If you’re considering going with Studywell College (formerly Elmo Accredited), then think again. I hope that this review exposes this company and their scam which undermines the value of quality training in Australia.
I’ve heard that there are some cowboys running ‘accredited’ courses in the industry. I never for a moment thought that I’d actually come across any of them. That is until I signed up for 2 Certificate IV courses with Elmo Accredited who have recently changed names to Studywell College (and excuse me, study well with them you will not). My experience has simply been frustrating, and a quick Google search highlights that I am not the only one with these problems.
What is so bad about them? Sure, we see banners popping up when we search for registered training organizations and their prices are very attractive. $275 for a Cert. IV…absolute bargain! They also do packaged deals, where you can get 2 or even 3 Certificate IV’s or Diplomas for less than the cost of 1 course with any other RTO. Sounds attractive right? This is where many people will get burned. The old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ is certainly true in this case, only I wish I had acted on this earlier and chosen another company.
The biggest problem is their training materials. They are purely rubbish, resources spread everywhere like a dogs breakfast. I am not new to the VET system having completed numerous courses already and have also attended university, but I have never come across a company with a ‘churn and burn’ system. That is, you’ll sign up for the course, discover it’s too hard and simply give up. It seems as though they depend on a certain amount of people not claiming their refunds. Ones that they are entitled to, for any length of time that you’re a student. And when you want a refund a little down the road, you’re met with “we can’t afford to, it looks like you changed your mind”. Yes, that’s the response I got. At no point did I change my mind, I simply want to finish my course. However, their training materials are very difficult to follow. I cannot utilize what they have created and be expected to be satisfied with it.
I do have a question to ask. Why does a known business operating in Bondi Junction (read: expensive office rentals!) with numerous staff and effective online advertising not have any social media presence? I mean, just about every company nowadays has at least a Facebook page which is great for customer engagement and building fans. Perhaps they’ve realized that this would simply be a public avenue for complaints. Further more, there aren’t any reviews about Studywell College online. I mean none, not even a single testimonial on their web page. Has anyone ever finished one of their courses? There isn’t any proof of this, no testimonials, no stats, nothing! Even their website looks like a copy-paste template from 2011. I signed up late one night without thinking too much, having built so much trust buying online with Australian companies. Never again!
So what are the alternatives? Well, there are literally thousands of RTO’s in Australia and thankfully very few are as bad as these guys. Education is delivered in numerous ways including classroom, on the job and online. It’s likely that you are seeking to do your courses online, then I would recommend that you look for testimonials, reviews and feedback from past and present students over the price of the actual courses.
I have reported Studywell College to ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) who endeavors to weed out these cowboys. I recommend that you lodge your own complaint if you are indeed a former student (I am fair, I’d only want real students taking a stand) via the ASQA website. Have you got an experience whether good or bad with this RTO? Then I’d love to hear from you. Please comment below and together we can potentially save a few more people from being burned by Australia’s Worst RTO.
Update 11th August 2015
Last week Elmo Accredited /Studywell College have offered a 50% refund (minus $30 admin fee) which I accepted. I’m still out of pocket $380 but here’s what worked:
Referencing NSW Fair Trading and ACCC
Advising them that I have been in contact with other frustrated students
Lodging a formal complaint with ASQA
Leaving an honest review on their Google page
Letting them know that I’ll continue to escalate further
Refund or no refund, my experiences still stand. If you’ve managed to get a refund as well, then feel free to post your experiences below.
Update 11th October 2015
Wow, it’s so great to see (or maybe not) the amount of people leaving feedback about their negative experiences. Thanks everyone, I was actually hoping to see one positive review about Studywell College from someone who actually had a good experience. But nope, not yet. Anyway, keep ’em coming!
Update 24th October 2015
Studywell College are now offering Certificate IV’s for $199, 2 for $299 and 3 for $499. Bargain, right? Not so.
