to answer emails and make calls, despite being given a 9 to 5 contract.

Teaching in the community brings its own unique dangers and sometimes you don’t feel completely safe.

With all of the added work, the pay felt miserly.

Cannot listen to students never reply to emails ,never help .can never get through by phone
Completely disorganised badly managed.online courses are on event britain now but they don't allow concessions .this hits disabled side elderly and all those without a car

I started doing online courses with the WEA during lockdown and it was brilliant - the tutors were great and I was able to learn new skills! Unfortunately, over the years, seemingly due to various changes including a new IT system, everything has gone downhill. While the tutors are still brilliant, they're being treated so badly and not being kept informed about vital changes. So most of the time they have no idea if their courses are even going to run. On the website, courses are listed with incorrect dates/times and when you apply you're stuck waiting to be properly enrolled and often have to contact them to actually be enrolled because they just don't get in touch. Now we're being told we may not be able to join certain courses online due to regional restrictions, which is going to mean people who have been studying together on courses get split up. Apparently tutors weren't even informed about this. I now know more than one tutor who has left the organisation because of mis-management and I can't blame them.

I've personally given them a lot of feedback over the years but it doesn't seem to have really helped.

I know there's some supremely talented and capable people at the WEA, but it seems the management is in such a mess. I really hope things improve because at this rate I can see the WEA disappearing forever.

Sadly the WEA has disenfranchised a large group of previous attendees who joined local WEA groups for courses held in their community halls. For many - particularly older - people living in rural-ish areas, these courses were a regular and valuable opportunity for continuing education combined with social interaction. I attended many of the WEA courses and they were always popular and well-attended. Now, they have almost entirely disappeared. The WEA only seems to focus on on-line courses and offer relatively few cultural topics.

I took training in teaching adults so that I could provide courses through the WEA, but wanted to teach face-to-face with groups of people. I ran one course for the WEA teaching on-line and, although the course went well and I had an enthusiastic (but small) group of students, the experience was a poor substitute for face-to-face teaching for me, but probably also for the students.

Such a shame. Such a loss.

The instructor said that the course was not suitable and I was kicked out. She was also told that staff would contact me to arrange another course, but after four days, no one still contacted me.

An online course booked last November disappeared from their website and didn't run. I sent emails and made phone trying to ascertain what was happening and repeatedly fobbed off with different excuses. Finally acknowledge that I had paid for the course but said I had booked a different course. Even though i have the emails as proof they said I would have to pay again and do another a similar course. A fiasco with staff who dont know what they're doing and an IT system that doesn't work. No course and out of pocket.

I have done lots of courses over several years with the WEA - in some areas it is very good and in some appalling! First, its good points. The range of courses is very wide and most of the tutors I’ve had are knowledgable about their subject and present it in an interesting manner. However, the infrastructure around the courses is extremely poor - so I do not recommend it for any course with a qualification. I completed my accredited course in June and have just been told my work was sent for assessment on Oct 3rd - with no indication how long the assessment should take except that I would receive my certificate ‘shortly’.

I have done many online courses with the WEA which I have enjoyed. However there are insufficient support staff answering the phones. Having given up yesterday waiting to speak to someone, to-day I spent an hour an a half to-day waiting to be put through which is totally unaccepable. The WEA have had numerous complaints about various issues yet fail to improve including examples such as, why do you a) not inform students when a course has been cancelled b) still show the course as bookable.
Also there are far less Art History Courses and I understand some tutors have voted with their feet and left because of their justifiable dissatisifaction.
How can I recommend an organisation that clearly does not listen or want to make positive and necessary changes for students and tutors?

Concerns About Course Structure and Communication at WEA
I recently participated in a Community Interpreting course with WEA, and while the course itself provided valuable learning, there were several aspects of the experience that left me concerned.

One particular issue was the policy regarding coursework submissions. We were informed that if even one participant fails to submit their coursework by the deadline, the entire class is required to retake the course and pay for it again. This approach felt unfair, as it penalizes all participants regardless of their individual efforts. Given that the course can be costly, this policy could be particularly difficult for those paying out of pocket, even though mine was government-funded due to my financial situation. I believe this is something that should be reconsidered to ensure fairer treatment of students who meet their course requirements.

Additionally, communication with the organization has been challenging. We were told that we would receive our certificates by the end of August 2024, but since then, there has been little to no communication or updates regarding our progress or the distribution of certificates. This has caused uncertainty for many of us who are eager to move forward with the qualification.

While I understand that managing courses can be complex, clearer communication and a more balanced policy regarding coursework deadlines would significantly improve the overall experience. I plan to report my concerns to the Job Centre, as I believe other participants should be aware of these challenges before enrolling.

Overall, I hope WEA takes this feedback on board and considers revisiting some of their policies and communication practices to better support students in the future.

