Open Colleges
VerifiedABN: 61000011692954 reviews
AI reviews summary
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Feedback regarding Open Colleges is sharply divided. Many students report a positive experience, highlighting the helpful enrolment process, supportive trainers, and the flexibility of self-paced online study. Conversely, a number of reviewers express significant dissatisfaction, citing challenges with work placement coordination, difficulties managing administrative and cancellation requests, and concerns regarding course material quality and value for money.
Ke Wan is really good in explaining the enrollment process and everything required. He really helped me a lot and he speaks legibly. I was really satisfied in my enquiry that I decided to enrol
Reviews with attachments
I studied a cert 3 in dental assisting. My assessor Dorina was really supportive and helped me with what ever I needed. I would recommend open colleges and Dorina as an assessor to anyone wanting to study dental assisting
I enrolled in September 2023 Leisure & Heath Cert 4 to gain qualification expectation for my employment. I have worked in Lifestyle for over 6 years. However I was not recommended to apply for RPL as it alot of work and some people don't qualify. So while working full time as Lifestyle Coordinator aged care facility of 73. I completed all of… Read more
the modules. At the beginning while deciding on to proceed with course I was told payslips would cover the work placement hours. So I wouldnt need to do that. But if course that is not the case. I had to complete module 10 to qualify for work placement which I did at my place if work. The work load for this course is unbelievable. It is also quite repeatative. I found it challenge to get any support. Online help disappeared for awhile and when it return unhelpful. Always referred to make appointment. Obviously very busy the trainer required 4 weeks to book. When it comes to appointment it would get cancelled. While I have obtained the certificate after alot of work. I am frustrated that I know of other with the same qualification that did get RPL didn't have produce as much written work. I would not recommend this course to anyone with this provider. Sorry. I am so glad it over as my mental health suffered during this time. As I wasn't supported by the course provider & I didn't want my job or lifestyle program to suffer. Completing the work placement was a huge undertaking. I have printed my certificate A3 and placed a big frame as it was a huge commitment. Completed July 2025.
NOT UP TO VET STANDARDS – REPORT them consumer issue re: Open Colleges to ACCC - accc.gov.au I attempted to exit this course after 14 days! Training content is not up to VET standards, course is expensive and they only want your money. I applied for credit transfer / RPL and they wanted to charge me $100 per module (NEVER experienced that before). When I stated my reasons… Read more
for withdrawing they responded over a week later with an automative email. Exit fee is $2,768.00!
I am still waiting for a response re: exiting this course. DO NOT ENROL! TAFE is always going to be your best option in my opinion!
Open colleges certificate III in Disability – Unprofessional At least two months wait between assignment corrections and not networking opportunities with other students.. Little help offered and cumbersome booking system. Very unintuitive systems in place.
SCAMMER – DO NOT ENROLL. I can go lower than 1 star, I would. You’re better off with TAFE. The worst experience of study. No support, no contact, nothing. Worst college. They will take your money and provide 0 support!
Latest follow-ups
Disgusting college – This college will be investigated for how they take money off individuals over 10 grand off myself. Didn't even start the course disgusting..if anyone thinking of going through a college go through open
Follow-up · Absolutely disgusting rip off college would never recommend.stole over 10grand from myself im eaiting to do a lawsuit as im sure there will be plenty more this college has ripped off iys a disgrace.
This college will be investigated in processing atm.. Absolutely appalled q college rips people off like this it's disgusting.
Ke was very informative and helpful. He made my enrolment into the course of my choice stress-free.
Follow-up · After realising the course was not right for me, I withdrew within the cooling period. I was advised that it would take up to 30 days for the refund (minus $200 for admin fee!) process to occur. I phoned the student help line and was advised to "give it another week to clear". Easy quick process when they want your money but painfully slow when you try and get your money back if you're unsatisfied!
If 0 stars was an option that would have been my first choice. DO NOT STUDY AT OPEN COLLEGES! They will take your money, time and sanity. I am legally blind and have been undertaking a certificate 3 in Individual Support and Ageing and Open… Read more
Colleges (OC) have provided me with no assistance throughout my certificate, and after finishing the 18 month theoretical component of the course, Open Colleges arranged for SkilTrak (who I had to pay for, too, and who I also rate 0 stars) to find me a placement. Over the past 8 months they have failed to find me a placement - they have sent me to two facilities who turned me away as they don't see OC as a registered RTO and another that had a year long waiting list. I have also called 30 facilities within 20km of my house, none of whom see Open Colleges as an RTO. I was not made aware of any of this when I started the course - I wanted to let everyone know who wants to do this course, you likely won't be able to complete the work placement. Open Colleges are fraudsters and need to be held accountable. If anybody is facing a similar experience, please email me at [Content Removed]
Follow-up · I have recently tried to withdraw from my course and to request a refund because Open Colleges and Skiltrak could not find me a placement but they still haven't responded and haven't given any indication that I will get my money back.
Positive reviews
The enrolment with Open Colleges was so smooth , Ada answered my questions and helped make this whole experience easy that woman needs a raise lol she returned my calls in a timely manner and talked me through the whole process
Ada, my enrolment consultant is amazing, fantastic follow up, thorough explanation of the courses offered and my options. Made the entire process deeply informative and easy to get started.
