In reply to Gabi.

Hi Gabi,
I started the Master of Counselling after a very rushed consultation and all sorts of hard-sell.
I was required to complete a unit I had already done at Grad Dip level in a superior course over 12 weeks rather than the rushed, shallow, and unbelievably low quality unit UoC delivered over 6 weeks.
I was also pipped for referencing issues even after being told that “Cadmus formats it for you”.
And the feedback on assignments was ignorant, and poorly worded with no opportunity for discussion.
The tutorials were similarly banal and uncritical.
Furthermore, I am a mature adult with 10 years in the field and PACFA registration as a Clinical Counsellor and I am about to develop my private practice and will remain part-time in my current role. There was no relevance to the Intensive nor the Placement. The course was beneath my knowledge and experience but still I was encouraged to apply. I am Neurodivergent and this was also minimised despite the Intensive and Placement being onerous (and irrelevant) for me.
I could not recommend this University.
I have made a complaint to the National Student Ombudsman – to no avail, and participated in a Research project where I was told this experience is all too common.
We must voice our concerns and aim for higher standards. I despair of the “counsellors” being developed in this program, and of the money-grubbing hard-sell that characterises this Uni.
A disappointing and expensive error on my part.

In reply to Anonymously written.

I concur with remarks made about UC : admittedly universities are focused on making money, but UC has taken this to another level. I’m in the final stages of a master of counselling, which has turned into a nightmare … I’ve been failed the final assignment of a key unit that unlocks access to the master’s degree when my previous assignments received distinctions. The strategy seems to be to give students reasonable marks to get them to a point of no return in the degree and then suddenly fail them, claiming their work is now not up to par – and to get them to redo the units, adding a little more lucre to UC’s coffers.
Unethical, inhumane churning of people’s aspirations and work, with the added bonus of dealing with toxic tutors who seem

UC was one of the only unis that actually looked at my work experience and let me in without having to jump through a million hoops. That meant a lot, because I’ve been in the industry for years and didn’t want to start from scratch. The course itself has been mostly good, some units felt a bit slow, and the online portal isn’t the easiest to use, but the lecturers have been supportive and seem to get that not everyone’s fresh out of high school. It’s not perfect, but it’s been a solid option for someone like me trying to upskill without flipping my whole life upside down.

MASTER OF COUNSELLING online. $3400 for subjects that run over just six weeks. Postgraduate course with quiz assignments, where points are taken away for the system not working properly. My feedback for the quiz was “learn to follow intructions to refresh the page before submitting the quiz”.
Environmentally questionable assignments, instructing students to consult then critique AI. I’m aware this is a thing now at universities, but this might need be thought through a bit more. (Ethically, we should stay away from AI as much as possible, but not here.)
Assessment feedbacks focusing on format and referencing (I already completed three postgraduate degrees at other Australian universities with high GPA scores and no referencing issues, whereas here I got regular Passes for minor mistakes). Little or no feedback on content, noting “Good” here and there, and letting me off with a Credit.
Assessment feedbacks getting my chosen approach completely wrong, saying “thank you for your assignment on therapy X”, when in fact I wrote about Z…
Also, expecting impossible depths of self-reflection, while never actually teaching self-reflective practice.
And last but not least, a Graduate Diploma from another Australian university is not accepted here, so I was expected to complete at least three UC subjects at the hefty price above, to earn an Australian degree I already have. Based on this experience, maybe it’s time to let the Masters go, and specialize instead.

In reply to Honor.

I totally agree that UC, should not be your choice of University!… The website used, is confusing; andcin most cases leads nowhere!- then trying to contact a Student advisor is almost impossible if you leave an email,- it takes 48 hours to hear back The instructions are Not in plain English,,and very hard to decipher!,I made the biggest mistake, by studying at UC! …They promise great suport on all their material; but don’t deliver! Another very important issue vusxthat thecUC- website, is Not user Friendly, and the I T- team, are unresponsive!….. Recinconsider your Study Options, or you will make the same enormous mistake that I made!!

In reply to Disillusioned.

100% concur with this review. The faculty I was in had a Cult Paradigm, with a very poor pedagogy, academic staff lacking in teaching skill and crammed full of personal biases, opinions and prejudices, fearful of their own competency and tenure. Students seen as expendable cash cows, succeeding if in agreement with the leader and her cronies and punished for cultural, personal or neurodiverse differences. Appalling in every way, cost a bomb, and I learnt nothing new in a so called post graduate qualification. Psychologically abusive norms. $40,000 for a ‘piece of paper’, and a spirit and enthusiasm for the profession crushed. Stay away!

This has been, by far, the worst university I have attended. The tutors provide incorrect feedback that directly contradicts both the course materials and industry standards.

I had a particularly distressing experience with one tutor, with whom I felt uncomfortable as a woman. When I requested to have my final assignment graded by a different tutor, my request was denied. As a result, I chose not to submit the assignment and retook the unit. However, I was later told that if I encountered the same tutor again, I could request a change—something I was previously not allowed to do. This inconsistency suggests that the university intended for me to pay for the unit twice.

I spent countless hours escalating the issue from one person to another, only to be met with inaction. After a one-hour Teams meeting with the Head of School of Health Sciences where I outlined this and numerous other negative experiences at the university, spaning from the very start ofthe course till the end (2.5 years) I was simply told that nothing would be done.

I also provided the university with a comprehensive list of issues I experienced during my time there, yet they chose to do nothing. Rather than addressing the problems, they buried them—and me along with them. As a result, I decided not to pursue my Master’s degree and stopped at the Graduate Diploma. This is the fourth university I have attended, and without question, it has been the worst experience by far.

The university fails in multiple areas: support, accountability, and hiring competent tutors. One particularly troubling example was the Mental Health First Aid class, which was appalling. It was run by individuals who were extremely underqualified, making it not only ineffective but also unethical.

I strongly advise against studying here. I will be taking these issues further, and I sincerely hope no one else has to endure what my classmates and I went through.

They seem to be only interested in taking your money—I cannot stress this enough. Save yourself from years of grief. I make sure to warn everyone I speak to who is considering further study: do not attend this university.