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.
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.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 3.5 | 1,039 | 100% | -0.4 | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Nov 2025.
| 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 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 500 most recent reviews.
“Very helpful and accommodating to my time schedule for calls and responses to email”
“Their sales tactics are manipulative, and their customer service actively works against your rights”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Education & Training.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Website & app | Value | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 out of 5 (fair) | 100 out of 100 | 3.7 out of 5 (good) | 3.4 out of 5 (fair) | 1.7 out of 5 (poor) | +61% | 1,039 | |
| 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 4.2 out of 5 (good) | — | — | 85 | |
| 5.0 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 5.0 out of 5 (good) | — | 5.0 out of 5 (good) | — | 57 | |
| 5.0 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 5.0 out of 5 (good) | — | — | — | 37 | |
| 4.5 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.9 out of 5 (good) | — | — | — | 25 |
Bottom line: Open Colleges is #5 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On value, Truka scores higher (5.0 vs 1.7).
500 reviews of Open Colleges. Filter by what matters to you.
the reading materials were often set for the American context rather than Australian and often full of typos. Navigating around the modules when doing assignments was clunky. Assessment tasks included menial activities that were time consuming but not a reasonable test of skill or knowledge (eg 'write an email to explain your findings'). Requirement for role plays wih multiple actors was a burden on family.
My time with this company has honestly been a roller coaster, and not the fun kind. I’ve been studying with them for the past 12 months. The course itself was fine, easy to follow, and the trainer was amazing. Every time I needed help, they were there, and I really appreciated that. But everything outside of the actual course has been incredibly frustrating. The support team has been basically unreachable. The last 6 months have been the worst. I’ve lost count of how many times I had to go to the trainers just to get answers because the support lines were useless, no response for weeks to emails, always on hold, rarely helpful and not giving the right information when they do decide to reply. And now I’m trying to cancel… and it’s been a nightmare. I’ve emailed five times, sent the cancellation form multiple times, and I’m still being ignored. It honestly feels like they’ve vanished the moment I asked to leave. It’s a real shame because the course itself I was enjoying, but the rest of the experience was a total letdown It's disappointing that a company offering education would operate with such poor communication and customer service. I wouldn't recommend them to others based on this experience.
Quick answers to the questions people ask most.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Polarized pattern: few middle ratings. 62% of recent reviews are 4–5★ and 32% are 1–2★.
I started around Christmas of 2019, I was coached that it was easy to sign up and start today. When I started there was a tour thru the website. Once starting the certificate it was almost to easy to do, information given to you and you just need to make the answer shorter. As you go thru the certificate the teachers get more particular and start to be very detailed about why you didn't add something when stated not to or you can't go 10% over the word could but then you don't have enough. Asking for help just wasn't really an option unless you plan to wait for an answer that isn't helpful. You have to look for what you think is needed. Listen to the webinars but take some of it like a grain of salt as some teachers make there own rules. Student support was frustrating due to continusly having to simplify what I was looking after and then getting told to just contact your teacher as they got stuck. Getting a buddy to study with didn't really work for me. Support is needed with this course and people that understand exactly what you are talking about and not just guessing. Communication is very broken as you then wait days at a time just for a reply. 1 year was not enough to complete the course as I finally did my observations to finish September 2021. I know covid had an impact but alot of this is online, how is it even affected. open module up early as there may not be someone in the office when you need it open. The only outlasting people that I felt did there job well was Trish who also taught cert 3 in disability and Nicole the RN from NT. These two workers showed compassion and wanted listen and help you, that was the qualities everyone needed and I thank them for that
Unfortunately there were long time frames between submitting an assessment and to getting the results of a submitted assignment. Receiving feedback when asking for help from assessors also was not done in a timely manner There were too many grammar and spelling mistakes in the course material and many links to expand knowledge did not work. Many of the questions were repetitive and I feel that there was huge expectation of students with the workplace portfolios that was unrealistic. All of these concerns were regularly taken up with student support both verbally and in written format. Hopefully they have dealt with these issues
