Open Colleges is an educational institution that provides distance learning and online training programs. The organization typically offers vocational courses, professional development programs, and skills-based training across various industries and fields of study. Students can generally access coursework and educational materials remotely through digital platforms and correspondence methods.
Open Colleges receives a mix of feedback from its users, with 62% of reviewers expressing positive sentiments about their experiences. Many customers highlight the friendly and knowledgeable staff, particularly praising individuals like Ada and Sean for their helpfulness and clear communication during the enrollment process.
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Reviewers appreciate the ease of navigating the course materials and the supportive guidance provided throughout their studies. However, there are notable complaints regarding difficulties in scheduling appointments with advisers and issues related to course fees, including instances of being overcharged. Some users express frustration over feeling misled or having a negative experience with the overall service. Despite these criticisms, the majority of feedback remains favorable, reflecting a generally positive sentiment towards Open Colleges.
1,039 customer reviewsLatest review over a year ago
Where the score comes from
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
Rating, volume, share of the score, six-month trend and fake-review risk for each source
Source
Rating
Reviews
Weight
6-mo
Fake risk
★
Trustpilot
Imported Trustpilot reviews
3.5
1,039
100%
-0.4
● Low
3.5 / 5 overall
=
1,039 reviews across 1 scored source
How fake risk works ⓘ
Reputation trend
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Nov 2025.
Last 3 months
4.0▼ 0.4
12-month avg
3.8
All-time
3.5
Category avg
4.3
Monthly averageCategory average
Monthly average rating and review count
Month
Average
Reviews
Dec 24
1.0
2
Jan 25
5.0
3
Feb 25
1.0
1
Mar 25
1.0
2
Apr 25
3.0
3
May 25
2.0
1
Jun 25
4.3
4
Jul 25
4.0
2
Aug 25
4.7
7
Sep 25
1.0
3
Oct 25
4.3
11
Nov 25
4.4
17
What people praise & complain about
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 500 most recent reviews.
Top praiseof 309 positive reviews
Customer service38%
117 mentions
Helpful support32%
99 mentions
Easy to use27%
83 mentions
Fast & efficient12%
38 mentions
“Very helpful and accommodating to my time schedule for calls and responses to email”
On “Customer service” · Nov 7, 2025
Top complaintsof 158 negative reviews
Customer service42%
66 mentions
Payment issues29%
46 mentions
Cancellation18%
29 mentions
Response time15%
23 mentions
“Their sales tactics are manipulative, and their customer service actively works against your rights”
On “Customer service” · Sep 23, 2025
How it compares
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Education & Training.
Overall rating and review count for this company and similar companies
Signed up for a cert 4 in Accounting. They gave me 7 days "cooling off" period. But I never received the course details or logins until weeks after. I found the course was dismal with units like "How to make business documents" which is something I learnt as a child in year 8. Other units did not touch on accounting either.
I decided this was a waste of over $4k and contacted them to cancel my enrolment and have money refunded. They ignored me for months. I constantly followed up for over 5 months. I was either ignored or told someone would contact me, I was never contacted until I said I had lodged complaints with my bank, ASQA, ACCC and the Education Department. I then was called and told I couldn't be refunded completely because I did not cancel in the cooling off period. I reminded them that they hadn't provided the details until weeks after the cooling off period and I had been trying to cancel for months.
They didn't care even though I had all the proof. They said they would keep $2k of what I had paid and refund the rest.
3 weeks later I still haven't received the promised refund amount.
I'm now taking this up with a lawyer as I feel I've been seriously scammed here.
Open Colleges offers a wide range of vocational education and training courses across various fields including business, healthcare, beauty, fitness, counselling, and creative arts. All courses are nationally recognized and designed to provide practical skills for career advancement. Course formats include online study, blended learning, and some face-to-face components.
How long do courses typically take to complete?
Course duration varies depending on the qualification level and study mode. Certificate courses typically take 6-12 months, while diploma programs usually require 12-18 months to complete. Students can often study at their own pace within reasonable timeframes.
Are Open Colleges qualifications nationally recognized?
Yes, Open Colleges is a Registered Training Organization (RTO) and all qualifications are nationally recognized under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Graduates receive certificates and diplomas that are accepted by employers and other educational institutions across Australia.
