JCA Reviews 

After finishing my A levels, I decided to take a gap year, so I headed off to Canada to be a Nanny. That was 1981.

In 2022 I was working for an incredible charity, headed by an amazing man who passionately believes in following your dreams. Take a look at Geoff Holt, Finishing the Dream.

In September that year I sat in the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, in a moment I can still see if I close my eyes, a woman walked past me in wearing a lemon-coloured top and pistachio green skirt. She wasn’t young, and she wasn’t slim, but she walked with an air of confidence and happiness, ruling the space she occupied.

In that moment, the idea dropped into my head, what if I could go to University and learn to design clothes for women like me, women over 55 who were the goths, punks and new romantics?

I have now completed my 3-year BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Accessories course at the Jimmy Choo Academy at the Boston Manor campus and here is my feedback:

Boston Manor is beautiful and easy to access by road or rail (Brentford Rail station is a short walk, as is Boston Manor tube which is on the Piccadilly line).

The campus is small and intimate. As a mature student this was perfect for me. If you are looking for the Uni experience maybe move into halls and make sure you make the most of the fact we are accredited to UWL – they have everything, Library, sports teams, student union, the lot.

This is a self-led course. Everything you need is there, but you have to take advantage of that yourself. This isn’t school. One of our tutors in our first year described it as a squash match and if you don’t bring the ball, it’s pointless.

We cover so many aspects of the industry. Practical and theoretical. Design, pattern cutting, make. The course gives you the starting point to learn everything. To put all this into practice takes time and effort, but you will know where to look and everyone will help you learn.

We researched and wrote business plans and dissertations. As someone who had never had to reference, this was a steep learning curve!

The biggest bonus at JCA is the staff. You have almost unlimited access to the Tutors and the technical staff. Turn up to class, ask questions, ask for help and they will be there for you.

Over the last three years, I have rediscovered my imagination and found my curiosity again. The other students have been inspiring. They have shown me fresh perspectives, creativity and ideas that challenged and taught me so much. The person leaving JCA is completely different from the person who arrived. I’m leaving with confidence, passion and a real sense of purpose, and I will carry forward into building my brand THE LÏNG.

I graduated from Jimmy Choo Academy in 2023 with an MA in Fashion Entrepreneurship: Design and Brand Innovation. The programme provided a strong commercial foundation for building and scaling a fashion brand, combining creative development with clear strategic and entrepreneurial training.

What sets JCA apart is its focus on real-world application. The course goes beyond design it teaches brand positioning, market analysis, pricing strategy, production planning, and long-term business growth. I left with not only a seven-look collection, but a structured business plan and the confidence to launch my own label immediately after graduating.

Since then, I have presented a solo show at London Fashion Week and had my designs worn at major international events including the Cannes Film Festival, the BRIT Awards, and the BAFTA Video Games Awards.

My brand has also been featured in publications such as ELLE, Marie Claire, and Reuters and many more.

The academy continues to support its graduates beyond completion of the course, maintaining contact and showing genuine interest in alumni progression.

That ongoing engagement reflects a professional environment that is invested in long-term success, not just academic outcomes.

For aspiring fashion entrepreneurs who want a programme that treats fashion as both a creative discipline and a serious business venture, I would confidently recommend Jimmy Choo Academy

I was one of the students from the recently graduated DBE class (2022-2025) at the JCA’s Mayfair Campus.

During the first year of my studies, there was unfortunately a lot of miscommunication, disorganisation and confusion. However, that was tied to the old management and team who are no longer working at JCA, and since then a lot has changed for the better.

The academy has hired professionals from the fashion industry who know what they’re doing - they listen to each student and give advice to support their collections depending on their needs.

Not only do they have staff from the industry, they also bring in Guest Speakers who pass down their industry knowledge to us through mentorship programs - I’ve now had countless opportunities during my time in this course, and my CV has grown with great effect. It’s not only for designing and sewing jobs - it’s all over the fashion industry like PR, business, styling and many more. I’ve personally managed to meet a lot of great people and professionals who I now work with.