From my perspective as an experienced Nail Artist and Certificate III Nail Technology student trying to finish the course: intellectual content is ok. Dense material to learn in detail about the whole basics. Complex modules and strict with Legislations Health and Safety and legal rules. However: OUT OF DATE, old style techniques and processes of teaching. The course doesn't follow the advances of the market and the real life of the nail industry. It's cheaper than a proper school like TAFE, French Beauty Academy, etc but the stress of actually learning out of theory is exhausting! Finding your own clients to do things people don't really like? Find loads of people that are keen to receive treatment just for the extensive assessments: HELL. The work placements don't match the reality of salons with real clients. You cannot do assessment tasks on clients that are paying for treatments the way they want. It doesn't make any sense. Tiring: Find a workmate with time/patience to be your supervisor while they are busy doing their own job? Ask the workmate to analyze and fill up heaps of paperwork that should be the responsibility of the school? COME ON. Where on Earth a government-subsided school can be so corrupt and non-sense? Open Colleges is the nightmare of modern nail spas, nail bars, and fast-paced busy nail techs. Internet and small brands are on the market not only because they make money but because they teach and they sell reality for people that have a genuine interest and talent to be a nail tech already. If you're a newbe looking for a Certificate/piece of paper go for it (TAFE preferably) but OPEN COLLEGES: trash. Don't waste your money and time to ruin your patience, nights of sleep, and professional reputation among beauty colleagues.
Where is the genuine assistance? We shouldn't have to submit an assessment to receive assistance as that counts as submitting which is terrible seeing as you get 2 go's before having to re-pay for an assessment. The course I chose is good, though the trainers are not really trainers because they are not training the customers, if someone asks for assistance why send the same generic template to everyone, why not give assistance as if it was face to face. I lost motivation doing this course because of the lack of assistance when it was needed and continuously re-submitted assessments because of this.
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.
Would not recommended. Though the process of self paced online learning was ideal, the lack of correspondence and delayed markings of assessments was poor and drawn out. The assessments themselves were poorly written and assessors would frequently ask for resubmissions even though the feedback was positive and they identified the outlined criteria had been met. After finishing the course months ago I am still waiting on certification, despite me following up on multiple occasions.
The only good experience about open colleges is the amazing people on the student support end who helped me through the absolute difficulty it was trying to complete my cert III in captive animals under my trainer Chris Hosking. Chris would take far too long to respond to messages and questions and would repeatedly move appointments I had set for interviewer/student questions. I had to request multiple course extensions due to my appointments being shifted against my will. I'm sure theres some good excuse he has for this behaviour, and I apologise if this is not his fault, but this definitely should not be affecting his students academics. I may try working through open colleges again, but not under Chris Hosking.
When I first started the course the support from my assessor was great but by December 2020 it had become very slow. I waited 10 weeks and more to have assessments looked at and then if I had to resubmit it would take weeks to have that checked. It was very frustrating and I eventually put in a formal complaint which didn't seem to make a lot of difference. It was 4 months from putting in my final assessments from my placement until I was finally graded and finished. I was lucky that the place I got employment at didn't ask to see the certificate or I would have missed out on the job. ****I don't have my certificate yet***
My experience with Open Colleges is not great. I feel there was not enough support from Trainers, Questions were asked and never replied to, or the replies were vague and not useful. Also I was bitterly disappointed in the amount of typo's in the modules, I honestly work with dyslexic people who have less trouble spelling. I found a lot of the SAQ vague. And quite a few of the questions in the quizzes had incorrect answers or out dated answers. When you are paying for tuition you expect much more. Some of my colleagues are also doing courses through Open Colleges, expect similar reviews from them. Overall - unimpressed. I feel my time with Open Colleges was a waste of time and money. I do not recommend Open Colleges as a training provider.
