Introduction
Interested in pursuing online training courses – but aren’t sure where to start?
If your potential career plans include work in business-related topics, then our review of Shaw Academy should be helpful to you in finding the right classes to help you build your skills.
Shaw Academy is one of the many online learning platforms out there, allowing you to improve your skills in business-related topics like digital marketing and web development without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home.
While most of the classes on Shaw Academy center around the business niche, there’s a wide variety of online courses you can pursue here – these cover everything from health and fitness to sports nutrition, social media marketing to programming.
Is Shaw Academy right for you? In our comprehensive Shaw Academy review, we will tell you everything you need to know.
What is Shaw Academy?
Founded in 2013, Shaw Academy is the brainchild of James Egan and Adrian Murphy. This online learning platform has seen a rapid explosion in its popularity since 2020, primarily due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with many other offices around the world (such as in Bangalore, India).
Shaw Academy classes are designed for busy learners who need a flexible study environment. The vast majority of classes on this platform are scheduled hourly rather than offered live so that you can pick a class time that works for you, reschedule if life gets in the way, or watch replays of live videos later on.
Courses on Shaw Academy are recognized all over the world, including in countries like the United States and Australia. You will be able to tap into a network of well-informed professionals who are experts in their respective topics. All courses conform to the highest learning standards and benchmarks and each course is carefully reviewed to make sure it meets expected standards.
Unlike many other online learning platforms in which you’ll take classes that can literally be taught by anyone, courses on Shaw Academy are constantly and consistently vetted to make sure you get reliable results. You’ll be able to expand your skills and knowledge in a wide variety of areas.
Who is Shaw Academy For?
Shaw Academy is an online education institute that offers interactive classes so you can learn at your own pace. Most courses last anywhere from 12 hours to six months, with everything offered entirely online. It’s the perfect way to learn if you are a busy working adult or just want to get ahead in your career by taking a class here or there.
You can take classes in a variety of categories, such as:
- Photography: video editing and production, iPhone and Android production, Adobe lightroom, wedding photography, online photoshop
- Marketing: digital marketing, social media marketing, creative writing, SEO & digital marketing, blogging, content marketing & vlogging, viral marketing
- Design: graphic design, fashion design, interior design, online photoshop, web design, budget graphic design
- Business and Analytics: Excel, leadership and management, project management courses, data analytics, bookkeeping and accounting, sales and business development, how to start a business, organizational psychology
- Finance: financial trading an investment, gold trading, commodities trading, how to trade stocks, property investment, shares trading, cryptocurrency, financial planning
- Health and Wellness: personal trainer, early childhood development, coaching, alternative therapies, mindfulness and meditation, meal planning & food science, sports nutrition, human nutrition
- Technology: web design, coding & computer science, web development, advanced Microsoft Excel, computer science, data analytics, game development, database development
- Arts and Hobbies: crystal healing, floral design, acting and theatre, wine appreciation, dog care, grooming & nutrition, knitting, cooking and baking, painting
- Beauty: beauty therapy, makeup, nails, and beauty, image consultancy
- Music: practical guitar, music theory, sound engineering
- Language: English and IELTS readiness
As you can see, the list of potential online classes you can take on Shaw Academy is extensive! Chances are, if it’s something you’re interested in learning more about, you’ll be able to find it on Shaw Academy.
How Does Shaw Academy Work?
Shaw Academy offers courses ranging from health and wellness topics like sports nutrition to business-related topics like social media marketing and web development.
Each course varies in terms of its content, but most are delivered with recordings of live presentations. You can log on to the platform’s online portal to complete your assignments, engage with online review modules, take exams, replay lectures, and more.
While you take your courses, you will be supported by both technical and educational support teams.
To start, you’ll create your unique set of login details at registration. Your username is your email and you will be prompted to create a password of your own choosing. Then, to login, you will simply go to the Shaw Academy homepage and click the login button at the top right-hand corner. Then, you’ll be able to enter in your unique details and view the Member’s area, which will display information for any courses you are enrolled in as well as your unique profile settings.
Courses are offered via interactive webinars that are scheduled twice a week. You will receive an email reminder and you can join the lesson at any time. If you miss a webinar, you can view it, pre-recorded, in the Membres Area. You can access these for as long as you are subscribed so you can complete your courses at your own pace.
There are occasional live modules, too. For these, you’ll be invited to attend ten live webinar-like lessons, each of which is an hour long and scheduled at various times throughout the week. You will be notified over email to attend the live webinar, during which you will be able to interact with instructors and students just like you were in a regular classroom.
Can’t attend the webinar at the predetermined time? That’s okay! You can view the prerecorded lessons later, logging in up to a month later, for as many times as you’d like. You will also be required to pass a final exam.
Features and Functionality
Here are some of the main features of Shaw Academy.
