Protect your data
We use cookies to provide our services, improve the user experience, for analysis and marketing purposes. By giving your consent, you also agree that your data may be transferred to the USA by the use of cookies. You can revoke your consent at any time. You can find further information in our privacy policy and cookie policy.
RED Academy is closed
This school is now closed. Although RED Academy is no longer accepting students or running its program, you can still see historical information and RED Academy alumni reviews on the school page.
RED Academy is a full-time, 12-week or 24-week design and technology bootcamp with courses taught on-site at RED's campuses in North America and Europe as well as at participating university campuses. Programs are taught by seasoned industry professionals where students work with real clients on real-world projects. Coursework is designed to be modular, immersive and radically relevant to today's tech industry, giving students the skills, tools and software to help them succeed in today’s fast-paced digital economy. RED exists to develop and support the designers, developers, disruptors and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Course subjects include full stack web development, UX design, digital marketing, UI/communication design, and app development.
RED is completely unprofessional, disorganized, unaccountable, and breaks virtually all their promises.
(I gradated from the full-time professional UX program from RED Academy in the Winter 2017 cohort in Toronto)
Where to start...let's start with the beginning on a positive note (because, *spoiler:* it goes south pretty quickly after that...).
This was a huge investment for me, and so I researched as much as I could into this school (which was challenging...
RED is completely unprofessional, disorganized, unaccountable, and breaks virtually all their promises.
(I gradated from the full-time professional UX program from RED Academy in the Winter 2017 cohort in Toronto)
Where to start...let's start with the beginning on a positive note (because, *spoiler:* it goes south pretty quickly after that...).
This was a huge investment for me, and so I researched as much as I could into this school (which was challenging because at the time, the Toronto location was finishing up its first cohort, but still managed to talk to who I could/reviews of the Vancouver campus). I talked to the Admissions team and they were very quick and clear in taking the time to answer my questions and concerns. I was pretty impressed with this and felt like it was mutually a good fit. As soon as I sent my money though, it all changed. I didn't hear anything from them until the week before classes were to start.
My overall experience was disappointing...a lot of promises were simply not delivered. The school is very disorganized and therefore a lot of things were done very unprofessionally (if at all).
It was initially advertised that they guarantee a 7:1 student to instructor ratio. I was in the UX Professional class, with 17 of us in my cohort, we had one main instructor. It's interesting to note that this promise has since disappeared off their website. The classes were very much all over the place by the end of the term, the schedules were not followed, things in the curriculum were never taught (it says on the website that Omnigraffle was part of it, it was never even mentioned). Software licenses were supposed to be set up prior to the start of the course, but were not and one of the students had to take it upon themselves to do this.
A large reason why RED was such a poor experience was because of how unprofessionally the institution was run and managed.
While a few instructors and staff seemed to go above and beyond, many more seemed very unmotivated, disinterested, disengaged, and had no patience to teach. I don't care how great of a designer or developer you may be, but this is a school, therefore teaching and what comes with it (patience, compassion, and understanding) are imperative. Their lack of interest on their part ultimately affects my and my peers' futures! At least do a better job at pretending you want to be there?
Also to note, some instructors were not respectful enough to see the importance of getting to know their students' 'names. Some instructors also had very obvious favourites (so if you're not one of their favourites, don't expect any kind of attention).
I originally decided to pay more for an in-person course (as opposed to an online course) to have access to support, mentorship, and personalized feedback if needed (I am not someone who needs hand-holding, but I know the value of having personalized support). I didn't get any useful help, personalized feedback on progress or support. We didn't get any feedback on our projects beyond our group presentations (which were about the presentations itself). I've asked for feedback but never received anything useful to work off of. Our community clients also seemed to be kept in the dark, and students were expected to take over communication when there was no communication between staff and students on what was discussed, expected, etc. I can't see the clients having had a professional or pleasant experience. The short amount of time we have to work on client projects also hinder in us ever delivering on a really great product. I was told to just know that the pieces can be fixed up later for my portfolio....but my concern is not my portfolio first and foremost, it's delivering a great project for these businesses/organizations - these are people's livelihoods, and I felt that the RED does not take them seriously nor follow-up with them after the fact. I'd like to know how many websites have actually been launched from the Toronto campus?
