The Student Room Group

Pembrokeshire Online College Review

So this isn't really a question, rather a review to acquaint people not to dish out £700 on a useless "online learning course".
At the begining of the academic year I decided I wanted to have a shot at going to one of the countries top universities and so decided to do a computer science A-level in one year along with my maths A level, physics A level and IT BTEC. I started looking online for some sort of online course to help guide me, I stumbled across Pembrokeshire Online College. I reluctantly put together £700 (which was 5 months work for me at the time) expecting to be in safe hands.

When starting the course you are presented with a page of topics, each topic has multiple homework questions all of which can be found in a £40 book provided when you start the course; the answers on an online PDF. Furthermore other recourses provided included a free and openly accessible youtube channel "craig n dave" and a couple of other free sites. Given I had spent so much money I assumed the tuition would be excellent and maybe expected a few videos put together by the organisers if not a few online lessons a month, I was gravely mistaken. The tutor for my course, Russell, took sometimes days to respond and rarely helped me understand any concepts. His marking for the homework took days and he was more fussed about me uploading it in the correst pdf format than actually marking it (I still don't understand why a jpeg or word doc didn't surfice).

So, on value for money? Awful. I spent over £700 on a £40 book. I ended up completing the course by myself using free online recourses such as seneca and youtube which were far, far more useful. They didn't even seemed fussed about me completing the course, they got my money and they were done with me. A complete scam. I can't believe that these people are really out there scamming children.

Just buy a book and revise online. Please do not put your faith in Pembrokeshire Online College.
I have had exactly the same experience with her daughter and same tutor - Avoid waste of money
Hi.

I'm Jules Haddock, and I tutor for Pembrokeshire College LearnOnline for GCSE and A level maths and chemistry. I'm a fully qualified teacher with 15 years experience and a Masters in Chemistry. I'm sorry the above posters have had a poor experience with us, but it is rare. Most of our candidates get the qualifications they need and are supported very well - I answer emails and mark work within 2 days of receipt, but very often same day. Some of my candidates email me 3 times in the same day when they get stuck and it becomes a conversation to help them learn and to work out how to answer their question. I love to talk to my students and I love it even more when they succeed so I will do everything in my power for that to happen.

We have great success with those determined individuals who wish to do A levels in a year (our fast track courses) and a good number take the A levels they need to cross careers into medicine.

Our courses are continually updated, contain textbook work, exam papers and past exam questions as assignments, video links, links to online resources and work that the tutors have written to support areas not explained as well in the textbooks. Learning by distance does take commitment and a particular mindset, but if you are up for the challenge, we are here to help you. If you are uncertain if we are right for you, chat to us. If you are on one of our courses and not completely satisfied, talk to us. If you have finished your course and are enjoying your next stage in your career, well done - we are really proud of you and glad to have been part of your journey.

NB: if you are considering iGCSEs by Edexcel and cannot get to an exam centre due to distance / additional needs, you can now take your exams by remote invigilation from your own home.

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