Live Modules
The live course modules are delivered via an interactive webinar format at scheduled times. These are typically held twice a week and you can join only at the scheduled times. You can also watch a module that has been recorded for your convenience later on.
All foundation courses run twice a week at 7 pm (UK time), typically for four weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays.
It can be a bit confusing to get a handle on the timing of these foundation courses, especially if you don’t live in the United Kingdom. Fortunately, you’ll receive an email reminder in your local time to help you avoid confusion. It’s important to always check the time zone before you start the class, though.
Most foundation courses are an hour in duration with a bonus question and answer session to wrap up every lesson. This question and answer session is lengthy, generally lasting for around fifteen or twenty minutes, but they can be extremely beneficial to help you get more out of your classes.
Advanced courses last longer than foundation courses, typically running for 12 weeks and including 24 hours of coursework. These include practical and theoretical elements.
Weekly Assignments
With Shaw Academy, you’ll find one of the most interactive learning environments around – it blows its competitors out of the water in this regard.
You’ll be able to complete weekly assignments that will test your understanding of the content. These generally take place after every second lesson and are optional. You do not have to complete them in order to obtain a diploma.
Most assignments are in the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire, with an End of Module Assignment available at the end of each module, too.
If you complete all four module assignments and the full course, you will receive an electronic diploma. You can also purchase a hard copy of your diploma if you choose, too.
Unlimited Courses
With Shaw Academy, you can take courses in as many topics as you’d like. Unlike other platforms that either require you to pay per course or have a set number of online classes you can take, Shaw Academy does not do this. You can learn to your heart’s content!
Vouchers and Discounts
In addition to the free trial program touted by Shaw Academy, this platform also has vouchers and discounts available periodically.
To redeem a voucher, you’ll just have to login and then click the “trying to register or redeem a voucher” link.
Shaw Academy Pricing Model
Ready to start learning on Shaw Academy? The pricing on here varies, especially when you consider that various special discounts are available from time to time. Often, you’ll be prompted to participate in a special, one-time offer if you happen to leave the sign-up page during registration. This is merely a method of making sure users don’t bounce away before providing credit card details, but this “special offer” can save you about $28.
To register for this online learning platform, you will need to provide a contact phone number and an email address. While that seems simple and straightforward enough, in order to take a class, you will need to provide credit card information. While the first 28 days will serve as a free trial period, after this time your credit card will be charged.
To use Shaw Academy, you will need to pay about $69.99.
Again, the first four weeks of classes on Shaw Academy are free. This will help you figure out whether this online learning platform is right for you. After that time, you can continue your membership by paying the same monthly fee cited above or you can cancel your membership.
Support
Shaw Academy customer support is mixed. Some users have reported that they have difficulties viewing lesson recordings or streaming webinars. While this is often just an issue with the web browser that can be resolved by trying to load the video on different browsers (for example, trying Safari if you were using Chrome), other users find that there is no good solution to this issue.
Many reach out to Shaw Academy customer support and aren’t the happiest with the results – there are quite a few users who claim that the support team is unresponsive and not helpful at fixing basic issues.
Others argue that customer service is as helpful as can be, often addressing issues with technical and billing problems by offering additional months of free membership.
In any event, if you have any issues with Shaw Academy, you can contact the Shaw Academy customer support team at [email protected]. In most cases, you will be able to work with a live person to resolve your issues.
The Advantages (Pros) of Shaw Academy
Here are some of the biggest benefits of choosing Shaw Academy for your online education needs.
High-Quality Training Programs
Shaw Academy offers students some of the best quality courses, all broken down into easily digestible chunks. You’ll find that the courses offered on this platform are clear and concise, allowing you to learn in an interactive and practical way.
All of the course modules are broken down into small, manageable segments so that you won’t feel overwhelmed by all of the information at once. Plus, you can choose the dates you want to attend live classes, allowing it to work better with your classes.
Shaw Academy Accreditation
Shaw Academy is unique among other online course platforms due to its triple accreditation. It is accredited with CPD, IAO, and ICSOC, meaning all courses here are formally certified with diplomas bearing appropriate logos and badges for accreditation.
Although Shaw Academy courses are not credit-bearing, meaning you likely won’t be able to transfer credits into a college for university credit, they do hold significant weight with employees. All content in your courses can be externally validated and is recognized by global professional bodies.
Upon completing your courses, your credentials will be recognized by CPD (Continued Professional Development) to ensure that your academic and practical qualifications do not become outdated but instead remain relevant.
They are also accredited with the International Accreditation Organization, which ensures that the course meets certain standards regarding quality. Each course is also accredited with the International Council of Specialized Online Certifications, an organization that is well-established in the education industry and specializes in enrichment learning and micro-credentialing.
Free Trial Program
You will see your fair share of complaints about the Shaw Academy free trial program – something we will discuss in more detail below. However, it is still important to not overlook the fact that there is a free trial program at all – this is something that not all online learning platforms provide.
