Why have you made such a strange rule?

Here are a few FAQs I get asked from time to time.
Why have you made such a strange rule?
Academies depend on feedback from candidates. This is the most popular PLAB 2 group on Facebook and hence feedback about them matters a lot and they follow such pages very closely.
This is good! This way all potential PLAB 2 candidates will get honest opinions from people who have just attended it.
You are absolutely correct. This is why we made this group so help with people making a decision however some academies blamed the admins for promoting negative propaganda against them.
Really?
Yes, I have been involved in this a few times. I was blamed for

  • Defamation of an academy
  • Allowing “fake profiles” to post “fake reviews” of academies.
  • I was part of a “mafia” whose sole purpose was to destroy the business of a certain academy. All of this just because of being an admin of a group.

I attended a particular academy and want to post honest feedback on my experience.
It is best to post it on the official Facebook page of that academy.

They have blocked me because they said it was too negative.
Try to contact the management of the academy. There is usually a team of people and maybe, one of them will listen to you. Try to give constructive feedback so that the particular academy can improve its teaching and guidance. You can also email them if you are blocked. Be constructive in your feedback- swearing and cursing them will not help.

I attended a certain academy and failed. I hate this academy and want to give my review.
I can understand that you are frustrated however rather than wasting your time on this, focus on your weaknesses and improve your chances of passing next time. Yes, academies do help candidates in giving them direction and arranging mock exams but sometimes the candidates think that they will pass for sure without putting a lot of hard work/ working on the feedback they get from the instructors.

Academies do not care about us! They just want to mint money.
This is not true. They actually care but they have expenses to look after too. It is very expensive to rent rooms/offices in the UK and the utility bills are very high. They have taxes to pay as well so the overall amount they pocket is not a lot.

Given the aforementioned problems, the admin team does not allow any posts relating to feedback of academies. It can be quite frustrating at times and we understand this however when we allowed this, things were getting out of hand. I was threatened multiple times and at the end decided that it is not worth it.

To all academies,
We know that you depend on the reviews of your candidates and it is understandable that you do not allow negative feedback on your pages. However please let candidates give honest feedback to you directly. Please listen to them. We also know that you have a business to run however a booming business looks after its clients - and in this case, candidates.
Help them help you. We know you have been in this field for years and a “candidate” has just experienced it for a few weeks but every opinion counts.
I would also suggest the following:

  • When you make batches for candidates, make a document on your Facebook group with the contact details of the candidates ( after their consent). This way, potential candidates can contact them directly to get their opinions without worrying that negative feedback will be screened out.
  • Trying to arrange sessions in foreign countries which some academies are already doing ( However this can be quite tricky and requires months of planning and logistics especially if the academy is based here).
  • Consider opening a center in a cheaper area of this country, like Wales. You will have less costs and can bring down your fees considerably. It is just a train ride from the main city and candidates can enjoy the British countryside, get used to communicating with the British public and save money as well. If you have colleagues in the NHS, you can try to get them attachments after they have given their PLAB 2 exams so that they get used to the NHS system and can settle in well when they get jobs.
    We do appreciate the hard work you are putting through. I personally have had the pleasure of meeting the people in charge of academies and they are passionate about what they do. They have expenses to deal with ( renting/owning an office / multiple rooms in London/Manchester) is not cheap.

I hope this post makes sense to everyone. Together, we can help each other.

PS: I am not associated with any academy and I am not against any academy either.