Best Tertiary & Vocational Education Providers in Queensland Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Cairns

I booked a White Card course, but I wasn't able to take the preparatory online lessons because the platform wasn't working. The next day, when I… Read more

showed up to class, the instructor turned me away because I hadn't completed the online lessons. He told me I had to reschedule the course, but when I tried, the staff told me I'd have to pay for everything again. Other companies are more flexible and don't require any preparatory online courses. I strongly advise against booking with Origin Institute.

I have just completed my Cert 3 in Animal Care and I couldn’t be happier that I chose ACVN. The educators were extremely approachable, supportive,… Read more

and always happy to help whenever I had questions.

I work full time so learning online was perfect for me, and I never felt overwhelmed by the pace of the course or the workload - it was just right.

I’m planning to start my Cert 4 soon and I am definitely going through ACVN again!

You can't find any college in Adelaide that worse then this one. 1. Ongoing harassment and pressure related to fees and enrolment. Students are… Read more

subjected to constant pressure regarding payments and enrolment status. Even when fees are paid on time, access to Moodle is repeatedly blocked due to poor internal management and a clear lack of accountability. And moreover, we received repeated phone calls and threatening messages warning about CoE cancellation! Even if we payed! This creates continuous fear and psychological pressure.

2. No meaningful support during workplace placement. The college has repeatedly failed to provide adequate workplace placement supervision. Students are sometimes forced to return to the same placement more than once due to the college’s inability to organise alternatives. When conflicts or serious issues arise at placement, students receive no support and are discouraged from raising concerns. The expectation is to remain silent and comply, regardless of the situation.

3. Serious concerns about placement quality and learning outcomes. The college is aware that some placement providers do not deliver genuine learning experiences aligned with Community Services outcomes. In practice, students spend large portions of their required placement hours performing basic manual labour, such as moving boxes with food, with little to no supervision, learning, or skill development. When students question whether this meets training requirements or assessment criteria, their concerns are dismissed rather than addressed.

4. Disrespectful and dismissive treatment of students. Students have been spoken to in a dismissive and, at times, openly discriminatory manner by campus management. Technical issues affecting assessment submissions, including uploaded files appearing blank in the system, were met with a refusal to provide assistance, placing the full burden on students.

5. Complaints handling and financial focus. When students raise justified concerns or submit formal complaints, responses are typically dismissive, generic, or delayed. The consistent impression is that fee collection is prioritised over student welfare, academic integrity, or compliance, with penalties and threats used as primary management tools.

Overall warning to prospective students. If you enrol at this college, be prepared for constant pressure, access restrictions, and a complete lack of support when problems arise.

Workplace placement may not provide meaningful learning, and raising concerns can result in further pressure rather than assistance.

I do not recommend this provider and am currently pursuing formal complaints through external regulatory channels. If needed, I can provide screenshots and statements from my classmates to support my review of this institution.

Only studied here for less than a year because it is so expensive and I got into another university however I will say that the experience was very… Read more

good. Teachers seemed great, support staff seemed great. Facilities were nice, the place was clean. Systems seemed easy to navigate. No issues for me!

This has since been resolved. I explained my situation to the Directorate and they solved this for me. was enrolled in a fee- free program and… Read more

completed 2 modules and had to withdraw due to divorce and other extreme situations. I enrolled again in Sept 2025 and received a confirmation of my enrolment. 3 weeks before my course started I was withdrawn (by Tafe) and told that I need to pay for my course.

I went to this University since the block model seemed like it would a good choice for me. However, after completing my Bachelor. The disadvantages… Read more

had really shown themselves and made the whole thing absolutely horrific.

Coming into the start of my third year, I had not been able to get into every unit due to timetabling issues and lack of space. So, I, myself, spent 3 weeks trying to simply get all my units scheduled so I can actually graduate in the 3 years that my course is. I emailed in order to get something sorted, I was told the first time that I would either have to wait for spots to open up or simply wait till next year in order to finish those subjects. I wrote back telling them, I wont be doing that since this course is advertised as 3 years full time, not 4. They then told me to talk to a student advisor at VU-HQ, a sort of center for general inquiries regarding your course. I went in and spoke to an advisor who essentially gave the same answer. I told them the same thing I said to them over email. I was then told to try meet with the Course Unit Advisor for IT subjects. For which, he was only available two days a week and cancelled his availability multiple times. I finally was able to meet with him and sorted out a plan in order to finish all the subject I required.

Then, the course chair for my subject rejected it and told me "It would be too much of an expectation of the student." Radio silence for almost 3 weeks. So, I went back to the VU-HQ to get this sorted since I was pretty fed up at this point. I spoke to another advisor who told me to wait till something can be sorted. They left me in the dark for days on end, I went in multiple times to their VU-HQ to talk to someone, only to be told, the Course Unit Advisor for your unit is not available till this date. I tried getting the email for the course chair then and was told, it's not publicly available.

So, as my third year began, the course chair for another subject came in and gave a talk so I asked if I could talk to him after the class. I told him my situation and asked what the best course of action would be. He told me "We don't have enough lecturers to make more classes and we don't have enough space for everybody." Then proceeds to say "The university did not expect a large influx of students deciding to do this bachelor." Why is there not plans in place for this sort of problem? Most other universities would simply be able to open up more classes.

So then, if there is not enough space, they crumble because "We don't have enough lecturers." Since they have to tailor lecturers to certain blocks and those units can only be taught in certain blocks. Then, when you try and get something sorted so you can complete you're required units. God forbid, they actually get their act together. So, I asked if I could get the course chairs email for my bachelor. I was told its publicly available on their sites. Really? Well, I was told otherwise and was unable to find it anywhere. I Anyway, I spoke with the course chair for my bachelor and was left radio silent for another week. This was till I emailed them simply stating if this problem was not sorted soon, I would be going to the National Student Ombudsman so that this can be sorted. They then got back to me the next day with a timetable sorted. This whole ordeal took close to 2 months and finally came to a conclusion because I threatened to go to the proper legal entity in order to sort this out. 2 months, for something that could be very easily sorted within two weeks.

Above all else, some of the units that I had to complete this year had tasks that were just not explained clearly, and had multiple errors, meaning I had to hassle with the lecturer to get something properly sorted so we can complete the work. And on top of that, some tests had questions for content that we were not taught. Like, how are we supposed to do our work and get full marks when it has content that was never explained or worded poorly?

Overall, I can understand that for some people that the block model is a good way to get through university without the stress of having to focus on multiple bits of work at once, but they really need to get their act together. It's almost annoying how I had to legally threaten them in order to have something done. It's appalling that I even had to go to that extent.