This academy is new - unfortunately, there will be issues with it at the start as it develops and changes. But there has been a great improvement with the lecture structures, opportunity for growth for students. I’m happy to be progressing into the MA course for this coming September.

JCA is not value for money compared to other fashion schools.

As a paying parent, it’s unacceptable that they use Mr. Choo’s name to sell a service that doesn’t deliver quality education. The school clearly has serious issues, and affiliated colleges should reconsider their links.

I raised this with the CEO, but he has ignored the concerns completely. They need to reevaluate the current situation and actually show this actively with communication and if required refunds and active implementation of improvements and reassurances to paying students and parents alike..

The academy that claims to launch careers has actively obstructed mine.

I was described by staff as a “hardworking” and “fantastic student” who completed work to “exceptional” standards throughout my time there. Yet, over a year after withdrawing from the course (due to conduct that made continuation impossible) despite completing 120 credits at distinction level, I am yet to receive any credentials or any attempts to work towards resolution. The withholding of my credits leaves me with no avenue to retrain or simply move on, which they know, and is the least vindictive action they’ve taken.

The course was sold on promises of industry partnerships, state-of-the-art facilities, and connections that simply didn’t exist, which they continue to advertise with. When I raised concerns, I was offered a reference letter (that may or may not be signed by Jimmy Choo) conditional on signing an NDA. If this is such a legitimate academy, why are there so many NDAs being offered? When I refused, all support disappeared.

They ignore all sorts of legal obligations - 10+ months of legal correspondence met with deflection and delay tactics, a Subject Access Request they refuse to hand over for over 6 months, basic support requirements, the list goes on. Meanwhile one of their legal teams provides no meaningful engagement while the academy publishes articles on how great they are. Their only strategy is to drain you financially and emotionally until you have nothing left.

After I withdrew in September 2024, they created a backdated policy to justify keeping my work. Then in summer 2025, nearly a year later, they published my MA-level work without consent to advertise a children’s summer camp, and after apologising and removing this, they then put my designs on their “Bullying and Harassment” webpage while knowing I was actively complaining about harassment. They altered my academic record to show failure instead of acknowledging I withdrew due to their breaches. They’ve withheld my diploma and transcript for over a year just to make sure I really left with nothing. Which begs the question, why would they do this to their own students they previously praised?

The academy will likely respond to any complaint by claiming it’s isolated, portraying complainants as malicious, or suggesting they’ve since “changed.” If they’d truly changed, they would attempt resolution rather than year-long delay tactics. No student who was actively building their career would spend over a year pursuing this without substantial cause.

There is significantly more I could detail, all of which I can substantiate.

I'm not even sure where to begin, there has been so many issues. We were led to believe JCA was a prestigious academy. However, it has been nothing but an expensive disappointment. We invested a lot of money in to what we thought would be an amazing opportunity for our daughter. Most of the things that attracted her to JCA and what she was promised never transpired. A total con!

She was promised one to one mentorship, opportunities to link with industry insiders, a JCA student shop where they could sell their designs and finish with a ready built business. What she got was a poorly managed academy, lack of equipment, no real links with industry experts, bullied for her style by some staff members and little support.

The final fashion show was another poorly organised event. Friends and family not invited to support the students, last minute changes that caused immense stress to students and no sign of Jimmy Choo himself! To top it off the students from the accessories course were given priority. I find it absolutely disgusting that their course is half the price and they had more support and were making clothes not accessories! What was the point of paying £18k a year when it could have been half the price at the other campus?

The graduation was another disaster. Dates were changed last minute and a mix up with tickets. It was held at the University of West London, which the students had no experience with or connection to. They were added to the wrong ceremony with engineering, IT and law students. After all the other issues our daughter experienced this felt like another insult. We found it incredibly disrespectful not only to the students, but also their families.