What support is available for online students?
Open Colleges provides comprehensive student support including dedicated student advisors, online learning resources, and technical support. Students also have access to career services, academic assistance, and peer networking opportunities through online forums and communities.
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How much do courses cost and what payment options are available?
Course fees vary depending on the qualification and field of study. Open Colleges offers flexible payment plans including upfront payment discounts, monthly payment options, and government funding schemes like VET Student Loans where eligible. Fee information is provided during the enrollment process.
What are the entry requirements for courses?
Entry requirements vary by course, but many programs have flexible admission criteria. Most courses require completion of Year 10 or equivalent, while some may require specific prerequisites or work experience. Open Colleges also offers foundation courses for students who need to meet entry requirements.
How do I contact Open Colleges for enrollment or course information?
You can contact Open Colleges through their website's live chat feature, by calling their student services team, or by submitting an online inquiry form. Course information is also available through their online course catalog and prospectus downloads.
Anyone can write a CrowdTrust review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they'll be displayed as long as an account is active.
Easy to use and understand what needs to be done to complete modules.
The layout of the site is good, only issue is that it crashed a couple of times and I had to wait for modules to be unlocked.
Overall very happy with the course, thanks very much!
Throughout this course I received very minimal support or help from the trainers. For example when I sent emails with my enquiries I received responses which was just copy and paste from the FAQ pages that I had already read but still needed further clarification.
I did not feel that the trainers genuinely wanted to help if I requested more clarification than what was on the FAQ pages. An example for this is in one of the modules I had a total of 12 or more backward and forward emails to a trainer trying to ask for help as to where I went wrong, I was in the end instructed to just submit my work as it was because ‘it was too hard to see where I went wrong without seeing the data’ when I got the grade, the feedback stated that I needed to ask more questions if I was stuck on something. This was very frustrating to hear as I tried very hard to get further clarification but was told to submit my work by the trainer anyway.
The overall wording of the activities, learning material and case studies was appalling and you can tell that no one has gone through and actually read the modules, and the activities recently to ensure it is kept fresh and up to date. Half the time it felt like double Dutch and like it was written by someone whose second language is English. I am shocked that this is how a cert IV is presented, especially when I paid over $3k for this course.
There is no way that I would recommend anyone to use open colleges for study as this was a struggle.
The trainers and support staff are amazing. Any query I had was responded to quickly and accurately. The trainer who supervised my final live assessments was incredible. Michelle was knowledgeable, friendly, encouraging and very reassuring. I am very glad to have completed this course through Open Colleges and would recommend it to anyone.
My son was talked into signing up with open colleges, He is mentally unable to study. Open colleges ignored this, refused to accept this and kept taking his money
My overall experience was good. I loved how this course allowed you to go at your own pace. The information was easily accessible to you at any time and it was relevant to the work. My problems are with the site itself, how it was a bit glitchy at times. The staff were friendly and helpful most of the time.
Great Choice!
So glad I decided to do this course. It was a great stepping stone into the world of travel.
The tutor Tanya Gayle was engaging, supportive and knowledgeable on all topics. The content right up the end was constructive.
Overall, a very pleasurable experience.
Thank you OC.
Excellent platform, the best part where the student support and the instructors. friendly and helpful. They guided me and gave me all the options to be able to finish the course successfully.
One advice follow the study schedule because it requires time and you don't want to run out of time and need an extension (But if you need the team is helpful and will guide you through it).
Only study with Open Colleges if you want to become depressed.
The Pro's
- Assessors/tutors seem nice.
- Nice Layout to the website.
The Cons
- So much information is incorrect or out of date, with much of the information at least 5 years old.
- Many of the external links, including extra-curricular material they tell you to read, no longer work
- Some extra curricular material they ask you to read does not seem appropriate to this level of course, but more suitable to a degree (that is a personal view).
- Many grammatical and spelling errors throughout the course, including assignments, which are also worded poorly and can be hard to understand. Some assignment questions do not seem appropriate to the case study in question which makes answering them very confusing.
- The way the learning material is laid out does not flow and is confusing to follow along with.
- There is no proper forum in which to touch base with other students, which I was told there was when I signed up.