We never got connections to the industry despite what was told to me when I signed up. Apparently RED has "industry partners", but I have yet to know what that means since there's been zero connections....Oh, let's also talk about their Grad Hiring event (which was cancelled 2-3 times without any notification to students -- we had to find out from each other through Slack) which was finally held 1.5 months after graduation. There must've been less 20 people who came...about 80-90% being recruiters from Creative Niche, their sister (recruiting) company. It was like filling your audience with your friends and family so it looks more successful than it is. I'm not quite sure why we had to give our presentations to various Creative Niche staff who all work together and we could have been connected with individually prior, during the program. I believe it was more for show, because as far as I know, no one got anything out of that event (probably because it took so long to put together and was constantly cancelled without notification -- that's a great way to organize a successful event!).
Career support and Personal and Professional Development (PPD): I must say I was pretty excited to see them offering PPD - a few hours every week to devote to career and personal support. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to its potential. I would have expected the material to be more specific to the tech industry, as well as specific to our fields (UX, UI, Development, Marketing), but instead they were very basic and very generic material on how we should remember to make eye contact and have a firm handshake. Please remember that a lot of us have been working for years and decades...it was ultimately not useful and kind of condescending! Even when I had my resume looked over by HR staff, it was a generic review and not specific to tech/design. They weren't able to provide things like portfolio reviews or coach us through design tests and portfolio reviews (because for those entering the design field for the first time, THIS is what's new to us, not general resumes and interviews!). As mentioned by others, conveniently, the week following our graduation, we lost our career support. This was not announced until a month later, of course. Students of course had to piece together things through the grapevine because RED is not transparent about a lot of things and makes me wonder what else they're hiding. Their staff have continued to turn over at an alarming rate since April. Overall, support throughout my time at RED has grossly declined...ending up with none after graduation (unless you want your resume to be looked over for the umpteenth time because that's all they can offer along with a 20-min pep talk over the phone).
For a school that offers user/customer experience classes, it's telling that we have not been reached out to to see what kind of support WE actually want and need. I had reached in earlier with my concerns (along with a lot of time spent on feedback surveys that apparently no one reads because things just progressively got worse), the most I've gotten is offering to look at my resume again (really?!).
There's also a new initiative, RED Studios (now RED Design Labs -- this is another thing, they like changing names of things every once in a while just to keep confusion high). It's a period after the program where a smaller number of alumni are so privileged to work for free for "global clients". What does it tell you if they need to build an extension to the program that should be enough on its own (at least that's what it's sold as), but also one where they're encouraging their students to be exploited by doing free work. Don't worry, they're not stopping there -- they will soon be charging...THE ALUMNI....to do free work. Why RED Studios is a thing when you can't even figure out your primary product (a school), is beyond me.
It was a lot of money for me to invest into a course and I'm not sure I know what I paid for. I felt very much like I was just another number that they're churning out. Unfortunately, their (lack of) action just shows the lack of respect and care they hold for their students, as you can tell from my and my peers' experiences. It's frustrating and disappointing that despite all the hard work and effort a lot of my peers and I have put into the program, RED's end of the deal was not held.
Peter Lane of RED Academy
General Manager
Jul 06, 2017
I took the part-time Digital Marketing Foundation course from January - April 2019.
Right off the bat, I was very impressed with how organized the course was in terms of the curriculum schedule and access to the course content. RED has a very innovative model of a primary teacher assisted by a rotating cast of TAs who all work in the field of digital marketing. It was a very effective model, and the TAs are well-utilized in the classroom delivery and the supervision of the group ...
I took the part-time Digital Marketing Foundation course from January - April 2019.
Right off the bat, I was very impressed with how organized the course was in terms of the curriculum schedule and access to the course content. RED has a very innovative model of a primary teacher assisted by a rotating cast of TAs who all work in the field of digital marketing. It was a very effective model, and the TAs are well-utilized in the classroom delivery and the supervision of the group project. I was very happy with my group project team and the client we were assigned. The expectations for the project were very clearly laid out and tied directly to the course curriculum.