Our daughter started off excited and enthusiastic with hopes for a promising future in the fashion industry. Sadly, she's left JCA with little confidence and not even sure she wants to be part of the fashion industry. JCA has had a negative impact on her mental health. As parents, we have been left feeling incredibly disappointed and like we've been well and truly conned out of our hard earned cash.

I would not recommend JCA to anyone. Please see this as a warning and don't make the same mistake as we did. If we could get a refund we would. In my opinion, the academy needs investigating for fraud.

Edit: After several months, the new CEO (Andy Ginn) became aware of our daughter's situation. Andy took the BACS payment trace as proof of payment and issued an apology. Our Daughter has now received her certificate and grade. This is a significant step forward.

Andy appears to be working hard to address student issues and improve the reputation of JCA. At least in our case. Andy listened to our complaints, and promised to improve for the future. Whilst this doesn't improve our daughter's experience, Andy did offer extended use of JCA resources to aid with starting a career in fashion. At present, our daughter's confidence in JCA is not fully restored. So I'm unsure that she will take up this offer.

We really do hope the improvement process takes place, and no other student has to go through a similar experience. If JCA can deliver on it's original promise to students, and improve it's reputation, it will benefit both new students and graduates alike.

Original review:

What should have been an exciting and unique experience ended with disaster. No certificate, no grade, and little confidence to pursue a career in the Fashion Industry.

As parents who helped (and struggled) to fund our daughter's education, and give her the best possible opportunity to succeed in the fashion industry, we feel totally cheated and let down. Our other daughter got so much more out of a mainstream University degree.

1. First and second years were generally ok. Although, events were often cancelled, plans changed, and leadership mysteriously changed.

2. Final year was an absolute disaster. Zero planning or forward thinking, poor quality teaching, and almost total absence of organisation. The graduation ceremony was organised less than two weeks before the event! Which BTW Mr Choo didn't bother to attend. Only one member of staff attended!

Not only was the course unorganised, but the accounting processes were totally incompetent. After providing evidence of all payments on several occasions, the 'Finance guy' (Cleary not a professional and extremely rude) has refused the issuance of the Degree grade and Certificate. Three months post graduation, he continues to bully our daughter and hold her degree at ransom.

We now have no choice but to join the queue of other students (and parents) who have been approached by the press to investigate the shambles. Furthermore issue a formal complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, and possibly contact a solicitor.

We can only conclude that this company was setup to poison the hopes and dreams of the young and hopeful Fashionistas. And also to take their Family's money! Hopefully Mr Choo was unaware of this, and his good name abused.

Studying at JCA has been one of the best decisions I have made in my academic career. After completing my BA in Fashion Marketing, I wanted to expand my knowledge and better prepare myself for the industry. With my brand Rethreaded emerging as a concept during my BA final major project and a strong passion for sustainability, I chose JCA to develop my skills in design and garment making, going far beyond the basics I had before.

At first, the transition was extremely challenging, stepping into a new, physically demanding subject at Master’s level with no prior technical experience. However, the support and encouragement from my tutors, Mark Eley and Mark Weston, was invaluable. The small class sizes meant I could receive one-to-one support, while the friendliness and approachability of the teachers allowed me to come to them at any time. Their belief in me gave me the confidence to believe in myself.

What makes JCA stand out is how openly and realistically the tutors speak about the industry. They don’t shy away from discussing the challenges of profit, business costs, and sustainability. This honesty is rare in academia and has given me a much clearer, more practical perspective on entrepreneurship. The course is designed not only to guide you through the creative process but also to equip you with the tools to build a brand and business with real-world strategy.

The dedication of the academic team has been incredible. Each tutor brings a different area of expertise, and their willingness to go above and beyond, whether through sharing ideas they’ve thought about over the weekend or responding outside of hours, has made a huge impact on my journey. Having access to such a breadth of knowledge has allowed me to shape my business from multiple perspectives.

