The King's Trust Reviews 40

I thought a course with the King's Trust would be well organised and result in a good qualification. How wrong I was! The course is franchised to Think Employment and the tutor left and no one replaced him. All contacts ignored the emails that were sent to them. What was taught during lectures had limited relevance to the coursework, resulting in self teaching and no support. Now the course work has been finished and no one is marking it! Three months wasted and no qualification to show for it.
Direct contact with the Kings Trust absolved them of all responsibility, just a blunt reply that it was nothing to do with them.
This course is recommended through the job centre and is a complete waste of time. A disgusting kick in the teeth to young people trying to better themselves and get work.
King Charles needs to disband this farce as it tarnishes his name.

Back twelve years after my business plan was rubbished by their panel and effectively told I was too young and naive for the type of business I was trying to enter into.

That same business that ‘wouldn’t work’ and the director had ‘rose tinted glasses on’ is now generating £1m+ of revenue annually at approx 30% margin and has been growing consistently since day one.

Embarrassing organisation, I urge any young entrepreneur to involve themselves with actual business people, try and find some real guidance from people in the industry you are trying to enter. Avoid these charlatans at all costs, they have nothing of value to offer you.

Just a waste of time, advertising as a national helpline for young adults and offer no real support.

This is the biggest joke of a trust going. So unprofessional and very very unhelpful.
If you own a company and take on a pupil from here you get no help with who it is your bringing into your work space.
The young girl I got starting I put a lot of work into, only to backfire in my face in a matter of weeks.
The company don’t help you at all. Yes they need extra support and help but they don’t state how!

Not a good company at all.

complete waste of time. applied for a course and then a week later they contact me to tell me it’s already full ! this company is a joke, they have nothing to offer young people and cannot help you get into work because they are much to busy making lying adverts. do not bother with these people!! extremely disappointed with their false advertising, if a course is full then remove from your website idiots

Friday 11th glasgow central mosque. Employment event ... Staff know nothing of it but Job centre are telling people to contact them.

They are just a waste of space

They helped with my CV, but they kept encouraging me to do courses when what I actually wanted was help getting into work. After getting declined from two Get Into assessment sessions, I thought, "fair enough, maybe I do need to do a course," so I did the Explore course. It lasted around a month and felt very school-like and not relevant to jobs, which isn’t ideal for people in their late teens to 20s. I did all that, but then they just recommended I do another course. I did several courses with different organisations, and courses don’t pay me. I wanted a paid job — and courses don’t provide that.

Do not waste your time on this. I wasted easily over 100 hours filling out their forms etc and in the end (after a year!!), I gave up. The staff reported back to me that one member of staff had 90+ ‘young persons’ so I don’t blame the staff, they are all doing their best but seem under a lot of stress due to a high workload and not enough help. Furthermore, I think due to the lack of time spent on each of the staff their training is poor… which is probably the reason why so much time is wasted as I had to send my documents over to one staff who would submit it and it CONSTANTLY got flagged up as there were issues. Like I’m talking over 5 times this happened. Every time I got it sent back I had to spend hours correcting mistakes that if I had just had it explained right in the first place this wouldn’t have happened.

An absolute joke!

I have had over 12 months of my time wasted, numerous times I had mentioned information that had to be repeated. They should have business people in the team because trying to explain my business was like I was speaking in French to them.

I honestly cannot say how disappointed I am. I would have been better off getting a paper round than going for a grant/loan that it took THAT long!

Extremely terrible communication, you have to ask them what's happening then you get told to "be patient" - but then it took so long you need more up-to-date documents!

Time wasters some dumb company

An Organisation Built on Empty Promises and Royal Controversy. I am writing this review to share my extremely disappointing experience with The King’s Trust. Like many others, I grew up hearing about this organisation and believing it stood for opportunity, integrity, and genuine support for young people trying to build their future. Sadly, my experience has shown the complete opposite.

Around three years ago, I joined the Enterprise Programme hoping to receive mentorship and business guidance. Instead, I was left completely unsupported. I sent numerous emails and messages to Dee Turner (Enterprise Delivery Manager), but received little to no help. Every response felt dismissive or delayed, and it became clear that there was no structure in place for real mentorship — despite this being a core promise of the programme.

Even after explaining my circumstances and challenges, no support was offered. I was told at one point that I could reapply after turning 30, yet when I tried again, there was still no proper communication or follow-up. I filled out the application, attended the online Enterprise session (missing an important university opportunity to do so), only to be told afterwards that I was not eligible — because my business had already been publicly posted on social media. This rule had never been mentioned beforehand, and it made the entire process feel like a complete waste of time.

To make matters worse, I later received a message from Dee Turner herself, admitting that there had been a lack of communication across this multi-million-pound organisation, meaning applicants were not properly informed before being invited onto the programme. That alone speaks volumes about the internal disorganisation and disregard for the people they claim to support.

For an organisation of this scale, and one so closely tied to the Royal Family, this level of neglect is unacceptable. And frankly, I now feel relieved not to be associated with what I can only describe as a disgraceful partnership — particularly given its ties to Prince Edward and the royal circle. What I once saw as a respected institution now feels like a hollow name built on outdated values and poor leadership.

In hindsight, this experience was a blessing in disguise. I truly believe that God works in mysterious ways, and I am grateful not to be part of something built on such poor principles and lack of care for the people it claims to serve.

I had an excellent experience today ordering pounds from Kings Trust.
Both the initial telephone call and my subsequent visit to their Yonge Street office were handled very professionally and in a warm & friendly manner. My first time with this company but will definitely use their services again. Well done!