Overall, it was always a pleasure to attend class, even after a long work day. This is because I was very impressed with the primary teacher and the TAs supporting him, and I felt like they always demonstrated a strong mastery of the topics being taught. Expect to be challenged by some of the subjects, especially SEO and Google Ads. However, working hard in the course and studying in your own time will pay dividends, as these topics are extrodrinarily useful, relevant, and employable. I am very much looking forward to using the new skills I gained in the creation of my own business entity in the near future.
I would highly recommend this course to someone who loves marketing but is currently a bit mystified by the major entities that power and measure digital marketing (Google Analytics, SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads). This course gives you what you need to shine in a marketing job, start freelancing with confidence, or get started on an entrepreneurial path.
Red Academy is a joke. They don’t have qualified professionals instructors. They don’t follow the curriculum and give a lot of false promises. The instructors tells to google it when you ask a question. They didn’t teach me anything and I wasted my time and money. Spend your money in other boot camps even if they are more expensive. I wish I can give zero stars. This is coming from a previous co-hort of Red Academy.
Peter Lane of RED Academy
General Manager, Toronto Campus
Feb 12, 2018
Like many others on this thread, I went into the course at RED knowing very little about the industry or the school. I didn't know that at the time, I was about to be in the school's third ever cohort. A risky decision, but I was in a place in my life where I saw no other option, so I enrolled either way.
I can't say that the program was smooth sailing from the start. In the first month of the course, we only had one instructor for 17 students (the largest cohort thus far for UX...
Like many others on this thread, I went into the course at RED knowing very little about the industry or the school. I didn't know that at the time, I was about to be in the school's third ever cohort. A risky decision, but I was in a place in my life where I saw no other option, so I enrolled either way.
I can't say that the program was smooth sailing from the start. In the first month of the course, we only had one instructor for 17 students (the largest cohort thus far for UX). I remember it being frustrating. That being said, I really do feel lucky with the timing of my RED adventure. Although the structure of the school was clearly under pressure, the people involved in it at the time were the most passionate and talented. The same goes to the people I got lucky to be in the class with, many of whom have become dear friends now. There was a sense of community, and mutual understanding that the beer will just never not be flat.
We did get another mentor in Tara O'Doherty towards the end of our time at RED. I'm mentioning her name because she is the only one left from the crew that I feel contributed to my success, although so many others deserve the credit for making the school what it was (looking at you James and Sarah). Although I would contribute much of my personal success to the ones who have moved on, Tara was the one who piloted the Design Labs, which has taught me some important skills that I use now in my work place.
I wanted to make a point of saying that this was not easy. I also came into the course swooned by the promise of a job, but I worked hard for it. Me and a few friends who are now employed would often stay until the night. You definitely get out of it what you put in. I can confidently say that if you're not willing to stay a minute past 5pm, you will be disappointed in being unemployed and there is no school that can help that. Unlike many others, I also enrolled in Design Labs after my course even though I had a job lined up along the way. I worked for free for a month more, and I can not emphasize enough how important it was to stay sharp before going out in the field.
This was the best investment I've made in my life. I got a job in 4 months and have formed bonds stronger than I ever could have from going to College for 3 years.
To sum it up: there was frustration, and there definitely WAS crying. But there was also a lot of laughter, a lot of trust, and a lot of times I often think about to this day.
I enrolled in RED Academy right after completing my bachelor's degree at UBC. I wanted to get the full digital marketing and tech startup experience and that's what I got, as I was part of the first full-time cohort. The course material gave me a comprehensive understanding of the landscape with a strong foundational knowledge of how to further increase my skills. I got my first job offer in the last week of the program at a leading digital marketing agency.
I am currently a full-time student in the Web Developper Professional course here in Toronto.
Let me tell you one thing, reading the latest reviews on the RED Web Developer program here in Toronto, the day before the program started was scary. I wondered, shouldn't I get my money back and go somewhere else? Well for my own reasons I decided to go through with it. Based on these last reviews, you could say RED has hit a few bumps in the road recently. I in no way want to discredit...
I am currently a full-time student in the Web Developper Professional course here in Toronto.