This year at JCA, as part of the MA cohort, I was fortunate enough to showcase my brand Rethreaded at Hong Kong CENTRESTAGE, gaining international exposure and professional experience far beyond what I could have imagined as a new entrant. Additionally, the mentorship program allowed me to connect with Orsola De Castro, from whom I gained invaluable insight into sustainability and built a relationship that has extended beyond JCA into my career.

Looking back, I am amazed at how far I’ve come, from being daunted by the idea of creating a collection with no experience, to producing work I am truly proud of and exceeding my own expectations. More importantly, JCA has given me not just technical and business skills, but also self-belief. I now know how to confidently enter the market, how to conduct well-rounded, in-depth research and those challenges which seem overwhelming at first can be overcome with perseverance.

This summer I was lucky enough to attend JCA for the create and make summer camp. It was a full week of creativity and learning new skills. For the first few days we played around with some draping, designing, using the industrial machines and also exploring the beautiful fabric shops around Mayfair for inspiration. For the second half of the week we were left to our own imaginations to create something to wear ourselves, with the idea of reworking or recycling fabric to create our personal garment. Throughout the process of making my own garment I felt really supported by the staff at JCA, they helped me make my own design come alive. Mel and Adrian (lecturers at JCA) really helped me, especially improving my pattern cutting and sewing skills and teaching me so much in such a short amount of time.

I was one of 8 girls on the course, all a range of ages and I think it was so lovely to see everyone else’s strengths and talents and to take my own inspiration from this. We all really helped each other and I’m so glad I met such lovely people.

I came away from this course feeling so much more confident in my fashion abilities.Credits to Rebecca who has planned the whole course and takes charge of summer camp every year, she really does make it. This course is perfect for anyone with a passion for arts, helping you to understand more of what you enjoy about fashion as there is so many options available here.

I really enjoyed taking part in this course, I will never forget such a special week and would do it again in a heartbeat!!

I have just graduated with a First Class Honours from JCA’s BA Hons Fashion Design & Accessories degree located at Boston Manor House Campus. I have received excellent lectures throughout the course and professional training from industry experts. The JCA team have pushed me to develop my skills in business, pattern cutting and design which has enabled me to graduate with a final collection which will set me apart from other graduates. Throughout the course many opportunities such as competitions, fashion shows and external events have been available to apply too. In second year my designs were featured during London Fashion Week, which was an amazing experience! During the course I entered the JCA X Pineider 250th Anniversary Handbag design competition, where I won Overall Winner & Retail Category Winner for my briefcase design, my winning design was displayed in the Italian Leather Goods New Bond Street Flagship Store’s Window during London Fashion Week. These opportunities alongside my degree provided me with exposure to press and developed my professional portfolio. Since graduating from JCA I have reflected upon my experience and are truly grateful for the opportunities and support from the academy and look forward to the future. I know that the staff and academics will continue to support me when entering the fashion industry and I am truly grateful for the quality of training I have received. Thank you JCA!
Jennifer Duffy

Still nothing from the academy, but they do have time to beg/bribe students for 5 star reviews. Making fake google accounts is a lot cheaper then paying back the money they scammed out of students in the first place.
They admit the academy has its “faults” in these new reviews and that they have “changed” well if that’s the case then they admit corruption and know full well they should give the money back to the students who couldn’t experience “the new jca”.
It’s really disgusting to see such money hungry people in charge taking advantage of younger students. Stop making chat GPT google reviews because you can’t get really ones!

My experience at the Jimmy Choo Academy has been a journey of growth and transformation. When I first started in the founding year, things were definitely challenging. The program was new, and there were issues in the early stages between 2021-2023 that made things difficult. It was a tough time, and like many of my peers, I struggled with the lack of direction and support. However, everything has completely changed in the last couple of years with new directors, passionate staff, and I’m now happily finishing my master’s after staying on for a fourth year!

