City & Guilds Reviews 29

Absolute pile of **** and scam company tried doing my assessment via online and because I have a stair case on my third floor with a door that they couldn't see I was unable to take the exam so have to pay again to resit it

I didn't like the fact we were led to believe on there course requirements that you didn't require any prior electrical knowledge on the PAT testing and Inspection 2 day city and guilds course. Just a good level
of English. The course in my opinion is very technical and in depth on the theory side. Especially over 2 days including exams. This should have been communicated before acceptance of funds. On day one we went through the course book sections. We were given online examples to go through that night time consuming and a work book with 50 questions to go through, bearing in mind people had travelled long distances to get there each day and were tired. Some of us over 60 years old. There we're x5 on this course x3 over 60, x2 under 30, one of them at University. The instruction was not effective enough to pass the online exam. Requiring 80% pass. The course is way too short for a chance of passing with no prior good electrical understanding. The theory is above and beyond for what is required on the practical side of PAT testing. In my opinion and an easy money maker for C & G and its providers. This needs to be addressed. Very disappointed with the course and process. Data should be checked on Pass Rates. x3 we're coming back on the second day of our course as they failed the previous course !! The facility was fine, the instructor did what he needed. But didn't effectively prepare for us what was required on the exam. Anyone with no electrical experience think long and hard before attempting this course, and paying for it.

Worthless qualifications.
Don't bother wasting your money with these scammers.
15 years ago I took the 2330 electrical installation course over 3 years.
Fast forward 17 years later and this qualification is now deemed worthless and I now need to spend in excess of £4000 to get other qualifications to prove competence.
City and Guilds sell worthless courses. Don't bother with them. Don't waste your money.

I can not understand why it takes months to send a certificate out

My construction certificate is still not received to my home, i have waited sl long for it i am very disappointed by this seevice

After paying £1734 for health and social care course, SVT under this city and guild
The assessor refused to asses my work and they closed down without prior notice to learners. They informed us to go register with another company and still have to pay them another thousand pounds which is ridiculous and unfair. They are extremely bad, not to be used.

Very bad customer service as I made my payment on 4 of August to receive my certificate. They told me it takes around 8 weeks to get delivered, and today it’s 27 of October and haven’t received it yet. I called them on 13 of October to see what happened and they told me that there was issue in processing your certificate and it needs to be reissued again and you should wait for another 8 weeks.

Couldn’t give my proof of npct! Be vary careful

C&G "Customer service" - wow if that's what C&G think they provide they are delusional, there was no service involved at all! Within a space of 3 minutes I got told by the same C&G person that... they couldn't access records, they could access records, they could only access chainsaw records, that they they won't deal with anyone or any request within 6 months of a course being taken, that they would never not issue a certificate (despite not actually issuing a certificate and admitting that to the training centre) and perhaps best of all I could indeed order a certificate but, they would not be able to issue it. Not sure why they bothered even answering the phone, they had absolutely no intention of wanting to help at all or listening to what the situation actually was. Nice, good work, you must be very proud of your excellent standards.

The C&G own the ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) who are supposed to be one of the leading authorities on leadership development in the UK.

Be warned if you are an SME they are not interested in helping your leaders be the best that they can be. I echo the pervious reviews outlining that they are simply not interested in supporting smaller organisations.

Historically it has been possible to have internally created courses recognised by them as being of a quality standard. It is still outlined as being available on their website (as of 18th August 2025)

However this is not the case and the only route now is to have your internal material 'Assured' which is priced between 10 and 15k. Compared to around 3k in the past for 'recognised' status.

As a small company with only 15 managers this completely restricts the ability to demonstrate the value add of having their seal of approval.

Given the ILM purport to champion Inclusivity (they have a 13 page document outlining how they go about achieving this) They do not live by the standards they have set themselves.

Their Guiding principles open with the statement 'Incorporate insights
from a diverse set of
stakeholders, learners,
educators, communities
and employers. This is to
ensure that learners can
see themselves and their
communities reflected in
the learning.'

This should be reworded to reflect what they actually do which is to incorporate insights from people who work in organisation that can afford the ridiculously high cost of accreditation. This ensures that the only communities that are reflected in their learning are from the more affluent end of the spectrum.

Clearly the ILM simply only want to deal with larger organisations so they can tap in to their larger budgets, rather than providing access to leadership excellence to all.

Not a good look for a C&G organisation at all.

Try not to lose your certificates people biggest scam I’ve ever come across, I paid £50 for them to find my certificates to which they couldn’t find, because they made an error with my name they want another £50 to rectify it then send it to me, pissed off I’ve paid, I’m not paying £100 for a certificate absolute joke.

City and guild online exams - i took passport photo several times - their system did not accept. they did not explain why. ? the lighting was good, internet speed ok.

Pakistany facilitated scam. Teach not according to acrediting company, you get fined for it. Course is extremely confusing and very veig. Avoid.