Their chat agent cut me off after THEIR inactivity but in the chat record script states - Are you still there? - as though it's me who was inactive!!!! All I can take from this is lazy staff who cut people off from chat.

They wasn’t handy put us on in courses but no supports or good training some of us do need help with jobs and company’s but what I realised is they don’t help as much even with the job site they have jobs to those who have jobs or left a job but first timers wouldn’t be a priory to their eyes the impact it afflicts for a beginner.

My experience with the kings trust is terrible the way I was treated I had a business plan took two months for it to be looked at then for me to go thru it again then to be told they don't have time for me this is the short version I had a good mentor but after the latest email seems they are now trying to cover their backs and put the blame on my mentor so now I don't trust anybody I would not recommend kings trust to anybody how I got treated by emily disgusting

I’ve had an incredibly disappointing experience with The Prince’s Trust.

From the start, I felt pushed into doing the TMBI despite already working deeply on my business plan — which only stalled progress. When I was made redundant, I asked if there was any way to speed up support, but was told no. The only genuinely useful part of the process has been my mentor, who I had to push to get myself — they have been caring and supportive, unlike the organisation as a whole.

I spent months completing the intensive application, business plan and cashflow projections, all while navigating redundancy and trying to launch my business (my only income stream). I was told my application would be reviewed in August, but I’ve been left waiting nearly a month with no update other than my liaison being on holiday.

This wasted so much energy during an already difficult time. I also held back from pursuing other financial options because I trusted The Prince’s Trust would deliver on its promise of support. Sadly, it no longer feels like a charity supporting young people with potential — it feels commercially driven, pushing loans over genuine guidance and growth.

I want to urge others: if you’re looking for real, timely support to launch a business, manage hardship, or grow something with potential, please know that The Prince’s Trust may not be the organisation it once was.

I had been recommended the Kings Trust Enterprise programme by a friend.

I waited to 2 months to join the enterprise information session which was a very long and complex process. I was subjected to a highly dysfunctional and unsupportive power point presentation. There was no interaction with the organisers and everything felt very impersonal and automated.

Once I received my application form. I applied for a position on the Kings Trust enterprise Programme and was rejected because I didn’t have enough sufficient experience in the sector I’m starting my business, so they claim. However, I do have sufficient experience within the field. I have conducted extensive market research, designed and sourced all my products myself, I have experience working in e-commerce , distribution and event production .My industry is selling Drinkware (tumblr cups) which is a business that wouldn’t require much experience. In contrast to yoga teaching or plumbing as described in their information session.

What I don’t understand is that joining this program is supposed to allow young and inspiring entrepreneurs to learn and gain the skills required for you to establish your business; especially if you are new to the field. Why would they be required to have experience when this is a new business venture?

I can confirm from reading all the other bad reviews that the King’s Trust is extremely biased and not inclusive. The Kings Trust does not give people a fair chance who are from diverse backgrounds such as myself to succeed and start a business.

They have a particular criteria of individuals and business ideas in mind which they categorise as eligible. If you want to be treated fairly avoid this organisation.

Don’t waste your time!

Disappointed by Lack of Transparency in Application Process

I recently applied for funding through The King’s Trust with a clear business plan and genuine intent to grow my start-up. Unfortunately, I was declined — not because my application lacked merit, but because, according to their response, “many of the applicants were already trading so the limited places available have gone to those businesses.”

This was incredibly disappointing, especially since the application materials gave the impression that start-ups and early-stage businesses were welcome to apply. If the funding was only available to businesses already trading, that should have been clearly stated upfront.

I’m sharing this so other aspiring entrepreneurs are aware — if you’re not already trading, your chances may be slim regardless of your potential or how much effort you put into your application. Transparency and clearer communication would go a long way in making the process fairer for everyone.

The kings trust is a complete waste of time... They force you onto mandatory PowerPoint meetings repeatedly emphasizing the importance of your business plan and then when you finally get to your first appointment with an advisor, that advisor repeatedly calls your business unfeasible after admitting that they did not know anything about the industry or even bothering to look at the highly emphasised business plan. I was told multiple times that my business didn't have a plan despite only receiving the business template a few days prior, despite this I did complete the business plan but the advisor completely refused to look at it and simply kept stating that they did not understand the industry and therefore it was unfeasible. The advisor claimed that my business had to be profitable within one month, he claimed this this was an expectation of all businesses that joined the course. When I complained about this, I was sent a dismissive email from their complaints team wishing me luck in my future endeavours. I really should've checked trust pilot before investing so much of my time into this. It is a highly fraudulent charity that absolutely does not help young people get into business unless you want to run a dog grooming business or sell jewellery. Complete waste of time honestly!

This course is a waste of time for anyone with experience in the workplace with colleagues.

You’re probably wondering why I joined this course when I already had work experience, but for context, I was in a very difficult position when I applied for this course as I got let go from my previous job for no good reason (I’m autistic and I got let go for being “too slow” at making everyone’s dishes).

During this course, I was treated like I was in school again (I was 18 and had left school 2-3 years before, so obviously I wasn’t happy about this). Also, most of the things me and my classmates were taught were things I’m assuming most people would’ve known about, and were completely irrelevant into getting a job (minus the CV building, work experience, etc.)

One thing I’ll mention as well is that my tutor didn’t help me get work experience as I actually got a part time job whilst I was doing this course, which would’ve been understandable and fair, but there was someone else in my class who also had a job while doing the course, and my tutor helped him get work experience.

I’m not here to complain about my tutor as this isn’t the place to do so, but I am here to complain about the course and what it involves. I don’t recommend it unless you’re unemployed with no work experience and you’re at a point where you’re desperate.