The transformation has been incredible. The academy is now a place where I feel supported, inspired, and truly valued. The new leadership and the hard work of the staff have created an environment where I can figure out the puzzle pieces for my creative journey collaboratively and judgement free. The course itself is intense, covering design, branding, marketing, business, and fashion culture all in one. It's perfect for anyone wanting to launch a brand, but it requires dedication and a lot of hard work. If you take the initiative to actively seek out opportunities, rather than waiting for them to come to you, the tutors will fully support you in aligning with the right people, places, and resources for you. They are very good at keeping regular communication over emails and teams I seem to be messaging everyday. What I’ve appreciated most is the focus on business ethics, sustainability, and future-proofing my ideas - these are values that align with my own.

One of the biggest positives has been the small class sizes, especially in the master’s program. This has meant a lot of one-on-one time with tutors, and I've had the opportunity to really get to know my mentors. The tutors here are incredible - they’ve not only helped me grow academically but have been a source of strength and support. They genuinely care about us and want to see us succeed. They’ve pushed me to be my best and have helped me heal through some difficult moments. I honestly can’t thank them enough. Special thanks to Fred, Mark & Mark, Adrian, Monique, and all the staff who have supported me during my time here. The technicians, especially the lovely Mel, are a huge part of what makes this academy special. They go above and beyond to make sure we have everything we need, and they’re always ready to share ideas and offer support.

The mentorship I’ve received has also been invaluable. We’re paired with industry professionals, each tailored to the sector we plan to enter, and they’ve offered amazing insight and advice. The academy encourages students to create diverse brands that fill gaps in the fashion industry, addressing areas of underrepresentation. It’s clear that the program is not just about teaching design; it’s about pushing us to create brands that truly matter and contribute to change.

The academy also helps us formulate clear strategies for launching our businesses and taking the next steps in our careers, but ultimately it’s up to the individual to seize those opportunities. I’ve come out of this experience with a solid plan for my future, and I feel ready to take those first steps towards building my brand at my own pace. Highly recommend the Masters Degree for anyone who has studied BA Design. It gives the perfect business and branding skills to your already established creative identity so that you can thrive independently.

I’m extremely proud to be a part of this academy and to witness the growth and positive changes that have happened over the past few years. I’m currently sitting very happily in my own studio space, filled with creativity and confidence in my ability to move forward in the market. I’m taking slow, deliberate steps towards running my business, and I feel prepared for the journey ahead. Thank you for the last 4 years of ups downs, lessons in life + this industry that have made me a stronger individual and for this now safe little unique space where future of creative progressive thinkers are growing in too <3

A bunch of liars stay away from this school

Title is useless educational establishment, however, I am doing a disservice to call it an educational establishment as that it certainly is not, not from what I have seen and what my daughter has gone through.

As a father, I feel completely let down by the Jimmy Choo Academy (JCA). We enrolled our daughter in good faith, believing their promises of a premium, industry-led education. What we got instead was a poorly managed, under delivered, overpriced course that never delivered what it advertised.

We were told this was a unique private academy — not just another university course. They promised one-on-one mentorship, business incubation, and a qualification that reflected JCA’s identity. But almost nothing they promised came true. The facilities were unfinished for most of the time, there was no proper industry mentorship, and when it came time to graduate, the certificate was just from the University of West London — something we could have paid half the price for elsewhere. What a big con, twice the price for less than half the education.

The most worrying part, though, was the lack of safeguarding. When students tried to speak up about staff behaviour or academic problems, they weren’t supported — they were shut down or punished. As a parent, that’s deeply concerning. We expect transparency and protection in any educational setting, especially when paying twice the university course fee. JCA advertised formal complaints procedures, but in reality, there was nothing in place to protect students.

This isn’t just about bad management — it feels like a deliberate misrepresentation. Now it looks like the school is trying to distance itself from the fallout, blaming a former CEO and pretending none of this was systemic. But parents deserve the truth, and I’d warn anyone considering this place to look very closely at what’s really being offered.

My view as always is that a leopard never changes is spots and I believe that is the case here, parents, be warned.

Rubbish establishment run by con artists BEWARE!!!!!