Update 29th October 2015
Ok I was wrong, sorry guys. Even though I had a bad experience with Studywell College, they’re definitely not Australia’s Worst RTO. Check out Unique International College, charging up to $25,000 for a Diploma through incentives: http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/training-college-could-be-forced-to-repay-millions-in-government-loans/story-fnkgbb3b-1227584025310
It looks like ASQA is taking charge: http://www.news.com.au/national/dodgy-training-providers-face-fines-upwards-of-100000-under-vet-crackdown/story-fncynjr2-1227287975046
And Studywell finally have some ‘testimonials’ on their website now…
Update 16th December 2015
Hey guys, great! Keep the comments coming. I was wondering if you would also write a short review on Product Review: http://www.productreview.com.au/p/studywell-college.html
It comes up on the first page of Google straight away when prospective students search.
Update 18th January 2016
3x Certificate IV’s for $399…
Update 10th March 2016
Between March the 1st and March the 9th, out of nowhere about 20 ‘people’ posted 5 star reviews on ProductReview.com.au all praising this poor quality RTO. Come on Studywell College, you didn’t think I would see that move? Posting a bunch of fake reviews to get enrollments back up again does not make wise business sense, that time could be better spent on improving your course materials for your students.
Update 12th February 2017
Studywell College is now closed, and may have closed a few months prior. Victory! I sincerely want to thank everyone who has shared your experiences below, we have collectively steered away many dozens of potential students from this now extinct RTO.
I am one of the dumb people who sign up with Elmo training and what a huge mistake it has been!
I have studied with MWT which was good but by no means perfect.
Elmo/studywell college has provide a legit way to scam money! You will not gain any new information that is valuable from the courses offered, they will make sure that you fail your courses until you pay another $199 on top of each course for an extension.
I thought that all RTO’s would have to get an audit in order to train people, it seems as though money has been exchanged to avoid this.
Please do not enroll into this company it will be a waste of your time and money. You will be frustrated with the slow progress as all learning material is so poorly explained. This company has changed its name three times after some research (please search on whirlpool you will find more reviews).
Hi Dave, wow it’s good to see that someone found their way here to my blog post and thank you for posting your experiences.
Last week I have received a 50% refund on my enrollment fees minus $30 for admin. I’ve updated my blog post accordingly on what you can do if you want to follow my path.
Hi Joshua
I have read your review and it strikes me that you are abusing your position as an administrator of this web site to post a personal view of a company and not an honest review. Your article sounds personal, vindictive and seems to be filled with your subjective opinions. It therefore lacks a lot of substance and facts that elevate a true review.
If you are unhappy with the service or products of this business then review them as such without this personal bias and subjective innuendos. If the materials were lacking then indicate how they were lack substance according to what you and other RTO’s consider a reasonable standard of learning materials.
I personally, would like to know after reading this article:
1. what issues did you have that made it difficult for you to complete your course?
2.Why did you request a refund after signing up to do the course and paying for the privilege of education and learning?
3.Why do you refer to them a cowboys when they are situated as a Registered Training Organisation registered and accredited by the government regulators. Is this a criticism of the regulators as well as the business.
4. Why do you question the relevance of their location as Bondi Junction as relevant?
5. What reply you received from ASQA as a result of you report?
I hope you are able to publish answers to these queries so we can get a better understanding of your reason for reviewing this business in such a manner. It also will answer you relaevance as an administrator of this site and it true nature.
Thank You
Regards
John
Hey John, how’s Elmo going? Are your takings down. It must really pee you off when you are exposed? I suggest you move o to another scam on another blog. F*ck wit!
Hi, it was great to hear your feedback from ELMO accredited. I enrolled on line for the Cert IV Trainer & Assessor course and have been so frustrated in completing course material! I mean sure I have not studied for 5 years and no understanding of the VET system, but wanted to complete this course so I could train welding at TAFE. Referencing for me has been the hardest not to mention ‘Putting answers into your own words”. To hard for me to understand how to answer their material, what a waste of time. I am ready to put this course threw the shredder.