Let me tell you one thing, reading the latest reviews on the RED Web Developer program here in Toronto, the day before the program started was scary. I wondered, shouldn't I get my money back and go somewhere else? Well for my own reasons I decided to go through with it. Based on these last reviews, you could say RED has hit a few bumps in the road recently. I in no way want to discredit these reviews. I believe RED has taken them seriously and is doing its best to solve all the issues as my experience has been drastically different.
For starters, the course... is HARD. If you came for a challenge you won't be disappointed. In my opinion the instructors here are doing it right. This is not traditional teaching. Expect to learn a lot in very intense spurts between projects. This may seem overwhelming, and it definitely can be at times. It's funny though, as soon as you start doubting your instructors, things just start clicking and when you've written a whole bunch of code and it actually works, you just sit back and think: "Wow... I did this! It really does make sense." RED doesn't teach you one baby step at a time. You are going to learn how to swim by being thrown into the water. The instructors are great and very realistic. Help is always available. I've gotten help several times by just messaging my instructor on Slack over the weekends.
Google it... Yes, this an answer you will get a lot when you ask for help, and that is perfectly fine. You will never get the answers from the instructors. They will look at your code and ask you questions so that you understand and find what you did wrong. And then when you see what you did wrong, thanks to their guidance, you know how to google the right question and find the answer on your own. They are not there to teach you code. They are there to teach you how to learn to learn code. You are going to have to keep learning the rest of your life as a dev and I think this technique truly prepares you best. Sure they could just hand me over the answers once in a while and let me learn by analyzing said answers, but would I learn as well or work as hard? Nah, this is why I love the program here. Because it has pushed me hard, really hard. When asked how bootcamp is going, my answer is always: "My brain hurts! In a good way!"
The team at RED is GREAT! I am a pretty introverted person, however, when I am at RED, I don't feel like it. Everyone seems to have a smile on their face and is really approchable. It does seem to have had a bit of turnover since I visited RED before starting the program. However, I get a feeling the staff now is a lot more genuine and actually really enjoys what they do. The new general manager for the Toronto location, is on point. If you bring concerns of any kind to him, I can guarantee you they won't be overlooked. Plus the guy teaches zombie survival camp over the weekends so if the apocalypse was also a concern, you can get some tips.
Career placement... RED makes the tools available to you. I am just starting to utilise these tools so I can't really comment on how helpful they will be. I highly recommend talking to the career coach for your course but also any of the ones for the other course as they will all be really insightful. But seriously, don't expect RED to just automatically land you a job. Nothing is that easy. So far, what I have learned from my career coach is that, well, it's going to be hard. The first year as a web developer is a crucible. A lot of the work will fall onto you. But as of now, I would say, count on your career coach to make the steps clear, and count on yourself to put the work in.
The reason I wrote this review, is that I really hope people aren't deterred by the rough waters RED has been through. My experience so far has been amazing and made me love coding so much more. This is hands down one of the most challenging endeavours I have been through. Trust that if things keep going the way they are now, then you are in good hands here!
I just finished RED Academy's UX Designer Professional Program at the end of June. Some of my highlights include:
* Working with like-minded individuals in a community-driven environment
* Working with community partners and building my portfolio with valuable projects
* Visiting Hootsuite and getting tips from a UX Designer there
If you want to learn more about my background, why I did ...I just finished RED Academy's UX Designer Professional Program at the end of June. Some of my highlights include:
* Working with like-minded individuals in a community-driven environment
* Working with community partners and building my portfolio with valuable projects
* Visiting Hootsuite and getting tips from a UX Designer there
If you want to learn more about my background, why I did a bootcamp at RED, the program in general and my recommendations to future students please make sure to read my post here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/red-academy-full-time-ux-design-review-irem-ozekes-irem-ozekesTaking the Digital Marketing Professional Program (Full-time) during Jan - Mar. 2017 definitely helped my career immensely. I had previously worked in traditional marketing and had some experience in social media, email marketing, and graphic design. Though, I knew there was much more in the digital marketing world that I needed to learn.
RED was such a great tech school because the teachers were very helpful, knowledgeable, funny, interesting, and approachable. The workload is ...