Dear Sarah,
cc - Dame Ann Limb DBE CBE DL FCGI: Chair of the Council ¹
- Kirstie Donnelly MBE: Chief Executive Officer ¹ ² ³
- Andy Moss: Chief Customer Officer ¹ ²
- Faiza Khan MBE: Executive Director, Corporate Affairs & Foundation ¹
- Cecilia Harvey: Chief Operating Officer ¹ ²
- Abid Ismail: Chief Financial Officer ¹ ²
- Nic Barnes: Executive Director, People
I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with the response I received from City & Guilds Customer Services, specifically from Sarah. While the response appears to be thorough and empathetic, it ultimately fails to address the core issue and provide a satisfactory solution.

The response acknowledges the repeated attempts to send the certificate, but fails to take responsibility for the failure to deliver. Instead, it shifts the blame to the postal system and implies that I should have received the certificate by now.

Furthermore, the response states that they cannot reopen the application or post the certificate again, despite their earlier gesture of goodwill. This inconsistency is unacceptable and suggests a lack of commitment to resolving the issue.

The suggestion to make a new application and pay an additional £50.00 fee is unreasonable, considering the circumstances. I have already paid for the certificate and have been patient and persistent in my attempts to receive it.

Overall, I would rate this response as poor in terms of customer service and resolution. I hope that City & Guilds will reconsider their approach and provide a more satisfactory solution.

Recommendation: City & Guilds should take responsibility for their failures and provide a complimentary reissue of the certificate, rather than charging an additional fee. They should also review their customer service approach to ensure that it is more empathetic and solution-focused.

I was meant to sit my Maths exam this morning.
I tested both laptops dozens of times since I got booked. No issues whatsoever.
I tested again last night - no issues. I downloaded the results for evidence.

This morning, an hour before my exam I test again and I get error messages that my camera and microphone cannot be accessed. Odd, as they are switched on and permissions show granted.

I switch between cameras, no change. Same issue.
I switch from CHrome to Edge, no change. Same issue.

I restarted several times, no change. Permissions show on/granted but video and audio fail test.

The tech support lady, with a crying baby next to her, cannot help me - Windows up-to-date, Chrome up-to-date, permissions granted. We struggle to hear one another as the baby is crying, we both loose patience and get upset. No issue with my laptop found or solution offered.

40 minutes into my exam (almost 2 hours of struggle to pass the navigation test), I am asked to reschedule the exam as the time left would not let me finish the exam.

On top of Maths (rescheduled), I am due to take 2 exams soon in English in two weeks time. I dread the idea of going through this stress and frustration again three times.

I am doing a English and maths course for work and the remote Invigilation test is to be quite honest and brutal is disgusting! I check my laptop 24 hours before and also on the day of my exam to have their systems saying no video/audio available. Then I speak to tech support who cannot help and also the Invigilator can not help either. In this day and age of all the tech we have available to us, City&Guilds can not sort it out! This is putting more and more stress on myself and even to the point of myself thinking is it worth all this stress! If I could give it -5 stars I would in a heart beat!!!!!!!!

Thank God for Highfield Qualifications. As a social enterprise and third sector organisation we always felt uncomfortable dealing with City and Guilds.
Finally a charitable organistion understands small training providers.

Go to Highfield or ANY OTHER LEAD BODY if you are struggling financially!
We were billed £5000 for NOT USING our City and Guilds centre as we staggered out of the pandemic.
Think about this rationally ... you register with a dentist or private doctor as one person. You don't need the service, but in order to use it next year you have to pay £5000 for the privilege.
I don't think so, City and Guilds. Go play with the Colleges and big spenders. We will find another, more fair and financially viable route for SMEs.

you get told city and guilds qualifications are for life. this clearly is not the case . for many years i have tried to progress and up skill only to be told i have to do everything again or modules of what i have already done ,
city and guilds will tell you just keep up to date with wiring regulations etc keeps you current , but still unable to take any further course without doing what i have already paid and done . same result every time from training providers , its invalid in the sense it will not map over ,so if you pass ,you still will not get a certificate . city and guild issue , but nearly three months into a ongoing complaint and city and guilds just fob you off , would say seek other qualifications as city and guilds are just like the training places just want the easy money, not interested whether they have screwed your career , before 1992 your qualifications mean nothing no matter how much you kept up to date with regulations chucking money at courses. the main one you need to upskill is impossible unless you waste/spend thousands and thousands and become a apprentice again and start all over again from the beginning,
would not recommend city and guilds to any one would not advise them to waste there time.
there are better qualifications now out there now.
Told by training providers this has happened to a excessive amount of people having to start again because of city and guilds , remember city and guilds IS NOT FOR LIFE no matter what your told its just to get your money
Discrimination on how the training providers can keep up to date with cpd, but people learning can not even though they may have the same or equivalent qualification, Read there hand books
plenty of emails to back this up, with some responses are beyond belief by using there hand book as a excuse , best way to stop this for future generations to come is bad media then they may listen .
Do not believe in Ofqual for further help, just another
get out clause from, we are part of . gov and not interested

Today I had a experience with City guilds to do a test on line and didn't went well as the person that suppose to vigilant my course told me to go out as she said it was the wrong link and come back in which I did but then the person never comeback to the link so for that I lost my slot for the test and I was still waiting on link for the vigilant for 45 minutes. They didn't told me that i lost my slot or i wasn't going to fo the test today i had to contact them after 45 minutes to find out what was happening and that's when they told me that I wasn't going to do the test today. For a City Guilds college this isn't acceptable and I'm very disappointed.