I had many teachers that would not reply to emails for ages... meaning weeks. This would absolutely useless for my studies and disappointing. Claire cooper was very helpful and probably the only person at open colleges that I felt cared about me and my studies and helped me along the way. I ended up completing the whole portfolio 1 for no reason when I was meant to jump straight to portfolio 2. I wasted a lot of time when this was a transfer credit. It was apparently written on paper however, I feel that these assignments are just so big and take a lot of time that someone should be contacting me about what to do as it never said I didn’t have to do it on the module section... IT SHOULD NOT BE ACCESSIBLE IF I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO DO IT!! this was more then disappointing and the exact reason I wouldn’t recommend open colleges to others. There needs to be more contact about what assessments are needed to do and what doesn't need to be done when you get credit transfers. I am glad to be finished now. Thank you Claire for your support during these tough times and for always replying as quickly as possible to my emails. You are the best. Thanks
The only time it is easy to get through to open colleges is when you are signing up and paying money. Good luck getting help. There is no communication between assessors and students. No feedback on assessments when you eventually get them back. The new OSX has taken any ability to communicate and get help away. They don't listen and act on complaints. I contacted 60 minutes and a couple of other news shows, hopefully they will report on all of the bad service.
Open Colleges is Fine. If you have studied out of school, have the drive to self motivate and are prepared to wait a week for an answer for a basic clarity answer then go for it. There is a lot of talk about support and student support before you sign up, however, they are unable to address any coursework concerns so don't rely on that. Finding placement is difficult and the ridiculously long workplace portfolios make a bachelor's degree placement look like a breeze. -The student forums are littered with people lost in the work and particularly the ambiguity of the wording. -Everybody struggles to find placement (Not to mention complete the check in's etc) I completed my course and am working in the field, there is plenty of good staff involved in OC, however, there are major flaws in the design and industry reputation (There are even students stating they have to re-complete units when engaging in further study elsewhere) Just be wary - Studying while working full-time was great, and studying at my pace was also great. Just weigh up the pros and cons. I certainly wouldn't recommend to first-time students.
Felt on my own the whole way through. No one responds to the In house emails. Quick enough to take the money out your bank every week, but when it comes to wanting help no one is interested. Don’t waste you time or money. Wouldn’t recommend at all!
Assessments took a very long time to be marked (before Covid hit) When needing assistance regarding an explanation of questions to complete (and what the questions were asking) most assessors gave feedback that mirrored the questions that were hard to understand in the first place! To add, most assessors aside from one or two took their time responding by email. ( I would like to mention Eliana Vogiatzis as the only assessor at Open Colleges that gave me 100% support and assistance at all times and who was efficient, prompt, helpful and understanding towards me and my needs while studying. I commend her professionalism and demeanour) The procedures of submitting in assessments was extremely challenging and difficult- not everyone is technically minded! Student support staff made errors regarding unlocking correct modules and gave incorrect information regarding how much I still needed to complete, therefore when I thought I was almost finished my course, I then discovered there was additional assessments to be completed. Most assessors were very anal about submission of work and were too picky over trivial matters that weren’t a big deal, however delayed marking assessments until these minor details were corrected and I went through the process of then resubmitting. When I finally completed my course I was told it would take 4 to 6 weeks for my diploma to be sent to me. After almost 5 weeks went by I received an email from O.C informing me that records of my up to date first aid information needed to be viewed by O.C before they could release the diploma to me! Why was this request not brought to my attention well before the weeks went by?? Then when I forwarded this information it took another few days for O.C to then actually mail the diploma and it was another week after that for me to finally receive it in the mail. I was then devastated to see my diploma all bent and twisted in my mailbox- aside from stamping a very small message of ‘do not bend’ on the envelope, no other efforts were made to ensure my diploma reached me in good condition. (Example: providing a cardboard backing to protect the diploma from being mishandled in the mail, instead of only providing a flimsy plastic sleeve!) A disappointing and stressful experience with Open Colleges in general and therefore I cannot recommend this service to others.
The assessments documents are formatted and worded terribly. Quite a few spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Very inconsistent. It can sometimes be difficult to get in contact with some assessors as you can’t book phone calls with them. I also received misleading email communications - for example, I was sent an email saying that I could extend my course, but then when I applied for this I was told that my period to extend was expired (I had received that email on the same day). I was also sent an email saying that my course had expired and I didn’t complete it when in fact I had graduated. I had to call support to confirm this and resend my certificate of completion. The whole system is very cluncky. There is a lot of room for improvement. Aside from that, I had a really pleasant experience with one of my trainers - Catherine Tumelty. She was so responsive and helpful and was the silver lining throughout the time I was doing study. Keep her!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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