Chris
While I agree that Joshua’s post uses some pretty strong language that may seem impartial or unprofessional to some I also agree with most of what he has written.
I am currently enrolled with Elmo Accredited / Studywell College on the Certificate IV in Frontline Management. The course materials are a joke, they are just a wall of information (too much information) with little or no formatting which makes reading them extremely hard work and tiring. The downloads from their website are not even titled so you don’t know what you are downloading. It’s a just a mess and unnecessarily hard, especially if you have a day job too. I have not asked for a refund as I have dealt with companies like this before and life is too short. It’s just another example of a Registered Training Organisation soon to become an Extinct Training Organisation. I’ve since enrolled elsewhere and their materials and support are far superior. They were cheaper than Elmo / Studywell too. Great blog btw.
I enrolled in this course too and had similar troubles. Who are you now enrolled with?
I accidently left this in the wrong place, but take two…
Mate, I hear you. These guys are absolutely terrible. I noticed that they had a few bad reviews under elmo, If I had known that that was “Studywell” i never would have signed on. Can I ask yourself and everyone to spread the word? Aside from google review, there are some other places like True Local (http://www.truelocal.com.au/business/studywell-college/bondi-junction) or even yelp? I know I will be doing my best to get the word out, they reported my review as defamatory so im in the midst of writing another. No contact, no support, dogs breakfast materials… I could go on. Just so angry.
Still waiting on refund outcome.
does any one have any of the answers for any of the courses they provide?
get a bit of a head start on the near impossible time line they give you.
Every word written above is true!! (and “John” is obviously associated with Elmo / Studywell – Sounds just like an encounter I had with management)
I enrolled with Elmo Accredited (Now ‘Studywell College’) almost a year ago and have almost finished my courses, although in the interim gave up 3 times, but through my stubbornness and unwillingness to lose the $700 i paid for the double qualification – I got back on the horse. I estimate to complete the double Cert. IV qualification has taken me about 150 – 200 hours.
My partner an mother in law are both TAFE teachers (one teaches the courses i am taking) and they could not believe how poorly put together these courses are – they also recommended lodging a complaint with ASQA for multiple reasons (I will be).
The training materials are terrible, the templates/tasks you have to fill out don’t relate to the training materials and its very difficult to comprehend what information they are asking for, links to reference materials don’t work, they completely over assess competencies (ie you are asked to do the same task over an over), you need to input information in random places, they take ages to mark, the tasks are long and complex and not relevant to real life activities (they say that they make it incredibly detailed and complex to give you a “broad understanding of the activities”), lots of the materials / templates are plagiarised (poetic really – when they have a message warning against plagiarism at the top of the learning dashboard haha), the staff are often rude and unwilling to help learners – I could keep going on and on!
To be honest I think the company is attracting people with cheap course prices and then screwing them for extension fees – i would love to see how many people actually finish.
If you are one of the suckers who actually enrolled, here are some tips for finishing the course:
They have “guidance materials” to assist with the required tasks (even these are rubbish, but they do help a bit) – in particular ask for the example templates (often they only give you half of the guidance materials – the bad half) – the guidance materials will give you an idea of what they are asking for. If I were starting the course over I would the request these guidance materials at the beginning of each new unit cluster. You request them by emailing your trainer.
For each course you are enrolled in you are given an allowance for 5 x 20min learner support sessions over the phone. If you are enrolled for a double qualification then you have 10 sessions. Use them!! Make them work for their dirty money.
I hope these guys have their RTO status revoked.
Same issues here! I signed up with elmo last year. The learning materials were a disgrace All over the shop. The staff were rude and offered no help whatsoever, and wouldn’t event help interpreting their rubbish materials. I found 3 yrs of university study easier than this rubbish. I ended up getting 50% refund and did my course elsewhere.
They’ve obviously changed their name to hide from the negative publicity associated with their last attempt.
I should complain to ASQA too, but do they care?
