British Academy of Garden Design Reviews 

The course is structured to be interesting and inspiring. You build experience and knowledge with every lesson in the most enjoyable way.

Great experience with the Garden Design diploma. Super interesting, tutors are great, the materials provided are excellent. It has been an amazing course!

Excellent course. The course material guides you through the theory and practical elements associated with garden design. Each practical assignment builds on the learning of the previous assignment so you develop your design skills and technical knowledge in a logical and structured way. The online platform is easy to use and the process for submitting the assignments is straightforward. The course administrators and tutors are approachable and helpful, and the marking and feedback of assignments is detailed, constructive and provided quickly.

Well, so far so good! I have just finished Unit 2 of the Professional Diploma (home study), and feel that I’m in the swing of things now. Unit 1 was a big learning curve in so many ways - going back to study after many years; self-teaching new drawing skills; understanding the format of submitted assignments and learning new word processing abilities. Don’t go into this if you think you can only devote a few hours a week. It requires dedication and self-motivation. I do over 15 hours a week, and have fitted that into my life, devoting my mornings to the course (sometimes running over into the afternoon). Initially, I didn’t know how I was going to go with this, but it is really about getting organised and into the swing of things. The course material is really interesting and well explained, and encourages me to do my own research as well. I have enjoyed the last two assignments and learned a lot so far …. Onwards and upwards. If you have a passion of plants, gardens and design, and can dedicate yourself to it, then this course is for you.

Enjoyed the design brief for this one, it had a real unique criteria which was great chance to create a bespoke design.

Well organised
Interesting and motivating
Tutor responsive

The course is well set out and the online tutors are very available to answer questions. You build up confidence for garden design within a wider context of history and learning about different types of gardens. Lots of design practice in the assignments.

I’ve really just started my Garden Design adventure. Just worked my way through Unit 1 and sent in my first assignment. So far the course has been very thorough and interesting, encouraging lots of research and self teaching. Already I’m looking at garden design with fresh eyes and discovering so many new and interesting things. Yes, you have to apply yourself and put in the hours, so if you only have a few hours a week, this course is not for you. It’s clear it needs dedication and proper application, but I’m already looking to learning more!

Great Academy with good online learning centre. Overall all good for now, I recommend it.

I find that the content of the study unit is thorough and well planned . The tutors give in depth feedback and very constructive criticism in a timely and organised manner

Although I completed the course totally online, the tutors were always on hand to answer any questions or queries I had during my studying. I particularly found the feedback on module submissions extremely thorough and constructive, and looking back on my early submissions, I can see how the quality of my work grew because of it. I would highly rate this course to anyone wanting to venture into garden design.

Be wary of the positive reviews. I spent nearly a year with this academy and unfortunately got zero educational value from the course.

The course is poorly structured and, despite signing up to study garden design, I completed around a quarter of it without covering any meaningful garden design content. The lessons are often very superficial and don't provide the depth needed to build real knowledge or practical skills.

There also seems to be a lot of confusion around the academy's policy on AI use in assessments. Assignments can be rejected for minor spelling or grammar mistakes, but using common proofreading tools such as Grammarly can trigger their AI detection software. In my experience, work was rejected solely because of this, which was both frustrating and unclear.

Support from the academy was minimal, and getting help when issues arose was difficult. Overall, I found the whole experience disorganised, time-consuming, and not worth the amount of effort invested.

There are much better garden design courses and academies available. Based on my experience, I would strongly recommend looking at other options before committing your time and money here.

The online postgraduate diploma in garden design is engaging and offers great flexibility for students completing the course remotely (home study).

The course material is both informative and accessible, and has inspired me to research topics relating to horticulture and garden design in greater depth.

Course assignments include theoretical knowledge of garden design and creative projects, encouraging students to develop their own design approach and hone their drawing skills.

Most importantly, tutors are incredibly supportive and the feedback they provide on each assignment is constructive and personalised.

I have always been very well supported. Having being used to further education and undertaking a phd this programme has certainly supported me above and beyond my expectations. Staff have always responded immediately and given me support 100%.
Thank you
Angie Wilson

I'm two thirds through my post graduate course. I'm home studying as I work full time but the course material and tutor availability have made it incredibly easy to get on with the work.

The course been informative however would be beneficial if software training would be provided as many jobs request this

I started this course in 2022. The best thing about this course was the Saturday courses held in the Westminster University in Regent Street. Our Tutor, Gregory Leeson, gave a year of excellent classes held roughly every two weeks. Sadly for the BAGD, he no longer works there. However, it’s a 3 year course, and the rest of it is online, and this is where the problems start.

The fundamental challenge is the written course material. In particular, the inaccuracy of the poorly written questions: If you write a question badly, the student wastes a lot of time going back and forth via e-mail trying to understand what the course writer wants. Reading the on-line forum student e-mails, it was obvious everybody found this a challenge. And my discussions with class mates in the first year, when we met on Saturdays, confirmed the whole class found the same problem with the course. If you have a busy life the last things you want to do is waste time.

The on-line tutors were clearly used to dealing with student’s challenges here. Most of the time they were able to answer questions of confusion, but the constant back and forth, with lagging response times, was very frustrating.

I am a university graduate, retired professional, mother tongue Brit, who spent a 35 year a career reading and applying research analysts work, and for my first 2 years I was a research editor. My counterparties were Asian professionals where English was a 2nd or 3rd language. Many of my BAGD class mates were not mother tongue English speakers either. I felt sorry for them struggling with this course when they need a qualification in a very competitive business, to make a living.

I should note, even in the 1st year of Gregory Leeson’s classes there were constant problems booking rooms with IT that worked at Westminster University (obviously not his fault, but BAGD’s) in fact we ended up changing buildings it got so bad.

I found one or two reception line staff that tried to be helpful, but I got the impression they had high staff turnover as these were the ones that left. Others were positively discourteous – they seemed to stay.

I am surprised there are so few negative reviews here, because of the feedback I was given from classmates.
But I am guessing that when you pay so much money for a course privately you are in two minds about revealing the underlying problem. Frankly I got so frustrated wasting time dealing with the poorly written course work I stopped in my 2nd year. Luckily for me I did not need it to make a living.

My advice: Find a better company to deal with.

Just finished Unit 8 and still finding the course materials, assessments and tutor feedback great.

Studying with the British Academy of Garden Design has been a truly inspiring journey. The course not only expanded my knowledge of garden design principles, but also changed the way I see outdoor spaces as places of meaning, emotion, and creativity.
What I appreciated most was the balance between technical learning and creative expression. Each assignment encouraged me to think like a designer, develop my own style, and build confidence in my ideas.
This experience has gone beyond education, it has shaped the way I approach design and even influenced how I see my future.

I’m studying a Professional Diploma in Garden Design, and enjoying it immensely. The online content is engaging and accessible, with a library of study material that is really helpful as I’m doing the home study course, which works well alongside the demands of a young family and ad-hoc work. The online calendar helps you to map out a study plan, which has been a very helpful guide in organising my time. The assignments are challenging and enjoyable, with the feedback from my online tutor being encouraging, insightful and detailed. I’m three assignments in now, and always feel I’ve come away inspired from the previous assignment and feedback. I would really recommend this course to anyone who is looking for a flexible, and affordable option, with quality material that is well paced for all abilities.