Animal Courses Direct Reviews 

Holly was extremely helpful and informative.

I completed the Level 2 Vet Nursing Assistant course with Animal Courses Direct and I’m now leaving this review because it is the only way I seem to get any response from them. Every time I contact them privately, I’m ignored. Every time I post publicly, they suddenly reply. That alone says everything.

I submitted all my work in February 2026, including handwritten answers and signed placement evidence. My work was marked, accepted, and I was told I had passed. I was told my certificate would take 12–24 weeks.

After six months of silence, I chased them in July. Only then was I suddenly told there were “quality issues” with my work. This was the first time anyone mentioned a problem, despite my work being accepted back in February.

They then claimed they “couldn’t read” my handwritten documents — six months after marking them and telling me I passed. I no longer have the physical copies because I was told everything was accepted, but they have the original uploads on their system.

Because of their delay, I had no choice but to type what I could still see from the uploaded images. I was told this was fine.
Then they contradicted themselves and said typed signatures were “not authentic” and not acceptable — even though:
They already accepted typed signatures for Question 2
Their own staff emailed me confirming typed versions are acceptable when originals are unreadable
They waited six months before claiming the originals were “unreadable”
They told me to “type what I can see from the uploaded images”
They told me to resubmit typed work, then rejected it for being typed.
On top of that, the AI accusations have been completely inconsistent. My marking sheet shows:
Question 1: 0% AI
Question 2: 0% AI
Question 3: 20% AI
Yet the overall result claims 100% AI, which is impossible and contradicts their own scores. I wrote everything myself, based on my placement experience.
Their own staff even admitted AI scores can produce false positives and told me not to rewrite work just to lower a score — while tutors demanded I “reduce the score” anyway.

Then they told me the resubmission deadline was 5 September, but extended my course on 9 September, after the deadline had already passed. I was told to complete extra work while simultaneously being told I could no longer submit it.
Every time I fix one issue, they invent another. Every department contradicts the last. Every message gives different instructions. And every delay is blamed on me, even though the delays are entirely theirs.

Their final response on 14/09/2026 admits delays and partially upholds my complaint, but still refuses a refund and still expects me to complete work they made impossible to submit.

At this point, I don’t even want the certificate — I want my money back.
This company has shown:
Months of silence
Contradictory instructions
Administrative errors
Unfounded AI accusations
Missed deadlines caused by their own delays
Requirements that contradict their own staff guidance

A process that is impossible to complete
I am leaving this review because it is the only way they respond.

Avoid this company.

Holly was very friendly and helpful, always replied quickly and was ready to help with any queries. I fully recommend this service.

Holly's customer service was nothing short of astounding. She was warm and welcoming, and incredibly understanding of my circumstances.
I never considered a HE course, but after Holly's reassurance and knowledge in where it can get me in life, I would recommend it to anyone who prefers the non-conventional path of education. I feel so prepared and comfortable in what I have selected for my studies. Thank you!

I received a phone call from Holly and she was absolutely amazing at explaining the course and the payment options!! Everything was so well said and she was really friendly!! Couldn’t fault her on anything

Excellent from holly she explained the courses for me and what I wanted to do she went into depth and also friendly we also talked about our dogs so it was very relaxed chat.

Holly was really friendly, patient and lovely to talk to. She went through all my options and was very clear and direct in her answers making the whole process really easy.
Holly made the effort to listen to what I’d said earlier in the conversation and referred back to it later in the call to make the whole experience more personal, and to sort of remind me of my reasons for exploring adult learning.

I wrote a negative review back in August 2025 stating that I thought I had completed my course for no reason as certification looked uncertain and it all went very quiet. Well I’m happy to say that I received a certificate of completion from the awarding body this month. I did spend a lot of time chasing it, so maybe persevere if you haven’t received yours yet.

I have recently enrolled onto the Level 3 Diploma in Sustainable Wildlife Conservation and Biodiversity Management. Callum has helped me so much! From answering my questions about the course content, payment and enrolment, he has been extremely informative and friendly. The enrolment experience was a breeze and I am so excited to get started! This company offers many courses at multiple levels, and I have a feeling that this one won’t be the last!

Holly was a huge help enrolling into the course. She’s friendly, easy to talk to, clear and direct when answers questions and taking you through enrolment.

Holly was brilliant and very informative of the different options that were available to me regarding the dog grooming courses, the process of getting started with quick and easy.

UPDATED REVIEW- AVOID THIS AWFUL COMPANY 👎😡

I would give zero stars if I could. Please avoid this company.
My experience with Animal Courses Direct / Learndirect has been an absolute disgrace from start to finish.
Over many months, I experienced repeated administrative errors, poor communication, misinformation, broken promises, discrimination and countless delays. I was constantly passed between different departments, repeatedly forced to chase for responses, and spent an unbelievable amount of time trying to resolve problems that should never have happened in the first place.

The actual course content was also extremely poor. It was very badly structured, incorrectly ordered, difficult to follow and poorly explained. The learning material did not even match the assessment questions, which made the course even more confusing and frustrating to complete.

As a disabled learner, I was placed at a substantial disadvantage because my agreed reasonable adjustments were not properly implemented or communicated. This caused further delays and difficulties, and I felt discriminated against as a result of repeated failures by the company. The company later acknowledged that, despite me being told otherwise, relevant staff had not been informed of my reasonable adjustments.

I also submitted a Subject Access Request which was not provided within the statutory timeframe. It took months, repeated follow-ups, periods of being completely ignored, and a complaint to the ICO before I finally received my data. I received no proper apology or meaningful explanation for the significant delay.

I produced a detailed chronological timeline supported by emails, call recordings and other evidence documenting everything I had experienced. Despite acknowledging several failures in its own response, THE COMPANY COMPLETELY DENIED AND MINIMISED the true extent of what I had been put through.

The impact on my education and mental health was enormous. My family spent countless hours trying to resolve problems that should never have existed, and what should have been an enjoyable learning experience became months of extreme stress and anxiety.

Even now, I am still waiting to receive my course certificate, which is ONCE AGAIN overdue.

Please do not go anywhere near this company. I have been left without my certificate, without a true apology or proper acknowledgement of what happened, and without any compensation.☹️😓

Great experience to get start - friendly and very informative!!

Holly was really helpful over the phone and answered any questions that I had 😊

Holly was very informative and obviously knows her job well! Thanks for all the help Holly 🙂

Holly was really informative, supportive, and helpful. She was able to get me fully enrolled in a half an hour.

Holly and Laura were super helpful in explaining the course and getting me enrolled. Would highly recommend learning direct and Holly and Laura to anyone wanting a career change. Thankyou

Holly was amazing today. She answered all of my questions and was really helpful. She put me at ease and offered a bigger percentage discount which just sealed the deal for me!

Thank you xx

The pain continues and I am tired

I got the " oh our course has changed back in feb" . I DID THE WORK. The instructor passed it.. whole course passed

N now in May i get ohh we cannot give you your certification we detected AI.. we have a new course do that now

They are a scam and a joke tbh

Holly was very helpful, even though I had some glitches during our call that needed to be resolved. Everything was explained that I had asked for, and she was very kind :) Thank you again