I have spent almost a month taking a course and I am not able to take my exams because their system is not working, despite having a successful hardware test, it doesn't work. I was suspicious when I noticed that the English Functional Skills was level 1 and not level 2 as advertised on their website, still I wanted to continue with the course when I should have left it, it ended up losing, wasting my time revising things that I was already taught before, no one actually cares about your actual level there even though they ask you to upload all your documents and certificates, so I spent almost a month with people who really need school lessons and not just a certification, people who can not speak well neither I could understand their accents from the Middle east or Africa, you just don't know how they entered to the UK, I had to help them, further more despite having a Muslim born UK English teacher that liked to criticise me because my English is better than the rest so she didn't want me to sigh, almost breath during the speaking test, she wanted robots with timer and removing all the calendars because they have words something not good for the exam according to her, I still decided to try to finish the course. I hope the government either improves it or stops its funding because they don't deserve it.

I have done great WEA courses before now but actually finding a course on the website is a nightmare so I’ve given up.
Putting in my postcode led me to 8 totally irrelevant courses. Clicking on online courses, which proudly say they offer, and I’m told they’re sorry they don’t have any for me at the moment. Searching through hundreds of courses in a list only to find they’re not open to me is just a waste of my time. I’ve given up!

I apologise for the inconvenience you’ve experienced. Being misled can be frustrating.

My recent interaction with the WEA left me feeling misled. The information provided was inaccurate, and it negatively impacted my experience. I hope they address this issue promptly.

I recently had an encounter with the WEA, and unfortunately, it left me quite dissatisfied. The communication was poor, and the service fell short of my expectations. I hope they take this feedback constructively and work on improving their processes.
he Level 2 Certificate in Preparing for the Community Interpreting Role is indeed a valuable foundation, but it’s not directly recognized for paid community interpreting. Instead, consider the Nationally Recognized Level 3 Certificate in Community Interpreting. It provides formal qualification and tutor support, allowing you to demonstrate competence as an interpreter

The new WEA website is very difficult to navigate and when you call up on the phone line number for help it’s not any better. I have given up doing any courses at all. There used to be hundreds of local courses with lots of help and support when I did courses with them years ago. It was so much easier to enrole but sadly not now. Now it’s all done online which is not for everyone. It seems they have very little funding or local people would have had more courses available to them. Perhaps the government is to blame. I have been searching for a makaton course for the last 10 years and the only ones that are available are hundreds of miles away or online which doesn’t suit my needs as I struggle with anything technical. Hoping in the future course will be better advertised, the helpline more supportive and that there will actually be more courses available other than the bog standard ones they have ran for years. The only courses I can find are evening courses which we all know are not safe to attend at night time or ones that have little or no interest to anyone. I have gone on many a course only to find I am the only student so they have had to cancel the course. Grrrrrr.

My review will hopefully express my dissatisfaction with my recent experience at WEA and at a time they are currently being inspected by OFSTED. My experience with their digital marketing/promotion course has been fraught with numerous issues that have significantly impacted my learning and overall experience.

Firstly, I was the only person enrolled in the course, which suggests poor promotion and management on WEA's part. Despite being given the excuse that challenges with the registration process were to blame, this does not justify the lack of communication from WEA managers. Throughout the course, communication was subpar and inconsistent, exacerbated by what seemed to be a turnover of employees who were neither informed nor effective in their management roles.

The course was originally designed to be a year-long diploma, but WEA attempted to condense it into just 12 sessions. This rush not only undermined the course's integrity but also placed undue pressure on both the students and the tutors. My tutor, who was very competent, had to admit the irony of the situation: a digital marketing course that was itself poorly marketed.

Upon completing the course, I was informed that the course had not been registered properly, necessitating a re-marking of all my submitted materials. I was asked to re-edit three modules to pass, which was both frustrating and unfair. Additionally, my Canvas account was closed multiple times, disrupting my studies and causing further delays. This seems to be linked to the course's expiry date, which was unrealistically set at 12 weeks.

The re-registration process caused me to lose all prior communication and feedback from tutors, compounding my frustration. I have been unable to access Canvas on my PC, relying solely on mobile access due to recurring login issues. To date, I have not received my course certificate, which is unacceptable.

In light of these numerous issues, I strongly advise against using WEA for any learning purposes. The organization has demonstrated poor management, inadequate support, and a lack of proper communication, all of which have severely hindered my educational experience.

Very poor organisation who do not care for staff or students

I withdrew from my course, such a shame. The system is impossible to use, the reception team are run ragged daily with calls from people trying to work the system. The courses could have been a great experience but once again a company that has taken doing everything possible online with no human support to the point its destroying the place. I spent 60 hours before I gave up, of those sixty hours 50 were discussing system problems with the students, and the course kept changing every week as they adjusted things to the point none of us had a clue what we were supposed to be doing. There were students having meltdowns as they were so frustrated and feeling they were not clever enough to get on top of the system,
To the person there who is driving things this way might I suggest sitting in on a couple of the courses to see what a nightmare it is, I now have to wait until September to get on another one and I learned almost nothing due to tech talk every week. I also told them I had a learning disability but they did not seem able to help, though reception tried, the course should have been planned from the outset, not changed on a weekly basis. This college has great potential if it uses human contact more and keeps in touch with students, it affected peoples confidence instead.