I've been struggling on and off for the last year to learn Italian (Italian girlfriend...not really…read morea choice any more after a year!) and I've had more than my fair share of starter lessons. I got put on to Waterloo Academy by one of my friends who had done a refresher series of lessons for Spanish so thought I'd give it a try. Despite running a little late in my first lesson (geographical knowledge of London still lacking after 5 years) the teacher (Massi- without resorting to Italian stereotypes...really is incredibly Italian and a brilliant teacher to boot) instantly made me feel welcome and four weeks in, I'm learning at a solid rate and getting a decent amount of talk time in each lesson (2 hours). Massi is very approachable, takes time to answer any questions (without making anyone feel stupid no matter how mundane they may be...useful for me!) and every lesson gives you a number of ways that you can follow up the learning (information emailed to you, recommended books, youtube, journalists to get the tone and sound of words right...lots of ideas) so that irrespective of your learning style you're well looked after. I'll definitely be taking part in the next two stages of beginner lessons and looking to taking my intermediate stages in roughly 6 months time. The lesson structures are broken down well on the website and at no point do you feel overwhelmed or as if you're being short-changed with your development. It's making a huge difference to my language skills and it really is well priced. Great stuff!

Utterly hopeless. Two weeks after the course (which was merely adequate) we were told to travel all…read morethe way to Waterloo again to collect certificates. The 'Director' refused to send by post even for payment! She was incompetent, intransigent and incapable of giving me any reason why such a simple and straightforward task cannot be done. She clealry needs to go on a Complaint's Handling course as she was utterly uselss at resolving a complain and resorted to ridiculous insinuations . ALL providers of training that I have used in the past have issued certificates ON THE DAY but this outfit are clearly not organised and efficient. They seem to take a real pride in bringing European style bureaucracy to London. Avoid!

In the shadow of the Telecom Tower & the subject of a recent…read morefurore in Fitzrovia : Given Grade II listed status. - ministerhttp://ow.ly/4dZsm #in #fitzrovia dividing the residents between those who wanted it pulled down & those who wanted it preserved as an important part of history. I fall into the latter category. The historian, Prof Ruth Richardson makes a compelling case that Charles Dickens, who lived 100 yards away (No.22) in the same street, describes this workhouse in Oliver Twist. Whatever the case, it was once a workhouse where the work was carpet beating. The men,women & children - even from the same family -were split up, stripped of all posessions &, with only one bowl of gruel (watery porridge) to eat a day made to work till most died. The luckier ones were conscripted by Florence Nightingale to work for her in the Middlesex Hospital opposite. One of my pictures here shows the exercise yard under which was recently found, a burial ground with bones going 20 feet deep. Unfortunately, you can only see it from the outside at the moment. for security reasons. With your back to the entrance notice the building opposite with balconies : No 47 was the Studio of the Pre-Raphaelites Rossetti & Holman Hunt in 1849

If you are looking to do an evening or daytime course then I highly recommend that you check this…read moreplace out. In a quaint square a 5 minute walk from Holborn / Russell square this centre is very reasonable and has a variety of well taught courses ranging from languages through to writing, arts and crafts and business. The centre is friendly and has an excellent canteen which is also very good value. Prices are rock bottom and there are discounts available for concessions. If you are thinking of learning a new language, improving your computer skills or finding out more about philosophy check this place out. And if that isn't enough to make it super easy you are able to enrol and pay online.

From the owner: Friendly Adult Education Centre in East London offering affordable part-time and evening courses…read more Discover a variety of learning opportunities for everyone!

I attend a DIY course here and thought it was fantastic. The venue is very nice, light and airy…read more The tuition was relaxed but thorough we got to use all the tools and came away with some brilliant tips. I came away with the confidence to build my own shelves. Brilliant!

From the owner: Practical courses for beginners in Carpentry, DIY, upholstery and crafts.read more

A marvellous University. I followed in my grandfather's…read more footsteps here. Lively & interesting there are many public lectures you can attend

KCL is the least professional institution that I have ever encountered and provided the worst…read moreeducational experience of my life. The professors are not as engaged and do not provide as much time with students as they usually do at American universities. The educational services are nonexistent. If you are not a native English speaker, as a lot of the students, there are no opportunities for writing or academic assistance as foreign students get in American universities. The buildings are poorly maintained. They do not allow you to review your papers or problem sets, denying you the opportunity to learn. Most of all, they strike and use the students as leverage. The administration is totally incompetent, failing on all aspects from tuition, they overcharged me multiple times, to taking forever to respond to emails. There is no customer service and they care more about bureaucratic processes than helping students. My high school in the US was better run and the teachers and administration were more engaged in making me a better student than here at KCL.

I was a massive square at school (until I discovered I could get served in a pub at 15, anyway). I…read moredid my homework on time, I always did super amazing projects and liked getting top marks. That apparently hasn't changed and this week I went back to school. It's BRILLIANT. I'm doing a photography course at Greenwich Community College. This one is about composition and framing, and in two hours, I've already learnt stuff. I don't know the basics of photography, I've never been taught the technical stuff (I've also never asked anyone). So my four-week long course will teach me the basics, and also how to break the rules. We don't just sit in a photography classroom, oh no. Off I went running about Greenwich taking photos. Of flowers and double yellow lines, mostly. And then the best bit: We get homework! Oh, the school square in me is so pleased about the homework. I have to apply all the things I learnt last night, and show my best work next week. And we have an end of course presentation too. In a four week course. I'm so excited. I probably deserved the school bullying, if I'm honest. I'm even annoying myself with my excitement. Greenwich College are actually offering the first course you do with them for free, which is amazing. But the courses aren't massively expensive anyway. I might get a bit of a photo bug after this one and do them all. And no doubt be super excited about having to do homework.

I recently participated in a four-day workshop here at the Psychosynthesis Trust and really loved…read moreit. It's called the "Essentials" and it is both for personal and professional development. This was a very experiential workshop with daily visualization exercises, partner and small-group work as well as journaling. I thoroughly enjoyed the trainers as well as the interaction with the fellow attendees.

Not great for adult education. Some of the tutors seem to be unable to communicate with adults and…read moretalk as though they are talking to children. The Access course is said to be intensive, yet 50% of the contact hours of the course are spent wasting time on maths, English, and the most pointless of all; academic skills. Fine, if a student needs these then that is fair enough but making them mandatory for those who do not is a waste of time. The classes that focused on the pathway I was on (science) were poor, apart from physics where the teacher was just fantastic. He deserves 5 stars but sadly the rest deserve 1. The college internet is heavily restricted to the point I could not work effectively on the college site. The IT dept were incredibly inept: when asked if they could install Chrome on the network so I didn't have to use IE9, I was met with inertia and nonsensical arguments such as 'well no one else has complained before'. After being rude about my perfectly reasonable request they silently installed it a few weeks later anyway. Nice. I left to pursue other avenues of learning as I felt like I was wasting so much time here.

- The absolute worst of colleges I have ever seen. I have…read morebeen study aat bokkeeping courses but the tutors I had is always unsupportive..