- Their admin team is poor. Multiple mistakes throughout my time with them including: telling me my course was ending a year before it should have due to them listing me as doing a different course; I fell very ill during my course and they made me go back to my doctor repeatedly because they were not happy with the doctors certificate - in the end my doctor had to call them to sort it out! and; I was also repeatedly told I could not extend my course when I in fact could which caused me intense mental anguish, as trying to fix their errors is incredibly difficult.
- Due to Covid limitations I've been having difficulty securing a work placement for the past year (I'm in Melbourne) and getting Open Colleges to help is really hard, they just throw barriers at you. They need you to provide proof of the places you have approached for work placement before they will help you, but its hard to provide proof when everything has been done over the phone! Basically, if you can't get a work placement for yourself you fail. A couple of potential work placements I contacted seemed to reject me after I told them I was studying with Open Colleges, and I don't understand why. I've almost ran out of extensions and have been told I can't apply for anymore.
- When I signed up I was told it was virtually impossible to fail this course and that they would do everything they could to help you. That is not true.
- This course has caused me to become incredibly depressed, which is insane as I did this course to HELP people with mental health issues (Mental Health Cert 4)
- I tried to give them 2 stars but I just can't. The pretty website and nice assessors just arn't enough, sorry.
Open Colleges provide a uniquely suitable learning experience with a pristinely stern educational program. I appreciated their knowledge, patience, and understanding, fortunately, it was an enlightening learning experience.
If I could rate this college a 0 I would. When looking for colleges this placed really stuck out compared to the rest. Before I enrolled I asked if this could be done with living alone which they said yes to. I was also told for any reason I couldn’t finish the course that I could cancel without paying anything besides what I had paid. Fast forward, I handed my first assignment in with a recording of myself editing to make it like I was two people (as I live alone, which I was told that was fine) 4 weeks later I finally get my marks back saying that it’s not allowed and I need to have someone record with me. Any time I tried contact online support no one was there. Every time I tried contacting the office no one answered. So I sent a not very nice email to them that I’m done with this college and to cancel my enrolment to which they have turned around and said if I want to cancel I will need to pay the rest of the amount. This company is a scam they don’t care about the students. Stay far away from this place.
Did not provide course materials after full payment
Very hard to deal with. I am halfway through my course and they would not unlock my modules unless I pay for the full amount. After I paid for my full amount, they denied access to the modules because they said my course expired. I am currently reporting them to the ombudsman, department of education and consumer of affairs. Not fair that I am denied access to the materials that I paid in full.
I am very relieved I finished, although I do feel the course was much harder than I thought. Questions that should have been made simple where written in a complicated formate requiring you answering in a more personalised context. The work placement I felt was a bit over the top but in the end I got there.
I started my Diploma in March 2018 and finally with all the long struggles with covid lockdowns and extensions I have finally finished. Open Colleges had a great online chat support team that were very helpful. Grading our modules was a quick process. Much thanks to Rosan Lai and the support team. For me doing a course online was a struggle but managed to get there in the end. Thank you to Open Colleges, looking forward to receiving my certificate. Also I would like to add that I am now a permanent part-time Lifestyle Support Worker due to my work placement with Communify, New Farm and also starting a shift as an NDIS Support Worker. Always looking to moving forward in the near future.
Open Colleges may recognize prior learning (RPL) and credits from other registered training organizations or educational institutions. Students need to provide official transcripts and course outlines for assessment. The recognition process is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
What happens if I need to withdraw from a course?
Open Colleges has a withdrawal policy that allows students to cancel within a cooling-off period for a full refund. After this period, refund eligibility depends on the timing of withdrawal and course progress. Students should review the terms and conditions and speak with student services before making withdrawal decisions.
Do you offer work placement or practical experience opportunities?
Many Open Colleges courses include practical components such as work placements, internships, or hands-on training requirements. The college works with industry partners to provide real-world experience opportunities. Specific placement requirements and arrangements vary by course and are outlined in the course information.
About Open Colleges
Open Colleges is an educational institution that provides distance learning and online training programs. The organization typically offers vocational courses, professional development programs, and skills-based training across various industries and fields of study. Students can generally access coursework and educational materials remotely through digital platforms and correspondence methods.
