New Skills Academy

What New Skills Academy is

New Skills Academy is an online course catalog for adults who want a certificate or diploma in a practical or personal interest, studied at home on their own schedule. It is part of Academy Plus Group Ltd, which trades as academy+, and all prices on the site are in GBP. The homepage invites visitors to "Join Over 1,084,000 students" and choose from 910+ courses, while the membership offer speaks of 700+ courses in the library. Courses are sold one at a time, mostly at £100, or through a yearly membership that opens the whole library. The site says every course has been checked and approved by CPD and comes with lifetime access.

The catalog

The homepage lists its course categories with their size. The largest are Business and Personal Development with 417 courses each, Vocational / Hobbies with 371, Sales / Marketing with 182, Admin / Secretarial / HR with 166, Medical with 159, Computing with 149, Health & Safety with 146, Education with 141 and Bundle Courses with 139. Smaller areas include Hospitality & Tourism, Social / Care, Fitness, Language, Finance, Beauty, Animal Care, Writing, Entertainment, Food Safety, Fashion & Design and Horticulture. The site's own line for the range is courses "ranging from dog grooming to retail banking".

The popular courses on the homepage show the typical format: a named certificate or diploma split into modules. The Level 3 Child Psychology Diploma has 22 modules, the Level 2 Teaching Assistant Diploma 20, the Complete SEND Diploma 22, the Pet Psychology Diploma 25, the Nail Technician Diploma Award 25, the Garden Design and Maintenance Diploma 28 and the Payroll Diploma 23. Shorter ones include the Admin, PA and Secretarial Certificate, the Life Coaching Certificate, the CBT Diploma, the Interior Design Diploma and the Vlogging Diploma at 10 modules each, the Mindfulness Diploma at 9 and the Bridal Hair Certificate at 5. The Complete Microsoft Excel Course is a bundle of 3 courses.

Each listing also shows how many students have enrolled, which gives a sense of what sells. The Excel course shows 64277, the Complete SEND Diploma 57365, the Nail Technician Diploma Award 42913, the Makeup Artist Diploma 32224, the Level 2 Teaching Assistant Diploma 30875 and the Floristry Academy Diploma 30510. Further down the list, the Level 3 Child Psychology Diploma shows 25895, the CBT Diploma 23442, the Payroll Diploma 21106 and the Life Coaching Certificate 19858, while more niche titles such as the Introduction to Teaching Yoga Certificate, at 989, have far fewer.

The Personal Development category covers English, maths, life coaching, mindfulness, spirituality, time management, vegan courses and even driving test preparation. The category page says these courses suit anyone wanting a career change, a more positive outlook or new skills, and that tutors are available to help with questions.

How a course works

Courses are self-paced and run on PC, mobile and tablet, so learners can study on the way to work, as the homepage puts it. The course filter lets visitors choose between video, audio and text learning, and between courses of 30 minutes to 10 hours and those of 10 hours or more. The site promises detailed lessons created by experts and tutor support for anyone who needs it. An account can be created with an email address or through Facebook or Google, and the sign-in box notes that students from all countries can log in. The course list can be sorted by popularity, release date, name, price, rating or duration.

The student reviews fill in the details. Ross Dunsten, who is dyslexic, describes helpful end-of-week tests, passing on his first attempt, and downloadable PDFs he can keep. Dr. M. Arshad, on the CBT course, notes that each module has a quick test and an assignment, and Teleisha Harley, a support worker, mentions clear videos and downloadable worksheets. Luis Costa praises the notes option and studying on various devices, and Nichola Anderson says she finished a property course in one week, making notes on each module with the notes tab. Keith Smith started a dog course for his own pet and now sees it as a possible second income. Julia Bobkova liked the practical tasks and being able to revise any module, and found the final test manageable once every module was done. Chloe Hambly took a sign language course she expects to use at work, and Rob Coops was on his third course with the academy.

Certificates

After the end-of-course test, the certificate can be validated on the website 24/7 by entering its certificate ID. Before showing a result, the validation page displays a clear disclaimer: a valid certificate means "only that they have taken our detailed on-line course and understood the material well enough to pass a final test by answering at least 70% of the test questions correctly", and the company carries out no identity, background or criminal record checks on certificate holders. The course approval is described as CPD, with a "CPD certified" label on the category pages.

Prices and membership

Individual courses show an RRP of £100, and most listings are priced at £100.00. The Bridal Hair Certificate is £80.00 and the Complete Microsoft Excel Course £180.00. Each listing carries a 0% Finance option, and a banner offered 79% off individual courses with the code GOALS79.

The Premium Membership costs £99 per year and gives unlimited access to study 700+ courses, with a maximum of 50 active courses at any one time, plus a career matching service and a free XO Student Discounts membership. Newsletter subscribers get the Interview Skills and CV Writing Certificate course free. The footer also lists gift cards, voucher redemption, Tesco Clubcard, an affiliate program and an achiever board, and the main menu includes a staff training option for organizations.

Who it suits

New Skills Academy suits adults who want an affordable, self-paced certificate in a specific interest or job skill: a teaching assistant adding a SEND diploma, someone starting out in nails, makeup or floristry, an office worker brushing up on Excel or payroll, or a pet owner turning an interest into a side business. Anyone planning several courses gets the most from the £99 membership. The certificates are CPD-approved course certificates based on a final test, so they work best as proof of study for personal development or a CV rather than as a regulated professional license.