Anyone used The Knowledge Academy?

System

[TEXT REMOVED BY FORUM TEAM]

"Ok - Im a newbie and I have no credibility." You're not wrong especially admitting to being from another training company and then typing the above.

FWIW I did ITIL through them without a problem and achieved certification (currently 2 out of 4 in the service capability stream)

leiwey

Overall, this course was a major disappointment. In the past, my company has hired consultants to come into the office and teach a PMP prep course onsite, but due to a recent merger I had to find an outside course on my own. I had heard good things about PMP prep courses in general so I had high expectations. I was expecting a course that would teach us how to PASS THE TEST, since that is what I believe is worth paying for (and I can read PMBOK on my own). However, this course both lacked the material and instruction to be that kind of an experience.

To begin, he instructor was completely unprofessional. We spent the first 45 minutes of our first day going over his "experience" as a project manager where he displayed photos of his past projects. Then, it quickly became clear that he was simply going to be reading from the slides as we clicked through them. He would get emotional and clearly frustrated whenever someone asked a question. The second day, he wanted us to all do this exercise that he made up to work through Earned Value equations. The exercise was horribly planned and ended up wasting almost 2 hours. He asked us all if it was a "good exercise" afterward and all 4 of us said that we definitely wouldn't suggest doing it again, but he told us that we were all "guinea pigs" in this activity. No PAYING customer wants to hear that they are a guinea pig in a course that cost over $1,000. In addition, it's clear that the last day was simply a day for him to listen to music and go outside for more frequent smoke breaks than usual, since we took a 4 hour practice exam. He worked on something on his computer the entire time and was constantly swearing under his breath. I don't blame him completely for the knowledge piece, I know that a lot of the PMI language and exam questions can be rather nebulous, but I do think he was extremely unprofessional. Other than showing up on time and technically going through all the course requirements, he did little else. It's also clear that unlike other institutes like Kaplan, these instructors don't have to pass the test with some sort of standard score. Kaplan GMAT instructors for example all have to score like a 750 in order to even be considered to teach. This guy even said that he only passed the PMP 5 YEARS AGO. Due to his offensive demeanor and clear lack of knowledge of the course material, I quickly lost all respect for him soon after the course began.

On top of the instructor issues, I didn't feel the course content was particularly useful. I've heard of other training programs that give students acronyms and SPECIFIC techniques to passing the PMP, since, let's be honest, that's why people sign up for training programs. This course was just a word for word copy of the PMBOK guide, with very little additional information added. Many of the slides and practice problems had typos and were difficult to understand.

I know people will continue to sign up for PMP training courses because of the training requirement that PMI puts in place. However, I plan on writing a negative review online of this Knowledge Academy course and reaching out to my company's education department (my company has 36,000 employees world-wide) and telling them NOT to use Knowledge Academy for any of our future training needs. I'm thankful I didn't spend my own money on this course, but either way it was still a huge waste of my time and an insult to those of us who did.

HollyBo

Hi All,

I used TKA springitme this year - here is the review I posted on reviewcenter, and also similar to the review I posted on Trustpilot.

Also, if you search the Advertising Standards Authority website, you'll see that TKA have already been in trouble for false advertising...

TKA advertised a 10 day ITIL Expert course which I booked an paid £4,300 for as a self funding candidate. (The course was advertised for £3,595, but did not display the VAT at 20% until the payment page). Then I was told that the course couldn't be done in one go - part of the qualification is 20 days of classroom based training as well as the exam. I was told the website was mistaken, and I duly booked 5x 3 day intermediate courses and the 5 day MALC instead. The 'mistaken' advert for the 10 day ITIL Expert track is still on the TKA website 4 months later.

Venue? I attended courses at TKAs site at Aldgate East, London, in badly maintained rooms above a strip club! Coffee stained floors, windows that don't close, outside construction noise, temperature control problems, flicker lights in the ladies toilets, make your own tea and instant coffee in a grubby kitchenettes....

I had to attend a funeral on one of the exam days. Even with notice, TKA wouldn't allow me to reschedule the exam to another day without paying a £240 'admin fee'. (which is the same price as a full resit)

The ITIL Intermediate and MALC course materials were very poor. Badly OCRd from the Axelos books, with sentences cut off and duplicates, all in tiny font, printed cheaply in black and white and with no indexes etc. The staff I had were quite experienced at knowing what bits were missing from each course, and emailing the class additional materials to cover missed topics. They had obviously done this before...

The trainers themselves were mixed. I wouldn't call any of them 'International Experts'. Some simply read the slides to the class for 3 days at a time. The trainer for the MALC waffled off the point for 4 very long days and was particularly poor. I did pass all except the MALC with TKA (which I failed by 1 mark). I chose not to give TKA any more of my money, and decided to resit the MALC (and passed) with a different training organisation and now have my ITIL Expert qualification.

Although they are cheap, and you could argue I got what I paid for, I wouldn't use TKA again, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone else.

henniep

Do NOT use them.
They make promises, take your money and then do not deliver.

henniep

Do NOT use them

Daveb150

Don't touch these jokers, I booked with them & they changed the location on me at the last minute. I called & asked to be moved to another class & they said there was a $1400 admin fee & they had the right to change the location even though they advertised central locations.

Will never use them again, they just referred to their terms & conditions, do not care 1 bit about their customers & will change for their convenience

azizbik

I agree with you British Expat , the knowledge academy (TKA) they don't have the commitment to provide the courses. I think they are commercial institute not Academic.


look at the schedule and location in the website; it's in every ware and every date! they are showing note '3 places left' for each date....how come !


I did registered for ISTQB in my city in Saudi Arabia. they accept my payment, then they send me an email telling me there are low demand on this course, So they have to cancel it.


why still showing the course in website. And accept the registration. after course has bean cancellation.


This is not a practical way.


sorry for bad Grammar English not my first language

Graha

!!!!!! wrote: »

"Ok - Im a newbie and I have no credibility." You're not wrong especially admitting to being from another training company and then typing the above.

FWIW I did ITIL through them without a problem and achieved certification (currently 2 out of 4 in the service capability stream)

!!!!!!, can I ask how you've got on since your last post, I'm thinking of taking the same route as you and yours is one of the few posts that appears genuine.

Thanks in advance.

Wisemar1

Disorganised and a big let down.

Paid in full a month before course started. I received call backs leading up to the payment day to encourage, which seemed fair, as with all these things the service is superb when they want your money.

A week was booked off work and I was ready to go. However, upon checking my emails the weekend before I was due to start i had received an email, yes email, to say the course was cancelled. When I called to discuss with customer service team I was left on hold. When we finally spoke, I was told they had the wrong number for me, despite previous calls I had received! It was too late to change my rota and I was left with a week booked off and no alternative. On top of this, when booking I had asked how many people were required to ensure the course goes ahead, I was told two, which they had. The website also stated I was the last space. I thought The deal was done. But apparently this information was incorrect.

Poor customer service after the money had been taken and would not want to deal with them ever again in the future. I i gave them over £2000 and would hope for a more organised start to my next course.

matthew_palmer

we had a member of staff booked into an IOSH course who 7 days before the course could not attend due to unforeseen circumstances in the business. We asked to re-arrange to a date to suit them in the future and we were quoted their standard 20 day cancellation terms. They refused to move on this and charged us for the course. No negotiation, no help.
Given our reasons for cancelling were down to a major H&S issue its laughable they took this route.
Avoid them wherever possible.