Studywell is a SCAM, stay away from them guys. I learned my lesson last year. Unfortunately I went with Plenty Training after Studywell, and while they are a good step above elmo/studywell in regards to material and support (still fairly lackluster), they have a sneaky loan system. They tell you 6 months no interest but my $350 course turned into $1247 debt at the end of 6 months and through a completely different company that is not associated with Plenty Training (buzzmoney or some such).
I tried to fight this in fair trading but apparently I have no choice but to pay it back. I wish ASQA would crack down on these sneaky and dodgy RTO’s.
To the Admin: You can also google ‘EVOCA scam’ to find another RTO guilty of taking advantage government funds.
Anyone reading this should AVOID Studywell and Plenty Training. Stick with the more reputable providers like First Choice Training and even your local TAFE. When in doubt call the provider and ask the what their ‘ASQA risk rating” is. They don’t have to tell you but if they don’t then avoid them. A low rating means that they have passed audit and been deemed a solid provider. High risk means they are basically on probation and you should avoid them.
Hi everyone,
thanks for your comments, i was just about to enrol on the course with Studywell! I had previously tried to study with First Choice Training, once enrolled nobody ever checked on my progress i never heard from them after i paid the money, the material was terrible, hard to complete the assignments as they didnt make sense , this was my first experience of the Australian education system and it was shocking, in the end i didnt complete the course. Your comments have helped so much! as it would have been more money down the drain and no qualification.
Hi i was thinking of signing up with first choice are they that bad
Hi everyone, so I’m currently one of those people who was sucked in to the cheap deal as I wanted to get ahead in my career.. But I have currently had my units are never correct even though people who have their degree in business and so forth looked over my work saying it was fine; I also never received feedback and so forth. From the reviews I have now seen I see that Studywell/Elmo are fraud I have tried to obtain a refund and been told cause I’m out of the seven day return policy I most likely will not be getting my money back but to fill it out and see how I go. As this was done verbally I’m writing it up formally tonight. Before going to fair trading and ASQA.
My question however is only one person I have seen so far been successful in getting a rebate in some way. Has anyone else been successful?
Many thanks
Good to come accross this, there’s currently studywell, ilearn & advantage all running $195 & $199 specials on tae40110, I’m searching around to see where to take the plunge… anybofy got any positive suggestions? I need online as I’m out of Oz for a while, cheers.
Thanks for the info Josh.
Decision made not to study with Studywelll.
Your review and others were enlighning, I was about to sign up to adiploma in leadership and management.
I successfully studied with Plenty Training earlier this year, completing a fast track dual diploma and I have no complaints.
Back to researching where to study!
Hey Nick, I’ve seen some commentary elsewhere that Plenty Training seem a bit ‘tick and flick’. Be curious whether you felt you learnt much from the course (I too am looking a Dual Dip in Voc Ed) or they just fast tracked the basic syllabus to get it done?
I signed up with ELMO for a Cert iv in Business In June. Right from the start it was taking over 3 weeks for them to reply to emails. I complained numerous times and was given an extra 2 weeks on my course time. But each time I sent in a assignment, I had the same issue. I was given all sorts of excuses, they were being audited (not surprising), the assessor was very busy. I asked for another assessor but was told that the one I had been allocated was the ‘expert’ in this area.
I really felt that the course content was muddled and I was often unsure about what they were asking for. I was constantly assured that ‘all the answers are in the workbook’. Yes, but unfortunately some of the answers were only one sentence. They gave few examples to learn from and I felt like I was struggling the entire time. They would ask for a dozen explanations for one question which I felt was a bit much for a Cert iv. I felt that they were trying to make the 6 month course run over so I would have to purchase another 6 months to finish the course. In the middle of my course they changed the content and I was told that the module that I was in the middle of would be superseded. I voiced my unhappiness and was told that it gave me an advantage as the Cert iv had changed and I would be one of the first to complete the new content. The reason that they gave was that the Leadership and Team Effectiveness course was too much for a Cert iv as no one was going to allow someone with just a Cert iv to lead a team. I would think that was fairly obvious from the get go. I have pulled out as the stress of working full time and trying to complete the course was messing with my mental health. I did an OSH Cert iv a few years ago and had none of these problems. Oh yeah, they refused to credit me with the OSH course as I wasn’t working in that area. It would have sped up my course significantly. I haven’t even asked for a refund as I just don’t want to get into it with them. I would rate them a 3/10 for service and course content.
