Datrix Training Reviews 187

Project Management isn't the most exciting subject but I really enjoyed the week I spent training for my PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification. The days were long, even with breaks, and there was work to do in the evenings. However, the material was broken down in a way that made it very managable.

The trainer was extremely knowledgeable about project management, PRINCE2 and the guide book. He also had about 557 stories for every situation which helped us to apply what we were learning to real life situations. Datrix were very supportive throughout the process, sending pre-course reading material well in advance and making the booking process simple and straightforward.

I did the training in a class room, which helped me to stay focussed. I also did the Foundation and Practitioner in one go, which meant that I felt properly prepared for the final exam - I would be worried about losing some of the information if I had left a gap. I also currently work in project support using PRINCE2 as a framework, which also helped me to make sense of the material.

I recommend Datrix Training for great value and focussed training

Trainer very good, has offered many good examples on how to apply Prince2.

Excellent coaching, well structured training material and excellent advice on how to tackle the exam.

I took a Prince 2 Foundation and Practitioner course which i was expecting to be challenging . From the moment the instructor introduced himself i knew we were in good hands . He was knowledgeable, entertaining and made the subject matter a little more interesting than it may have been. The administration of the course went smoothly and i encountered no issues from start to finish . Happy to recommend based on my experience.

I found the training facilities for the course to be substandard and not condusive to learning.
Precourse reading was not helpful, spelling mistakes to be found across all of the Datrix reading material and not relevant or helpful as precourse preparation. I should have been sent the APMP exam papers and not Datrix's thrown together view of what Prince2 is. There was no material given to prepare for the differences in the old practitioner exam and the multiple choice exam now in its place.
The room was untidy with overstacked boxes to the side of the room.
There was no refreshments provided in the room (I would expect at least tea, coffee and water to be provided as standard).
The room was far too hot during the afternoon.

I have been on many course and have to say I was left completely underwhelmed by this offering from Datrix and would certainly not recommend it to anyone else.

Great course that i really enjoyed. The amount of information and complexity which you're expected to retain is quite staggering, and it's a hugely intense course that was made enjoyable by the very animated and expressive course tutor.

Hi,
just to say that the 2 days training to get re-certified in Prince 2 was excellent. Great instructor who knew what he was going on about and made it very interesting.
Went through every subject thoroughly and did lots of one to one questions and answers which help me remember a lot.

Look forward to doing this again in 5 years

An intensive course, well structured, delivered by a superb trainer. Exam focused but with time taken to discuss the real world application of Prince II. This course ticked all the boxes and enabled me to gain the practitioner qualification at the first attempt.

Excellent tutor, good facilities, omprehensive course with plenty of support if you require it.

I attended a PRINCE2 training course with Datrix. Notoriously a fairly uninspiring topic, the trainer's approach and style made it more than bearable. In the end, it was an enjoyable and successful week. Thanks.

I studied from the PRINCE2 manual at home and then attended a classroom session in preparation for the Practitioner exam. Good job I did! The manual is everything you need to know and you can learn it until you are blue in the face ..but the trainer shared the much needed techniques and skills to interpret and really understand the exam papers. A bit like going to University to become a surgeon without having carried out any operations otherwise. I wouldn't have passed without the classroom day. It was also light hearted, fun and within the small group of us; all from different companies and backgrounds, everyone had opportunity to say what was important to them and where they had doubts. We completed a moc exam and went over the answers too so everyone felt super confident and at ease with the trainer. I also asked for advice on other supportive courses to consider and found the trainer's opinions very useful. A good day.. and I got promoted at work for passing the qualifications so quickly within my first year in the job!

I attended one day and thought she was excellent. Imaginative and conscientious, done with some wit and humour and really allowed you to understand what you were learning about. I recommend her highly.

Honestly didn't realise how intensive the Prince2 course would be....

However trainer was very knowledgeable, covered all bases, and knew answer to all questions and explained to a very high degree of detail.

Would recommend the course to anyone pursuing a PM career or anyone wanting an insight, but when I say insight...I stress the course is very full on.

Excellent course, pre-reading was too exhaustive and tailored for all levels so would be my only slight criticism.

The tutor was fantastic, his energy passion and understanding of the material was admirable.

I only attended the 2 day Practioners course and thought the trainer was spot on in her delivery of the course. Referencing all the time to the appendix's and always asking us to explain an answer whether right or wrong. If wrong she gave a full explanation of where we were going wrong and a full explanation of what was right. I would highly recommend this course. I passed my exam and that was thanks to the trainer and logical explanation of the Prince2.