Taking the Digital Marketing Professional Program (Full-time) during Jan - Mar. 2017 definitely helped my career immensely. I had previously worked in traditional marketing and had some experience in social media, email marketing, and graphic design. Though, I knew there was much more in the digital marketing world that I needed to learn.
RED was such a great tech school because the teachers were very helpful, knowledgeable, funny, interesting, and approachable. The workload is intense and I highly don't recommend anyone who has a FT/PT job to enroll in this. For the FT program, you need to put in many hours after school and on the weekend to complete your projects and learn at your own pace.
I love how the community projects allowed you to work with real Vancouver start-ups where you can apply all the skills that you have learned in class to their companies. You will quickly learn how to deal with clients and give effective presentations.
RED really preps you in being ready to apply for jobs and they also have a great network with companies in the tech field. You might even land yourself a job with the community partners or with the companies that you visit during the program!
Besides the school work, Friday socials were always an event to look for because it would help you destress and everyone at RED are very fun and friendly! I can't have enough good things to say about this school :)
P.S. You will be writing lots in this program, so having good English writing skills would be highly beneficial.
An amazing course overall! Very intensive but very rewarding, I was able to start my career as a front end developer within the first month of graduating the full-time web developer program. RED feels like home with their very relaxing and open facility. Their teachers are always there to help and guide you through every step of the program. Always up to date with the industry, their course provides a great way to jumpstart a new career. Very happy with the outcome.
Fantastic course. I spent 4 years at UBC, learned more here in 3 months than I did in all those years. Moreover, you're learning from a curriculum that is constantly updated to reflect the most sought after Web Dev skills in tech. Although a challenging course load the instructors were always there to help, not only that they believed in you too. Would highly recommend.
I took the Digital Marketing course at RED for the Jan-Mar 2017 session. They have very good instructors that go out of their way to help their students. Red also provides good professional development sessions during the process. (Ie. Resumes, interviews, etc) They give you the tools you need, and several people from the program already got hired before the program was even over. Here, I made a lot of connections from like-minded people that want to succeed in the tech industry not just i...
I took the Digital Marketing course at RED for the Jan-Mar 2017 session. They have very good instructors that go out of their way to help their students. Red also provides good professional development sessions during the process. (Ie. Resumes, interviews, etc) They give you the tools you need, and several people from the program already got hired before the program was even over. Here, I made a lot of connections from like-minded people that want to succeed in the tech industry not just in Vancouver, but in rest of the world. I highly recommend it. It's tough but also a lot of fun
Despite of the high tuition, RED Academy is worth every penny. Not only do they teach you enough skills to actually get a job in the IT industry (totally relevant to your field of study), but the job support provided after graduation is phenomonal. The teachers were helpful and understanding,and the overall atmosphere on campus was great. I highly reccomend this school! Got a job within 2 months of graduation, thanks to RED.Unlike other programs where its super rushed, RED gives you three ...
Despite of the high tuition, RED Academy is worth every penny. Not only do they teach you enough skills to actually get a job in the IT industry (totally relevant to your field of study), but the job support provided after graduation is phenomonal. The teachers were helpful and understanding,and the overall atmosphere on campus was great. I highly reccomend this school! Got a job within 2 months of graduation, thanks to RED.Unlike other programs where its super rushed, RED gives you three months to actually pratice and ensure your skills are presentable.
How much does RED Academy cost?
RED Academy costs around $19,000. On the lower end, some RED Academy courses like UX Designer Professional cost $7,950.
What courses does RED Academy teach?
RED Academy offers courses like Application Developer Professional, Digital Marketing Professional, Digital Marketing Professional Work-Study, Full-Stack Designer Professional and 12 more.
Where does RED Academy have campuses?
RED Academy has in-person campuses in Edmonton, London, and Vancouver.
Is RED Academy worth it?
RED Academy hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 65 RED Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed RED Academy on Course Report - you should start there!
Is RED Academy legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 65 RED Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed RED Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.42 out of 5.
Does RED Academy offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like RED Academy offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read RED Academy reviews?
You can read 65 reviews of RED Academy on Course Report! RED Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed RED Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.42 out of 5.
Is RED Academy accredited?
PTIB Registered, EQA Registered
Just tell us who you are and what you’re searching for, we’ll handle the rest.