It is unsurprising to see so many complaints against a company that has had to change its name to escape reprimand. I dug into the issue a little deeper with the help of information from my brother and other RTO’s.
Me and my Brother both signed up for the TAE course in May. Most of you already know the story from there; No support, no contact, terrible material. Now I wasnt expecting 1 on 1 support for $200, but as other providers are offering the course between $200 – $500 for the online course I assumed it was the national standard. We were very wrong. Forget about a refund, they told us both (in separate instances) that they cannot afford to refund us. Wow. Why are you offering courses at $199 if it is not financially viable? are you hoping to go broke? do you want the ASIC to send the director to jail for gross financial irresponsibility?
But ok, no refund for us. Time to move on, its only $200.
We have since enrolled with two different providers at the end of November. We were looking to compare providers. I have enrolled with Ilearn Online and my Brother has enrolled in First Choice Training ($245 and $195 respectively at the time).
From the start I can confirm that both providers are well beyond Studywell in what they offer; this is what online training should have been like.
I had access to everything in two days while my brother had access in 4. The training material (learner guides as they called them) were much more clearer and flowed consistently with the workbooks. I have only been stuck once and when I called the office at Ilearn Online I was put straight through to a trainer who answered my question immediately and was even asked if I had any feedback. I was a little taken aback. My brother had only taken 4 days to complete the first unit and has had it assessed. He also reports good communication with First Choice Training.
I was confused about that fact that 3 organisations can offer the same course at the same price but two of them are of a much higher standard across the board. I mentioned this to the assessor at Ilearn and he believes that this can be attributed to some RTO’s like Ilearn or First Choice having subsidised courses, alternate revenue streams and third party funding. RTO’s like Studywell try to compete for the same pricing but cannot provide the same service and so the students suffer. Funnily enough the trainer said that the low prices on the market are due to Studywell dropping them in the first-place, essentially digging their own grave, apparently the cheapest TAE courses a year ago were around $400 – $900. This means that while the $195/$199 prices cut into profit margins for places like Ilearn, they can still offer a national standard service at this rate.
On the positive side he also mentioned that RTO’s like studywell pop up all the time but do not last very long, usually a year or two. At the end of the day, if you have been burned by Studywell at least have some comfort in the fact that they are unlikely to exist this time next year.
I hope the info that we have dug up helps, and I will check back if you guys have any questions.
Brad and Mike.
hi Brad
i just signed up with studywell a month ago, today I started to complete the first assessment with the TAE and after reading all the comments above it appears I wasn’t imagining that the course material was of a poor standard compared to the diploma I completed with Open colleges.
I am now thinking I won’t keep pursuing the study well course.
OMG I am so glad I did not sign on with them. I was tempted for the price but thank you all for sharing this. It was by pure accident that I found this page but so glad I did.
On another note I would like to advise that Inspire Education has been horrible for me as well. They are so helpful prior to enrolling and then when you enroll you suddenly don’t matter. No response from Trainers, No help with the (terrible) workbooks and apparently no refunds if you have logged into your course (What a Joke). I have been trying toi find a better online provider as I can not attend a classroom.
I may listen to what Brad said and have a look at First Choice Training or Ilearn Online. Does anyone know anything about Advantage Training? Are they worth a look.
Thanks again everyone.
Oh man…… I just paid for an extension on the FLManagement course and now found this page!!!!
I thought I was the only one having problems navigating the study reference material.