We had an excellent trainer who knew his topic and his way around our manual. This brought the course alive and meant that he had the team working with him to deliver a good result.

I would not hestitate to recommend the course to others.

This post is a copy of a mail sent to Datrix in early August. I should say that a couple of weeks after this I spoke to a customer service manager who was apologetic about the situation, and offered me a refund. Although I am still unhappy about the course experience, my complaint was handled in a reasonable manner.

I bought a blended Prince 2 course in June for £714 and I have been extremely dis
appointed with the quality of the materials and service I have received. I’ve detailed the many issues under the headings below.

Online course (initial element of blended course)

The online course is extremely poor. It was promised to be interactive, vibrant, exciting and dynamic. Actually it is mainly a series of summary documents to download and read, and podcasts of a robotic voice reading out the summaries word for word. There are also a few multiple choice tests, which are useful, but this is the only interactive element.

The website has been written by someone who has a poor command of English grammar, so some things sound more complex than they need to be, and reading the materials is irritating.

The materials frequently refer toanother provider which I had purposely avoided because of poor reviews. The account manager had also justified the £100 higher cost for Datrix compared to the other company by explaining the Datrix quality was better, yet they appear to be the same thing.

In addition to poor quality of what is there, there are elements missing. The online course advertised an online chatroom, and pre-prep fill in the gaps exercises, but I have been unable to find either on the course website. I sent several emails asking about these but had no response.

I was given a refund for the £100 difference in cost between the other company and Datrix. I requested a refund for the full online ‘course’ as I could not use this, and had to spend £50 on another course in order to prepare for the exam. This request has been ignored.


Face to face course – access and logistics

I have just had an operation and so I’m on crutches, and unable to straighten my leg. I asked Mike to let the trainer know about this, and make sure there was an extra chair for me to put my leg on. I also asked Laura to double check this, and I received the following reply “Mike did pass on your message, I have informed the trainer and he is aware of what you will require.” However, when I arrived the trainer knew nothing about my needs. I was not even on the delegate list.


I was told to arrive at 2, but the exam didn’t start until 3. I would have been much better off spending this hour at home revising in comfort. Registration only takes 5 minutes, there was no need to be there at 2.

 

Face to face course – training content

This was advertised, and sold to me, as a 2 day course (the fact lunch was provided on both days was mentioned too), but it actually turned out to be only a day plus the exam on Friday morning, so half a day shorter than I have paid for. 


Due to poor communication and poor organisation, there is actually little I can learn from the one day of course available to me either. I was sent a link to pre-course reading (an exam paper), and told I was required to complete it before the course. I did so, and scored 88/108. However, when I chatted to the trainer on the Wednesday, he said that the paper I’d spent 3 -4 hours working through was what they were planning to go through on the Thursday morning, so there was little point me being there if I’d already studied this in detail.


The trainer also said that the Thursday afternoon was just going to be a mock exam, so I would gain little from being in the room which I couldn’t get from doing the exam paper at home.

I will say that, from the little I saw of him, the tutor seemed very good. He was an interesting speaker, answered a question I had well, and was very helpful. 

 

Communication, administration and support

The account manager sometimes took over a week to reply to my emails, including the one with my preferred dates in it. This meant my first choice was fully booked whilst I was waiting for the reply. 


When replies came only certain issues were addressed, and others ignored (like my request for clarification on which exam the 91.8% pass rate he quoted refered to and the full refund I requested, as mentioned above).


The email I sent to the operations email address didn’t get answered at all. The support email on the online course didn’t even work. I requested another address to contact with my downloading issues, but this request was also ignored. (I didn’t chase it because I got help elsewhere to download a podcast, and realised them how poor the quality was.)


Information about the course and pre-course reading was only sent 2 days before. There was no information about how the pre-course reading as going to be used, which led to the issues discussed above. Even when this information was sent it lacked sufficient detail. For example I had to check the exact times – I was just told the start on Wed and finish on Fri with no indication of start and finish times for other days.


It was over a week from buying the course to receiving the textbook.

 

Conclusion

I’ve wasted a lot of time dealing with Datrix, and researching other options. If I pass the course it is due to materials obtained from other providers, and the sheer effort I’ve put in, and not due to any support from Datrix.

Detailed course sith a great trainer who made the topic simple and interesting.

The trainer (Tony) brought an otherwise dry subject to life with a wealth of experience and personality.

Course support books were great apart frm the green and white book which is difficult to understand with poor english.

Highly recommend this course