HFE Reviews 1.986

I wish there were a zero-star option. My experience with Health and Fitness Education (HFE) has been extremely disappointing and stressful, mainly due to the lack of genuine learner support.

HFE strongly advertises excellent learner support, transparency, and a student-centred approach. Unfortunately, my experience was the complete opposite. When I faced difficulties during my course, I was repeatedly met with rigid policy-based responses, dismissive communication, and refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue.

I contacted HFE on multiple occasions seeking guidance and support, yet the responses felt defensive rather than supportive, and at times abrupt and unprofessional. Instead of helping resolve issues, I was simply referred back to policies, with little empathy or flexibility.

I dealt directly with:
• Arron Ryan (Careers Coach) – communication was rude and unhelpful.
• Sarah Cole (Learner Support Coach) – offered minimal practical support and relied solely on policy responses.
• Rick Gardiner (Manager) – refused further discussion and stated HFE’s position was “final”.

The complaints process felt one-sided, with no genuine attempt to understand the learner’s position. At times, phone conversations were rushed or ended abruptly, which added to the stress rather than easing it.

HFE promotes values such as support, care, fairness, and professionalism, but in my experience they do not practice what they preach. When things go smoothly, the course may seem fine — but when a learner genuinely needs help, the support simply is not there.

I am also concerned that my experience does not reflect the overwhelmingly positive reviews seen online, which makes me question how representative those reviews are when real problems arise.

This course has caused me significant emotional stress and financial strain. I strongly advise anyone considering HFE to get everything in writing, read every policy carefully, and be prepared for very limited flexibility or understanding if you encounter difficulties.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend HFE.

Really great experience, completed the online course and there was a lot of help available to successfully complete my qualification. Eleana was especially helpful, always able to call me to talk me through it :)

Danielle was amazing as my support tutor, she was eager to help and was readily available for any questions.

And the in person sessions were very informative and made passing the course so much easier

Highly recommend HFE- I done my L2 PT and now I’m back for my L3!

As a military girl on the go all the time and unpredictable work hours my fantastic tutor Eleana made my studies so much smoother. Eleana provided quality mentorship and easy guidance when navigating my end assessment. Eleana went above and beyond to accommodate my changing work patterns to make sure I still got my coursework / assessments done!! What a gem.

Thank you to everyone at HFE,

Look forward to my L3 PT & exercise referral (used my ELC) and it was such a smooth process

Difficuld long jurney but worth it its great

Great course - great support! Excited to start my pilates journey

When I first joined HFE I was totally in the dark and had no idea how the system worked. However I soon learnt even though it took a while. Once I understood how the system worked, I was good to go. The tutors were very helpful and guided me throughout the course. They were always there for me and were very patient and understanding.
To summarise I would say that I highly recommend HFE. They are all very pleasant to talk to and always there to see you through the long and challenging journey. I am really grateful to all of them and I am excited that I have finally reached the end of my journey. Three cheers for the HFE wonderful staff.

I had a really great experience on my Pilates course. The content was clear, well-structured, and easy to follow, while still being challenging and engaging. The teaching was supportive, professional, and motivating, which made the learning experience enjoyable from start to finish. My VIVA with Elana was also a really positive experience.

Great (very thorough) study and excellent teaching and support! Thank you so much for all your experience and help!

This course was great. I find learning quite difficult, especially with something this intense and in depth. But Liz the tutor was so incredibly passionate it was really inspiring and my support tutor Dani was always really encouraging and helped with anything I needed. I'm really proud to have achieved this and I couldn't have done it without the support from everyone there.

I did my level 2 and 3 personal trainer qualification with HFE. Being dyslexic I somes need things explained so gave them a call a few times and spoke to my tutor Sarah Cole. She was very helpful and explained things in ways I could understand. I highly recommend doing your training with HFE.

Having already got one qualification I wanted a L3 in Mat & Reformer. HFE had a package deal that suited. I really appreciated all the online resources available: lecture videos; demonstrations of each exercise etc. These were helpful. Dani, my personal tutor/support, was great. Always around for support when needed and so friendly!

I felt supported by the team and I found all of the resources really helpful

Easy booking process to book the course. All of the materials are sent to you quickly, including the written course books.
Platform is really ease to use and laid out clearly. The team are really helpful and my work was marked quickly with helpful feedback. Thanks!

Going back to study after so many years (30?) was a daunting prospect however it was well worth it The in-person lessons were interesting, fun and informative. The support tutors were there when you needed them and always positive. The exams made me nervous but again the assessor made the process much calmer than I'd expected. Would recommend.

Amazing experience with HFE, really learnt a lot from all the teachers and my peers. In terms of learning about mat Pilates, this course provided a solid foundation on covering all the essentials and principles in understanding Pilates! As well as the support team and communicating with the team in general has been very efficient and clear! Highly recommend HFE to anyone wanting to grasp the foundations of Pilates and meet lovely, friendly and likeminded people on the course!

From the start the support has been great but near the end is when it mattered, my Support tutor Eleanor went above and beyond to make sure it was a smooth process examination wise. Always being accommodating and supportive to any changes i needed to make but also questions I may have had.
The learning material is great and engaging-not just pages of a textbook to read non stop- and the testing is straight forward.
I personally did the online matt, and in person Reformer. I would suggest for anyone to try do both in person if they can as can soak up so much more experience. Nonetheless, Karen and Sam were great at the online seminar's and made it really straight forward and informative.

I loved every single bit of my Pilates course with HFE and am so glad in the end that this was the company I chose to go through. Everything from the online resources, in person learning, support tutors/in person tutors and physical books were excellent. Online and in person learning was perfectly laid out, easy to use and great for tracking progress. I would recommend this course and company to anyone interested. Thanks again HFE!

I completed my Level 3 Pilates Practitioner qualification with HFE and had a positive experience. The course was well laid out, the staff were always very helpful and my support tutor, Dani, was supportive throughout the course. Thank you!

We’re very helpful and understanding. We’re happy to extend my course when it wasn’t my fault.