The questions they have are so open ended and some are not relevant at all. I am really unsure on the qualifications the assessors have but can’t argue with them. I feel their intention is to slow down your study to prompt another payment for extension.
My years of management experience has not helped with any of the course RPL points so should have known it was a scam.
I completed my diploma in management early this year and I must say I am surprised by the negativity. I agree that the course notes/references were not great, but part of learning is also doing your own research and not relying solely on the course notes. All in all I thought the support was reasonably good considering the pretty cheap price and my course was completed within the initial timeframe so no extension fees were required.
Yes, this is all true, I am currently in process of lodging a complaint eith the Department of Fair Trading after they accepted my $398 extension fee and the next day told me my course is no longer available. These people are definitely scammers. You can do the courses at youro local tafe for a wee bit more and know that you will get proper resources and guidance to help you through it. The resources here are an absolutel joke and very conflicting of each other. So many times I have been left stumped with silly questions because of their conflicting resources.
STAY AWAY FROM STUDYWELL COLLEGE if you value your money and time.
Hey,
Report them to ASQA (Austrlian Skills Quality Authority) if you want to see real results.You may get your money back with fair trading but with ASQA they can get in real trouble. Can I ask what course they no longer offer? Maybe they are already being restricted in what they can deliver.
-Brad
Hi Guys,
It is worth noting that in the last two weeks a whole lot of positive “reviews” have been popping up for Studywell.
They can be seen here – http://www.productreview.com.au/p/studywell-college.html
Funny how there were a few bad reviews and a sudden influx of positive results.
I dont know about anyone else, but this seems a little coincidental.
Great pick up Brad! Coincidental indeed, I’ve updated my blog post accordingly.
I completed a bundled cert IV in WHS and FLM about a year ago and I am now completing a Diploma. I have applied myself rather than expecting it to be handed to me and I have passed.
Due to personal circumstances I am having to extend my Diploma time although since upgrading to the new Diploma of Leadership and Management, I am coping a bit better.
I was about to sign up to a second Diploma but they have recently made massive price increases. Hopefully being a legacy student it might not cost me as much.
Hi josh this is my review I posted on studywell review page:
I am also studying with Elmo having enrolled in a diploma following a cert IV. The editing and proofreading is a joke. In one unit there were so many grammar and spelling mistakes I had to make up half the answers to the questions using my own interpretation as it was absolute gobbledegook! for the verbal one trainer was so slow he insisted I book another session to get through the answers. In the end he said ‘just send me through your answers in a word document ‘! So much for the verbal assessment. I would not recommend this RTO to anyone if t hey want to come out actually learning anything. For credible certificates this weety box Micky mouse company doesn’t cut the mustard. Look elsewhere if you want an employer to take your quals seriously! Disappointed
Actually I can see how they can offer such cheap courses as they rush you through with crap churned out material with links that are inactive or inaccessible . Im a trainer and teacher and I’m trying to expand my skills and get into the WHS industry so did the cert IV and diploma and its glaringly obvious they are just sucking people’s cash in short 6-12 month timeframes. If they want any credibility they should open up different training options like face to face or mixed mode. And I agree with the dummied up reviews about one particular trainer who can barely pass as a trainer with Australian standards of foundation skills himself …..although the other trainer seemed pretty cool. I’m surprised that ASQA even gave them their accreditation so not sure whose paying who to get that through . I’m a studyaholic and can see shifty RTOs a mile off…
After reading these comments, I absolutely cannot agree.
ELMO has absolutely been great in support.
I was doing fly In and out when I started with ELMO and couldn’t complete my SERT 1V in the given training time frame due to work related circumstances, but they were always so understanding and very helpful until the completion of my on line coarse.
Yes the training material might need some changes but that can only happen with positive feedback, I would not change a thing but just build on what you have. I had a great experience with ELMO and will gladly spread the message
Hi every one,
First of all so sorry to hear about you bad experience, soon I will share my story with you guys but I’m just waiting to see how they going to rip me off.
