Reviews of Winston College (University)

Shef

I do not care the testing room is small indeed, but the _very_ convenient location with free parking do make it what I need.

Samuel Livingstone

Poor setup and run operations. From rundown facilities to disinterested staff.

jhoel laureano

I love the place...I love her...

John

I wrote my A+ 901 exam here today on this day of fools, April Fool's Day (and passed even though it was hard!). The building is quite old, but I had no issues really with the facilities. The exam room can be quite noisy as you can hear talking from classrooms, but the receptionist offered me earplugs, which I accepted. The free parking and the central location are great. The receptionist was quite friendly and courteous, so I don't think she's the clueless, disinterested one that people commented on about a year ago ????. Tip for anyone thinking the A+ exams are easy - THEY AREN'T and I read somewhere that the failure rate is 70%!

Asif Mir

Excellent educational institute, personalized environment, amazing support.

Kenneth Yu

Convenient location for certification test. Noisy keyboard/mouse. Rude and unprofessional receptionist. The location is conveniently located in a laid-back area right near the Burnaby / New West border. There's plenty of free parking in the plaza and on the street for the test takers. Right off the bat the "college" screams language cram school for Chinese students. They have an "English-speaking environment" sign right on the door. The school was stationed by a single receptionist who was always on her phone texting. I witnessed a nervous female test candidate being signed in. The instructions given were lacking and the girl had to ask for clarification many times and still had a confused look on her face. The receptionist was also the test proctor, so it was rather intimidating for these younger candidates. I was quickly signed in and was instructed to sign an agreement and sign-in sheet. She handed me a lock with a key for my electronic device without actually telling me where the storage lockers are. Then I realized why the girl before me was confused. The testing room is no bigger than 12' x 8'. During the test, it could be somewhat disruptive when people were ushered in and out of the room at different times as everyone was taking different tests at different time. Their PC hardware also was dated and had extremely loud tactile feedback for both the mouse and keyboard. For a minute one of the candidates thought it was necessary to click through every single question, the machine gun firing of click-clack pretty much prevented me from even reading a simple question. The noisy keyboard also was apprehensive to type on, in fear of disturbing other people in close proximity. I can't imagine anyone having to write an essay on those keyboards. After I was done, I returned the erasable note pad, lock and key. I was asked to sign out without instruction, and I mistakenly created a new entry on the sheet, where I should have just added an sign-out time to the original entry. Much to my surprise, the reception scoffed audibly at me repeatedly for a good 2 seconds and showed extreme disgust on her face as if I killed a puppy. I asked her if I should just cross off the extra entry. She scoffed again, gave no answer, and walked around the counter, crossed it off herself and then grabbed the printed test result from the adjacent printer to give to me. Perhaps she didn't speak much English to properly greet the test candidates or give concise instructions. Her conduct and attitude was extremely unprofessional, and unbecoming for any education institution.

Ron

Extremely rude and irresponsible person in the office. Very small room with multiple people sitting in small area for the test. Keyboards are noisy and because all computers are on one long table/desk, you can easily be disturbed by minor vibrations when someone starts typing. I did 2 times exams in this place. During the first exam, there was no proper and good quality air in the room. I asked the lady who works there to leave the door little bit open to help, it was like I am talking with Mars language with here, just stared at me like I asked nonsense question and left. I got my test results right away, passed and was so happy so after test when I was out of the room, I asked here if she pay more attention to what people need inside that room. Again there was just a stare at me, no yes, no no (so unprofessional behaviour). Second time that I went there: Test or notice instructions that was emailed to me earlier was asking to be on the centre 30 min earlier while when I and another guy arrived there, doors been locked and no one was there up to 20 min before the exam time. We've been standing out on snow for more than 15 minutes. As the same lady arrived and we went in, she had her phone in hand, browsing her Instagram and whispering music for her own even in the office while she was doing computer stuff, like the time you have fun for your own! (this is a behaviour that no one expects to see) At the time of sign in, I reminded her that I was there earlier and I know that the air quality on this room is not good as it should be, asked her to leave the door little bit open for short intervals if that is possible. It never happened, I was going this time really to passed out. I was not able to breath easily, my both hands were going to be numb. I did not wanted to leave my desk to respect their rules and was waiting to see if she steps in and then I ask my request. She didn't stepped in at all and all I wanted to do was just finishing the exam and go out of the room. Well, result of all these is pretty clear, I got 69 and simply failed! I stepped out of the room and went to the lady, I told her that I asked you before the test starts to leave the door little bit open based on the experience that I had earlier here and she said this is against our rules to leave the door open. No one was out of that room (on other rooms) and sound could not bother anybody. I told her: well I believe maybe if someone really pass out here and you call 911, then you may believe that air quality is not good in there. Again: stairs at me, no yes, no no!! all frozen!! May be some one needs special needs, so what should she do in that case?Just staring at you frozen and ignoring you? If some one have pacemaker, asthma , heart problem etc, what will be the ending then? Before and after the test, there was no guide how to sign/out in, how to put items on locker etc. You should be smart enough to find these things out yourself. As I went home, I checked Pearson's website and find the rules and requirements for the class, I called them right away and, man, this gonna be a long story about their extremely poos services they give to people. I spent 150 USD for 150 minutes in there, with that terrible result. I highly recommend to everybody to spend your money and time on a place that worth it. I re-took my exam on another centre on 2-3 weeks after this bad experience and nailed my test this time with getting 86.

Ricky Weston

Perfectly fine experience for me. Receptionist was friendly, process was quick and efficient. Environment was adequate, but I could imagine it being stuffy in summer as I went in Winter. -1 Star for no obvious water facility and potential for stuffiness in rooms. I would come back here for standard exams but maybe go elsewhere for long exams.

Jiang He

the place is large than I expect, it's easy to find in the google map, and it have a free parking lot outside, the testing room is a little bit small and don't have any window, so when I take test with more people the air is a little bit close, overall I think it's okay

Jayant Chheda

Cosy environment for giving your online exams. Minimum noise, and the TA was very attentive.

Piyush Ojha

Went there for test. Test says I need to reach before 15 minutes, but receptionist has not even started systems or their rma login before handed. She screwed password and connection never got established. Candidates need to leave without giving exams. Bathrooms were pathetic and stinky like not cleaned from long time. Good thing is free parking. Waited for 95 minutes and test didn't happened. Told receptionist to call technical support for resolution but she ignored and was busy all the time chatting on her phone. I wasted my whole afternoon to wait for my test. Now even for rescheduling , I need to wait for customer care representative call. This service really sucks.

Jaime Rosalin

Winston College services are excellent. They are all friendly and helpful especially the TA. Parking is not a problem. Also, it is a very clean area.

Puppy's Fun

IELTS examiners are very professional. They have started the exam on time. They have provided mask and gloves and were disinfecting the center often. Headphones are working perfectly fine. It's a very professional and best place to take your IELTS exam.

Sunil Chuttoo

Very quiet and clean. Excellent measure in place for the "pandemic" era!

Graham Parker

Very professional reception. Clean amenities, very safe.

Summa Lai

so so, front desk is not polite....

Arnoldo Giron

(Translated) It is a comfortable place to live (Original) ES un lugar comodo para vivir