Animal Courses Direct Reviews 

Jake was very helpful. It was informative and fast service over the phone and email. However after reading all these bad reviews about the aftermath of taking these courses I am concerned. Jake did say that if there's any issues down the line that I should contact him. So I hope the helpful service stays the same by the time I do complete my course. Crossing my fingers that they are now better at handling the certificates and finalising the diplomas. Honestly the stories on here sound awful. Should've read them before I enrolled really!

Completed my small animal hydrotherapy diploma in September 2023, I was advised that all of the documents that I provided were complete and marked by my then tutor. Months after I completed my practical (practical placement was amazing) I was told I was missing information, this happened several times. Kept blaming the awarding body. My tutor was not available to email, no one seemed to be able to advise exactly what I needed to, provide to complete my course. This went on for months. It was the most stressful infuriating time. The course content is basically just copied and pasted off Google, lots of spelling errors, just very unprofessional. I finally received my certificate in January of this year. That was 16 MONTHS after I completed my practical. I would not recommend this company AT ALL! SHOCKING! This course was not cheap, seems they just want the money and don't give two hoots about the customer care. You couldn't pay me to do another course with them. Avoid, do your research on any course provider before enrolling.

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!

Started a 2 year course in Small Animal Hydrotherapy in April 2022 and qualified in July 2024. However, I am yet to receive my certificate, along with many other people on the course.

They never told us when we joined the course that it could take up to 6 months to receive them (something they have now conveniently added to the course on the website), but decided to tell us more than a year down the line. Don’t quite understand why, because this is clearly incorrect. They also decided to change they regulatory body once we had qualified, and told us we had to complete extra work to add to the marking (work we had already done and had marked, by them..)

Communication is shocking - you wait for weeks on end for email & phone replies, simply just get passed from team to team, and you never get any answers. They remain unable to tell us when we will get the certificates.

Happy to take your money for a course, but cannot provide you with the certificate you are entitled too.

Spoke to the lovely Jakub and got started he even gave me a discount! Super happy.10/10 service.

Jake was very accommodating especially as I was at work so wanted to do it mostly over email and he helped a lot! He also put my mind at ease and gave me information about the course which was helpful

I was interested in signing up to a course after noticing there was a "sale on" giving a heavily discounted course price. It did seem odd that the sale just happens to close in a day or two which felt like a scam tactic to push people into signing up. I noticed a TrustPilot symbol on the web page which made me think it looked legit. Unfortunately when I clicked the link, it went straight to the main Trustpilot page and not the one associated with the actual business. When I searched for it I saw so many poor reviews and comments about it being a scam. It's a shame because I really thought this could be a great course, although expensive. Unfortunately all the negative reviews have copypasta responses that refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of students complaints.

I am writing this because I felt quite close to falling for one of these scams and I want to warn others to be cautious in future.

I have immense appreciation for Animal Jobs Direct—your courses played a crucial role in shaping my career. I completed the Wildlife Care & Conservation course and loved every moment of it. The tutor support exceeded my expectations, providing guidance that made a real difference.

Completing this course led me to volunteer overseas, and I was grateful for the support in finding the right program for me. That experience marked the beginning of my journey, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunities your programs provided.

Through Animal Jobs Direct, I connected with Fuze Ecoteer and volunteered in Indonesia. That experience not only deepened my passion for conservation but also introduced me to the founder, who has since become a close friend and professional collaborator.

Thank you for giving me that first career push—I’m truly grateful!

Jake was really helpful and answered all the questions I had about the course. He also enrolled me in the course saving me some extra cash!

SCAMMERS STAY AWAY

Robbed me of £4200 absolutely disgusting letters come back wrong address ignored on phone not even with awarding body they advertised ..taking this further!I have all evidence to back up my claims! Totally ignore please stay away and don’t get robbed like I did

I'd read a number of concerning reviews on here about not receiving certifications and calling the company a "scam". In all honesty, it was quite concerning. I've used the company in the past and received my certificates, but not since they've paired with Learn Direct. I began to get very concerned I wouldn't receive my diploma, so I flagged this with them, and all fairness it was taken on board. I think calling them a scam is a bit harsh to be honest, because that comes off as if its knocking the credibility of people's hard earned qualifications. Honestly, I think the issue is their paired company, which I will get to later.