I will not only complain, I will fly there and search for those f*****s
Hey Mosty, I look forward to reading your story about how Studywell College is a rip off! – Joshua
I agree with you and others Joshua that the Studywell Cert IV Learner Guides are poorly written – seem to be poor translations from original texts with the unfortunate extra of confusing contradictions and errors.
Also, it appears as though BSBWHS405 is substantially an ‘off topic’ topic, advising that a management system may be developed to comply with AS/NZS 4804:2001 which is in fact a guidance standard for a standard, not a standard standard per se.
It seems our much loved trainer couldn’t take it any more as he seems to have disappeared – we love you M…
The following illustrates another reason why many may have thrown in the towel…
In my view, the following short answer question for the core modules of the Cert IV in WHS is unreasonable for a Cert IV level course:
1. Describe five (5) functions and five (5) powers of your jurisdiction’s WHS regulatory body, specifying the legislative basis for each. Explain how these functions and powers are exercised and how they specifically support achievement of the WHS Act’s objectives.
It is considered unreasonable and thus unfair on learners for the reasons listed below.
i) ‘Power’ and ‘function’ are not defined in the WHS Act 2011 or in the BSBWHS402 Learner Guide.
ii) Only one ‘power’ of the Regulator is clearly identified in the WHS Act (the power of Inspectors).
iii) Inspector powers are listed in a mix with Inspector functions in the Learner Guide (BSBWHS402 Pg 36 – 38) and the WHS Act 2011 (Pg 116) making it challenging to distinguish between powers and functions, also if one was to pursue the more obvious avenue of identifying the powers of Inspectors as a proxy for the powers of the Regulator.
iv) It appears as though the powers of the Regulator are distributed throughout the WHS Act 2011 and the Learner Guide does not facilitate learning of these powers by aggregating them for the learner as has been done for the functions of the Regulator. In effect, the learner has to, without clear direction (a hint at least) determine that to identify the powers of the Regulator they must scan the entire WHS Act 2011 to find each power AND then read into the Act how the powers may be exercised and how they specifically support achievement of the WHS Act’s objectives since this information seems sparse and /or weakly linked at best in the Learner Guide.
v) The learner also has to read into the Learner Guide, Act and self-identified other materials how the functions of the Regulator may be exercised and how they specifically support achievement of the WHS Act’s objectives as this information is also sparse and / or weakly linked at best in the Learner Guide.
vi) It is unclear how many ‘marks’ / ‘time units’ are allocated to most questions making it unclear how much information is required. There should be some indication of how much information / time is required for each question to level the responses playing field.
All of the above is in the context of the strangely separated question 25 which has similar issues to the above question:
Question 25: Explain five (5) powers of a WHS Inspector when conducting an incident investigation on behalf of the WHS regulatory authority…
I say strangely separated as many may take the Inspector power route to describing five powers of the Regulator not realizing that this answer is unlikely to be what is required from question 1 given the (not so obvious existence) of question 25.
As a qualified high school teacher who has also taught and assessed at a University level, I can confidently say that:
a) Question 1 is not considered a Cert IV level question;
b) Question 1 is not considered a ‘short answer’ question – it is in fact a ‘long answer question with many twists and turns to correctly navigate it.
I would hazard a guess that at least 50% of students if not 75% would give up the course on looking at question 1 OR would rely on talking to their trainer to help them through it which indicates its inappropriateness for a Cert IV course.
Was this question borrowed from a masters in WHS course?
I believe that Studywell College owe ALL thier students who failed to complete this course on time or who simply failed to complete it a complementary another go WITH corrected Learner Guides and professionally reviewed FAIR assessments.
All I have completed to date are the multiple choice questions for the core modules which were as much an English language assessment as a WHS assessment (tricky use of words) when I came across the above BEAST of a question – so called ‘short answer’ question 1.
Assessments are supposed to ramp up in complexity to build confidence, not drive learners into the ground at the first step!