Sharon was always there, available and willing to help course was always good and easy to follow videos and examples were always great and helpful giving a straight forwards point
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Negative reviews
was studying a Diploma in Interior Design which had 19 modules. After many interruptions to my course I completed one module. I was struggling and spoke to Open Colleges on numerous occasions but always told to keep going as I’d get the hang of it. Nothing changed. As advised by Open Colleges if I wanted to be released from the course, I consulted… Read more
my doctor and discovered I had a condition that prevented me from being capable of doing the course. I did not find any compassion from Open Colleges and no refund for a course I had almost paid for but was far from completing. They are insensitive, money producing, heartless people and I wouldn’t recommend them
The modules and everything before the work placement section were decent. There were some errors in the WP paperwork which made things a big headache to figure out, there were also a couple grammatical errors and things could be made less complicated/repetitive. Half of WP2 felt like I was doing the same things from WP1, also In the supervisor… Read more
reports I noticed the same questions were being asked, just with different wording. The paperwork felt very tedious at times. Besides that, I did have fun with the assessments. Sharon was very helpful with the issues I had in the course, and the learning is self paced which was nice.
Don't sign up with Open Colleges. Zero star rating. I have just compared another Cert 3 in Individual Support and the difference is night and day. Open Colleges provide no virtual online classes with teacher and students, no video overview of the course, role plays are expected to be done with family or friends, no student interaction with… Read more
other students. Support is only in the form of a 'trainer' who marks your work and gives individual guidance. This is completely different to another course I am looking at who provides more support via their intro video then what I have had in 3 months with Open Colleges. Open Colleges appears to have paid google to be first to be seen. The word 'TAFE' in google comes up with Open Colleges rather than the local TAFE course I wanted to complete. $3k down the drain. Hope this helps someone else.
Recent reviews
My teacher was helpful and available whenever I needed assistance. They provided useful resources and guidance throughout the course, which helped me stay on track and complete my work.
I had great help with my enrolment process, I was helped on how to go about with the course and all the important information i needed before i start the course.
Murry was professional, clearly spoken with a level of confidence around the diploma in leadership and management I enrolled into. I had a few questions and he knew the answers. I felt well guided though-out the enrolment stage. I enjoyed studying with Open Colleges for a diploma of youth work years ago and Murry made it easy to chose OC again.
The call was informative, well-structured, and easy to follow. The representative explained the course options and enrolment process in a way that was easy to understand. Overall, it was a positive experience.
Highly informational Enrolment Consultant Ke Wan. I was unsure about signing up and had many difficult to answer questions due to my current employment status and how it would fit with the course, Ke confirmed everything I needed to know and that helped put me in a position to enrol knowing it was exactly what I was looking for. Would recommend Ke to anyone looking for further course details and signing up.
Ke Wan, explained everything I needed to know about the course, answered all the questions I had and was very helpful. Very happy with how well he explained everything to me
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Murry signed me up for my cert 4 with no hassles. Very thorough and helpful and also helped out with a few issues I had with my start date. Looking forward to starting my course. Thanks Murry and Open Colleges.
I had been speaking with Sean about my enrolment process, and he was very helpful and well-spoken. He provided clear instructions and detailed information, which made the process easy to follow. I felt at ease throughout the conversation, and everything was handled smoothly without any errors on his end.
I completed Certificate IV in AOD with Open Colleges and my trainer was Nicola and she helped me a lot through out my course. The course covered all the relevant areas and provided resources for all modules.
I was very supported throughout my studies by Sharon, I was always responded to promptly and clearly. Sharon helped guide me through the course and allowed me to complete it in a way that suited my work and lifestyle, I was able to find balance in studies, work and life because of this. I found the course content helpful and easy to navigate… Read more
though I did have some issues in communication with the support team in terms of response time.
SkilTrak was not as resourceful as I would have hoped and were also not great in terms of response time.
Overall I found my experience and studies to be positive and felt well supported thought the course by Sharon.
Sean was extremely helpful on the phone when I was enquiring and signing up. I'm a few weeks in now and everything has been running smoothly so far. I've had one units assessment marked and it only took 2 days despite a message saying there was a bit of a backlog. I've had to live chat twice to figure out a couple of little things and someone has responded within a minute both times.
Open colleges has been an excellent platform to undertake my cert 2 in animal care. The course content was very detailed making me able to learn in depth course work. The teaching was very encouraging, always willing to help and give feedback when needed. The course wasnt to difficult, with determination i was able to handle the grasp of the coursework.
I spoke to Phylis a few weeks ago and she was incredibly helpful. I then spent time reviewing my options and made a call which was answered by Ada, who within moments recalled the information from my initial phone call. Ada was so helpful and made the process very simple and informative.
I have just completed a diploma in Graphic Design with Open Colleges, the trainer and assessor have been extremely helpful in answering all my questions, the response times or replies have been very quick, the online course is structured in a way that makes it very easy to navigate and complete each subject in a methodical way, I would highly recommend this online school to anyone that likes to study at home.
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SCAMMER!!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME.