The internet has made information extra accessible with every innovation and advancement that takes place. These days, online education is offered by many platforms all across the web in any topic you could ever imagine. This gives busy students and 9 to 5 workers the flexibility to learn about their chosen topic whenever they’re free to do so.
One platform wherein you can learn about online marketing, design, and other useful information is Shaw Academy. You may have come across this platform before, and perhaps it caught your interest, but is Shaw Academy legit? We hope you’ll learn what Shaw Academy is and if it’s the right platform for you by reading our review.
What Is Shaw Academy?
Shaw Academy was started in 2013 by founders James Egan and Adrian Murphy. The platform is based in several locations, including Bangalore, London, and Dublin. Wikipedia says that the company has over 200 employees, and it caters to students from all over the globe. In 2016, Shaw Academy supposedly taught around 1.8 million students.
In case you miss the live presentation of the course you’re taking, Shaw Academy allows you to access its library of recordings so that you can still learn during your own time.
The Courses Offered
Shaw Academy has a variety of courses available separated into different categories. The courses offered last about an hour each. Here are the categories offered by Shaw Academy, along with some examples of the courses:
- Photography—Wedding Photography Course, Video Editing and Production Course, Adobe Lightroom Training Course, Professional Photography Course, etc.
- Marketing—Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing, Creative Writing: How to Write for Publication, Blogging, Content Marketing & Vlogging 101, SEO & Digital Marketing Fundamentals, etc.
- Design—Online Photoshop Course, Fashion Design: How to Build a Fashion Label, Web Design: HTML, CSS, JS & Bootstrap Fundamentals, Online Graphic Design Course, etc.
- Business—Big Data and Data Analytics Training Course, Advanced Microsoft Excel Training Course, Entrepreneurship Fundamentals: How to Start a Successful Business, Sales & Business Development Training Program, etc.
- Finance—Commodities Trading: Master the Supply and Demand Market, Learn How to Read and Trade Gold, Bitcoin, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Beginner Trading Course, How to Trade Stocks: Learn to Succeed With Stock Trading, etc.
- Health & Wellness—Personal Trainer Certification, Meal Planning & Food Science: How to Eat Well on a Budget, Advanced Diploma in Human Nutrition, Mindfulness & Meditation For Beginners, etc.
- Technology—Learn Project Management Online, Big Data and Data Analytics Training Course, Scratch Coding For Kids, Mobile App Development: Build & Publish Apps From Scratch, etc.
- Beauty—Makeup, Nails & Beauty Course, Professional Diploma in Beauty Therapy
- Music—Online Guitar Lessons, Music Theory Online
- Language—Learn English for Business, Telephone & Email
How Does It Work?
As soon as you access Shaw Academy’s website, you’ll already be offered several courses to enroll in. There’s a “Browse Courses” drop-down menu at the topmost part of the homepage, where you can go through the different options available and find the course you want.
If there’s a course you’d like to take, you have to sign up for Shaw’s free membership first. You’ll only get free access for 4 weeks, though, so you’ll still have to input your credit card information so that the company can bill you after your free access is over. If you no longer want to continue after 4 weeks, make sure to cancel your subscription before your free access is over because Shaw Academy will automatically bill you.
However, based on Shaw Academy reviews, it appears that it’s not that simple to cancel your subscription. Many customers have had issues with Shaw Academy still taking their money even though they’ve already deactivated their account and informed the company about the cancellation.
So, do bear this in mind if you’re adamant about testing this online learning platform.
How Much Does Shaw Academy Cost?
Signing up for a Shaw Academy account is completely free of charge, but if you want to actually take a course, that’s when you need to pay and provide your credit card details. As mentioned, you have free access to Shaw’s courses for up to 4 weeks, after which you’ll be automatically charged every month. This is how much Shaw Academy will bill you after your free trial period:
- $69.99 CAD per month—Your monthly membership fee depends on where you live.
Shaw Academy also offers extra resources if you’re interested, but you’ll need to pay for them too.
- Module 1 Toolkit – $49.99 CAD
- Ecertificate (Preorder) – $49.99 CAD
- Hard copy diploma (Preorder) – $99.99 CAD
Who Would Benefit From Shaw Academy?
You might be wondering if Shaw Academy is the platform for you. What kind of person would benefit the most from this company? Well, Shaw Academy is meant for anyone—especially those who want accreditation to improve their resumes or apply for a promotion. Besides, it’s always fun to learn something new without feeling restricted by schedules, which is commonly imposed in offline education.
Pros
- It offers a 4-week free trial.
- Live classes are available at set times, which you’ll be reminded of beforehand.
- Recordings of the class are also available in case you missed the live session.
- Subscribing to the platform after your free trial gives you access to all the available courses.
Cons
- You’ll still need to input your credit card information to do the free trial.
- The customer service team is slow to reply.
- Members have had trouble trying to cancel or unsubscribe from the platform.
- Some members still get charged even after canceling the subscription.
Conclusion
Expanding your knowledge will always be a good thing, and online education greatly helps with that. However, there are many platforms out there for this, and it can be difficult to know which one you can trust. As for Shaw Academy, it’s difficult to say for sure. The company seems to offer something great, but the reviews are offputting. Plus, it doesn’t help that TrustPilot warns people that Shaw Academy has had a history of tampering with reviews, with the company asking people to remove negative comments.
