United Education Reviews 83

It hasn't lived up to expectations. I thought my six-year-old would be cared for and introduced to a variety of activities. Instead, the staff just sit chatting and whenever I pick my son up he is all alone. He just seems to do a bit of drawing and the odd game. Won't be sending him again to this scheme.

My 12 year old attended the camp in York (the mount) and it wasn't what we expected at all. As its the Mount school we expected I supposed higher standards rather than a play group. Whilst the staff were generally friendly there was limited activities for my son and he ended up looking after the younger ones which as a boy was not his ideal and he felt bored. To be honest I wouldn't use again which is a shame as it has potential.

My friend worked for them for 2 days and expected to get paid minimum wage, but they said it was a trial and they would not pay him!! It was agreed at the beginning that he would get paid! I would never trust this place with my kids as they do not pay their staff! Nobody has ever rung me back or emailed a reply I would take them to court if it wasn't such a hassle!

My teenager daughter worked for them in July, they have not paid her for the shifts she worked. They lies numerous times and said they would sort it out, now they just don’t even respond. Nice of a childcare company to exploit teenagers in a first job!! Keep well clear.

United Education used our services when they were looking for supply childcare staff during summer. Since then we have struggled to get in touch with them and we are still awaiting payment. No one replies to emails or answers the phone. I would be very wary supplying to them or trusting them with my child when the business seems to be in disarray.

Please stay away. Seem to be a scam. We booked a camp at local school at the end of June and the camp was cancelled at the beginning of July. It has been now 10 weeks and we still have not received the refund. When I attempted to complain, the lady from customer service instructed us to send a complaint to her! Sent me link to Citizens'Advice and wished me fabulous day. Never dealt with such an amount of arrogance and lack of professionalism.

Really impressed with united education this summer. The kids had a blast and are still talking about it. Sorry it took a while to write a review. Massive THANKYOU to everyone. We will be back for more fun and adventure.

Great company with some really dedicated staff. The programs offered are varied and well suited to the age groups. Highly recommend.

United Education is a progressive and forward thinking child care company who has always taken feedback onboard whenever it has been given. I am very happy to have seen this small company grow in the way that it has over the past 5 years and, as their dedication to the kids is truly unmatched, I can't wait to support them in the future!

To all the United family,

You are the backbone of United Education. For over 5 years I have been humbled by the pride you all take in working for United Education. It’s not just about me or what my team does; it is because every single one of our employees brings their own unique skill set to make sure each programme runs smoothly and looks amazing. It is the people across our business, and the hundreds of people who have worked with us over the years, that make this company so special. They tell their families, their friends, and even complete strangers why United Education is such a special business. Over the last month much has been said about me, the head office team and our brand. I know how much you all care about your work, your venues, and most of all each other, so I thought it was important for you all to know the actual facts.

Over the five years I have been in business (2 of which during COVID), this is the most challenging time we have ever faced. It is hard to find the words to convey what a devastating impact the current financial economy, employment shortfall and the continual issues from the pandemic are having. From a business perspective, the damage is unprecedented and the length of the disruption remains worryingly unknown.

Much has been said about United’s employees being paid late this last season. This was a decision made out of necessity to save as many jobs as possible – it was not because of greed. The challenge we face righ now is that we have a number of large invoices and payments outstanding for our summer provision which have not yet been received, leaving United Education with very little in the bank and still bills to pay. Together with our Head Office team, I am working day and night to look after our people and protect as many jobs as possible. We are a service provider in a hard hit sectors and are doing all we can to keep the business that we love afloat. I am so thankful to all of you who have continued to work so hard, and I apologise to anyone who experienced financial or personal difficulties during these difficult times.

Today, as outstanding invoices are cleared over the next 48 hours this cash is being paid straight out to staff.

I’ve seen a couple of comments about my income – To be transparent, this year, 6 out of the 12 months I have not drawn a salary, I am the lowest paid member of the head office team and significant profits have never been taken out of United Education. My aim is to reinvest everything I can in building a business that improves people’s lives and creates opportunities, jobs and experiences for young people.

I am so proud of the United Head office team who have worked so hard and sacrificed a lot to support the company and it’s employees, and the many employees who are currently working. Their spirit is so heart-warming and inspiring, and I couldn’t be prouder of our amazing people (it deserves saying twice!) I am also deeply moved by the thousands of messages of support from our incredible people at the United family. They mean so much to me – thank you all. I’m aware that not every past or present employee feels such admiration for United Education, there is already enough hatred in the world I hope that we can part ways showing kindness to one another rather than contempt. I personally wish you all the best in all your future endeavours and I hope our paths cross again.