Seems to say something about Studywell College’s culture towards learners…
Oh and Josh…
I should have started the last post with:
I agree with you and others Joshua that the Studywell Cert IV WHS Learner Guides are poorly written…
Correction again…the first paragraph should be as follows:
I agree with you and others Joshua that the Studywell Cert IV Learner Guides are poorly written – seem to be poor conversions from original texts with the unfortunate extra of confusing contradictions and other substantive errors.
I mean…
I agree with you and others Joshua that the Studywell Cert IV WHS Learner Guides are poorly written – seem to be poor conversions from original texts with the unfortunate extra of confusing contradictions and other substantive errors.
Hopefully it is now ‘correct’!
Josh, just an afterthought…could you hold off publishing my comment as corrected above for say a week as I am asking for an extension of time and should give them at least a week to respond.
Thanks!
Hi Josh
Looks like a suspension of operations…
RTO Update June (actually only appeared in late July – after an extended notice about delayed marking of assessments due to the flu season) 2016***
The RTO is undergoing restructure and change in stratgic direction, therefore we are unable to process request for extension pasts 30 September 2016. Should you have any queries or concerns please email us at info@studywellcollege.com.au.
…and the email address didn’t work, although they are still accepting calls…
Yes to everything above. I’ve never failed anything IE degree, diploma cert IV but this course is on a mission to fail me. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I can give specifics. Mostly course material didn’t teach what the assessment requires.
So you are left in the dark feeling like you have done the wrong thing but not knowing what to do next. And then the deadline comes and you get marked not competent. I’ve spent close to 12 weeks working long hours nearly every night. One of the most stressful things I’ve ever done.
It is worth noting that these guys are now closed. No surprise there. Good job to anyone who was part of it.
It is also worth noting that Advantage training is also closed and, by the sounds of it, the director has run off with the money (just check out the recent reviews here – http://www.productreview.com.au/p/advantage-training-australia.html)
wow they are closed now? i’m not surprised but I do fear they may ‘pop’ up somewhere else under another alias…..one would need to be on the ball and alert those in authority if they are!
We are having similar issues with Inspire Education – my poor husband keeps getting his last assessment returned – it’s always different questions that were marked correct last time. They made him pay for an extension to have it re-marked and will demand more money again this time. They have a call centre that’s based in the Philippines and their trainers are never available to help. The course material I’ve seen is poorly written and full of grammatical errors. Department of Fair Trading won’t help, neither will ASQA , who keep saying that he has to provide proof of correspondence with them, but it’s all via their portal. We’ve subsequently seen so many poor reviews of them since this started happening.
Hey Cathy! Sorry to hear. I’ve noticed a few RTO’s using staff from the Philippines as ‘trainers’ to save money. You’re right, ASQA isn’t helpful at all. Hopefully your husband can push through the course as quickly as possible, as if it’s like anything like Studywell College, it could be shutting down within months.
Unbelievably, it looks like this is now sorted. We had to threaten them with legal action. ASQA, Fair Trading and continually follow up to get any action on any of it. The final thing that dragged was verifying his supervisor’s qualifications were valid. Eventually, hubby called the institution himself, got a contact name and number, then emailed them, said “call this number, X is expecting your call within the hour” and to our total shock they did and then it was finally sorted. Just waiting on the certificate.
Needless to say though, neither of us could ever recommend this training provider to anyone else. At best they are completely incompetent, at worst they are scammers.
Excellent outcome Cathy! Thanks for sharing your experiences and outcome. Glad it was resolved for you guys, despite having to go to such extreme measures. I’m not hearing good things about that college.
Try having a closer look at how many international students pass qualifications and their assessment processes by using coursehero and other assignment help online businesses.
These online assignement help businesses have whole RTO units with learners names and answers ready for downloading. These site even talk the learners through observation checklists and tell them what to do and say step by step in many cases. ASQA seems to be missing this and people are potentially getting qualifications that make them unsafe.