I can say upon completing my diploma in feline studies around 1 month ago, I have already received my qualification already. I will say however, I never received a notification via e-mail to confirm my home address, as to where to send the relevant documents to. I happened to just log into my account to check up. So I would say, keep an eye on your account and login now and then just to be sure. I wonder how many people have not logged in and realised this? If you're worried, contact them and let your tutor know your concerns too.

The course itself was enjoyable, I learned a lot and it is useful to me in my profession. My one criticism is, the course contents should probably be monitored a bit more, as some links/videos no longer worked, and some of the information was slightly out of date (more so in regards to legislations). I had a few tutor changes throughout, some were definitely better than others. Some tutors gave very generic, repetitive feedback. Others were a bit more perceptive.

Cons:
My 4 stars is more to do with the fact they are paired with Learn Direct. I honestly think that's where the down fall is, and it's honestly a shame. I've done several courses with ACD over a number of years and in that time, there's been a number of changes. LD unfortunately seem very money orientated. Even in the beginning of my recent diploma, assessments used to be marked fairly and in a resonable amount of time. Now, you have to wait around 1 week, unless you're willing to pay an additional £20 per unit. I think that's pretty bad considering most of the qualification courses aren't exactly cheap to begin with. Further, contacting them can be pretty difficult. There's often no direct channels, there's a lot of toing and froing - and it can be hard to just get a hold of people from ACD, because you have to go through the LD messaging system.

Overall, the course was good, though a little pricy, but I'm glad I did and gained a qualification out of it. It is just a shame they are paired with a company that aren't great.

I am absolutely appalled by this service. I was told in the beginning that I could complete the modules in any order. Near the end of the course when I tried to upload all my work (with the practical option first as I had done this and was moving away from the area I did my placement, so if anything was wrong I could check) this turned out to be untrue. The modules needed to be uploaded in order and would take several working days to be marked before I could submit the next module. I asked for an extension WEEKS before my course deadline. I was then told they were changing over to a different awarding body, so they recommended I change to the new one and pay £320 AND DO ALL MY ASSIGNMENTS AGAIN. I said I didn't want this so they said they had given me the option to extend. I went on the system and there was no option, so I told them about the technical error and they told me to pay the £320. Bear in mind all this communication took WEEKS as it took so long to get a response and my deadline has long passed. The service is disgraceful, I spent so much money on this and I feel like I've been robbed.

Jack gave me a call the very next day after I enquired about the training courses. He was knowledgeable and so lovely listening to my business plans and shared relevant experiences too and advise. Jack wasn't pushy with sales, which actually meant I felt more comfortable and signed up on the day. Thank you very much, licence has been submitted and I am about to have a look at the course for the first time.

Amazing all round, customer service is second to none and very helpful. Jake has gone above and beyond his remit to help as I'm autistic he has explained everything so well and given me time to process everything.

Jake was brilliant, very helpful and gave helpful information. He made the enrollment super easy.

Excellent customer service from Jake.
He was super efficient and helpful. Explained how everything worked and reassured me there is always help abd advice available.

I completed my theory work by September 2023 and then had to wait for a placement which ended up being in July 2024 to then wait until now where I still haven’t received confirmation of passing let alone getting a certificate!!!

The amount of the money I have paid for this course to receive this lack of efficiency and professionalism is absolutely appalling.

I would appreciate a prompt reply with actual information on why I am yet to receive my certificate rather than putting me off again and again. This is really putting me back with my career in this field and I know I’m not the only student who has been let down by your poor organization and lack of communication to solve the matter.

This course has been a complete mess from the start and I wish I went for an alternative option.

I’m sick of not getting any further with this particularly as the student I did the placement with is all signed off with her certificate.

Please sort this immediately!

Jake Woodage. An absolute angel. He was so informative and helpful. He made the entire process a wonderful and stress free experience. From understanding the courses and helping me to navigate the options and where best to start. I would have been at a loss without him. A credit to the company! The website is easy to navigate and i cannot wait to get started. Knowing that i have access to help throughout the whole process, has put my anxious mind at ease.

My son did the zoo keeper level 3 course at a cost of 1700 thinking ut would have got him in uni but it didn't it was a big deal on a low wage for that course

I have been trying to contact for months about my level 4 behaviour qualification and had no response at all. The cost of this was a very big deal for me and now I’m concerned that money is totally wasted.