The United family started with one person and 5 activity leaders just over 5 years ago. Over those years it has created real competition, which must remain fierce for the benefit of our wonderful customers and the public at large. To those of you who have been with us from the start, I am honoured to be working with all of you building this company as we continue to create competition and choice for consumers across the holiday childcare industry. Our company has created hundreds of seasonal jobs and we will continue to do what we do best: support each other, support our communities, and tackle tough problems through hard work and innovation.

We’ve endured a lot this year, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I know we will come out stronger and kinder to each other as a result. Once again, thank you to all of you, you continue to inspire me every day.

With Gratitude,

This has just been released from the MD (who's details can be found doing a search on Companies House). So my question is now, what happened to all the money that was given by leeds council and the government? This company is a liar, and I hope that all future venues see this post and realise that this company is purely in it for the money and not for the health and safety of the children.
Update 1st Oct 2022- still awaiting payslip and P45 which is a legal requirement, and the company havent had the decency to send either! Absolutely disgraceful the way they treat their staff.

Our little one had a great time over the summer and made lots of new friends.

I, like many other members of staff, have not been paid. Our pay is now over a week late. We were having to do extra work to cover Head Office's incompetence, usually after hours, which we were not paid for.

I have heard from at least 2 camp Site Managers from camps that were not mine, who ran government-funded HAF camps, who have not been paid, and neither have their staff, despite the fact that United Education received funding to run them. Which makes you wonder where that money went?

I would also take many of the 5-star reviews from this season with a pinch of salt (though the staff at those camps were working really hard if they were anything like how hard we worked at my camp). Head Office put out a 'competition' for parents to have the chance to win £200 Amazon Vouchers, if they left a 5-star review, stating the camp location.

As a staff member who has worked for United Education for over a year now, I am shocked and disappointed at how staff have been treated in regard to pay this summer. I have been under paid, not been given access to my payslips despite asking admin and HR several times, and our final pay is 7 days late with no communication from the company as to when we are likely to receive this. Many staff employed for UE are university students who rely on this money to pay rent, bills and buy food. It is appalling how we have been treated and it is illegal to withhold payslips from employees.
I will not be returning to work for the company as they are an unreliable company to work for and I don’t have faith that I will be paid for my hard work this summer.

This company never pays their employees on time. As a company the priority should be to make sure that staff are treated right and paid when they are supposed to be paid. They never send a pay slip even after asking multiple times, they don’t give the contracted holiday pay to some people and significantly under pay others. There is no excuse for not paying staff on time, it is completely illegal and feels disrespectful.
They also never reply to any emails that you send, things would be resolved a lot easier if they communicated with people.

I was a returning staff member this summer but certainly will not be returning again.

Very easy to book, change booking etc. good discounts for nhs/siblings etc.
Not many children at our site so all age groups together everyday, this was fine for my 4year old- she had a great time. A bit more limited for my 10year old. Only one other child her age so she ended up being an informal helper for the little ones. She didn’t mind this but not quite what I expected. They have never had the opportunity to swim at the site they attend despite this being promoted on the site info. Overall safe and reasonably priced child care with nice staff. Better for small children as limited activities.

My 8 year old daughter is having heaps of fun in this week’s camp. It’s her first time at United Education camp (Dallam). We will be back next year. Just one comment for improvements - more outside time! May be due to staffing levels this week?

For the last two years, our son has had a great time with a United Education summer camp, taking part in many different fun and interesting activities, organised by responsible, kind and enthusiastic staff. Thank you, our son is looking forward to seeing you again.

Our two grandchildren have had And an absolute blast! Thank you, they can be very challenging children and we’ve been so happy with their week at summer camp two years running at Gresham’s. Swimming, sports and crafts galore.
Jacob, Georgia and co are friendly, energetic and patient.
And Grandpa and I got a good ‘Tripadvisor review’ too - 9’s and 10’s.

My children (5 & 7) have just finished at the summer camp at The Mount and they have loved every minute of it! The staff were fantastic and really engaged the children in the activities. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the camps.

My children (11 and 8) attended Dallam Camp for a week this summer. While I was a little worried on the first day that the number of children there was low (they had previously attended a larger camp in the country we live in which put them in different groups according to age) I needn’t have been, they had an absolute blast, loved the activities and the camp staff were great - really caring and responsive. They did a nice mix of sporty activities and creative activities and each day were excited to go back to camp again.