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
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.
65 RED Academy Reviews
Janis VetschJunior UI Designer • Graduate • UI Designer Professional • VancouverJul 10, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceUI & Communication Design Program Review
I recently graduated from the UI & Communications Fulltime program at RED in Vancouver, BC. Throughout my time at RED I was able to not only hone my skills as a designer but further grow my passions and engage with them through the community partner projects.
First and foremost, the word boot camp does not do RED Academy justice. RED has established a unique learning environment in which you can grow your skills, no matter your previous ...
I recently graduated from the UI & Communications Fulltime program at RED in Vancouver, BC. Throughout my time at RED I was able to not only hone my skills as a designer but further grow my passions and engage with them through the community partner projects.
First and foremost, the word boot camp does not do RED Academy justice. RED has established a unique learning environment in which you can grow your skills, no matter your previous experience or education. I, myself, had previous design experience through freelancing but no formal design education and didn't think I would be cut out for formal design education after just finishing a 5-year degree in social sciences. However RED offered an entirely different environment in which learning was done through thoughtful, hands-on lessons with the instructors and engaging design labs and projects
The second thing that made RED such a great learning experience is the instructors. Our cohort had students from all walks of life and technical/creative abilities. The instructors at RED have a unique talent to see potential in people and help them grow and harness that potential. The first time I realized that is when one of my instructors pulled me aside and told me she realized I was very interested in the emotional aspect of user-centric design, she handed me a book on the emotional design from her collection.
The third thing that made RED the perfect place for my learning was the community partner projects. RED's community partner projects are a unique feature that allows not only the students to gain from the education provided but also the organization in the community that might not be able to afford to design/development/marketing for their cause.
Don't get me wrong the 12-week program at RED is the hardest thing I have ever done from an educational perspective. Never before have I been challenged to this extent but that is what made into the designer I am now. I left the 12-week program exhausted but also completely excited for the vast possibilities that have opened up to me due to my time at RED.
RED is the prime example of 'what you get is what you give.' Every day at RED will pose a different design challenge, and you can choose to give it your all and find a solution, and in my experience, it will be the best choice you can make for your future career.
- WarrenGraduate • Full-stack Developer Professional • VancouverJul 10, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Full Stack Web/App Dev
My 6 months here at red has been a great experience. The Program itself could use more poslishing such as organization and possibly more casual effective one on one check ins. But material covered in the course was delivered at a good pace as some materials had to be revisited on our request. The instructors we're able to make that time for us and made sure we got that skill down. The instructor and other staffs really made my expereience better. I feel a genuin connection with the staff a...
My 6 months here at red has been a great experience. The Program itself could use more poslishing such as organization and possibly more casual effective one on one check ins. But material covered in the course was delivered at a good pace as some materials had to be revisited on our request. The instructors we're able to make that time for us and made sure we got that skill down. The instructor and other staffs really made my expereience better. I feel a genuin connection with the staff at RED. They care and would make sure to help you in anyway.
- CatGraduate • UI Designer Professional • VancouverJul 10, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
RED Changed My Life
I absolutely loved my time at RED Academy.
I learned more in my 3 months here than I did during my 3 years at University. The style of learning is definitely very hands on for the students and relies a lot on self-taught skills to take things further, but this is great because it develops skills that are required to work in the design community.
During my time here every single member of staff was open and friendly, both in terms of schooling and just being ...
I absolutely loved my time at RED Academy.
I learned more in my 3 months here than I did during my 3 years at University. The style of learning is definitely very hands on for the students and relies a lot on self-taught skills to take things further, but this is great because it develops skills that are required to work in the design community.
During my time here every single member of staff was open and friendly, both in terms of schooling and just being lovely! The atmosphere was so homely and real and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I genuinely feel like everyone not only cared about, but loved what they do at RED and this transcended into the teaching styles and the motivation of the students to produce good work.
I have only been out of RED for a week, but I know that I am welcome back here for as long as I like in order to work on my portfolio, skills and resume etc. Because of this I know that RED have my best interests at heart and they will be supportive during my time trying to land career I love.
Thanks RED!
- Nilan KasandasUX Designer • Graduate • UX Designer Professional • TorontoJul 07, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Highly recommend RED Academy
I was a student at RED Academy at the beginning of 2017. They teach you everything you need to know in order to succeed in the real world. In addition, the RED Design Labs initiative is a great way to accelerate your knowledge and hard skills further to advance your career. If you're considering a career in technology, I would at least consider looking into RED Academy as one of your top options.
- AntonGraduate • UI & Communication Design Professional • TorontoJul 06, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
UI & VIsual Communications Professional
The biggest difference that made this program stand out was the mentorship that is always available to any student. The UI lead instructor was extremely helpful to my personal development, very empathetic, yet challenging at the same time. The RED Labs lead was also always ready to help with invaluable advice based on more than a decade worth of industry experience. Overall, the staff at the school go above and beyond to foster the self-development of its students.
The other amaz...
The biggest difference that made this program stand out was the mentorship that is always available to any student. The UI lead instructor was extremely helpful to my personal development, very empathetic, yet challenging at the same time. The RED Labs lead was also always ready to help with invaluable advice based on more than a decade worth of industry experience. Overall, the staff at the school go above and beyond to foster the self-development of its students.
The other amazing thing about RED is the community partnership program, in which you get to work on real client projects. This gave me the perfect opportunity to exercise what I've learned in the curriculum. As a UI student, I got to work in groups with UX students in which our designs brought a lot of value to the clients we worked for.
The curriculum has a lot of very up-to-date, diverse, and relevant design material available. We learned a large array of software such as Sketch, Illustrator, Axure, Proto io, and Invision, as well as user-testing software such as Optimal Workshop and Fengui.
All the tools and resources are available to go above and beyond in this program. It is extremely intense and requires a lot of work, but at the same time it is very rewarding in terms of the experience and opportunities it provides. - Jakub ZGraduate • Web Developer Professional x • TorontoJul 03, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Red Toronto Avoid
I chose RED after thoroughly reading the reviews, reviewing the content on their website, talking with them, and finally seeing the six-month money-back guarantee they had advertised on their site (which is gone now). After reviewing other schools, RED’s program seemed the most feasible with 12 weeks to learn the same amount other schools offered in 9 weeks. I had expected completing this program to be no easy feat and that a lot of work and dedication would be required and anticipated th...I chose RED after thoroughly reading the reviews, reviewing the content on their website, talking with them, and finally seeing the six-month money-back guarantee they had advertised on their site (which is gone now). After reviewing other schools, RED’s program seemed the most feasible with 12 weeks to learn the same amount other schools offered in 9 weeks. I had expected completing this program to be no easy feat and that a lot of work and dedication would be required and anticipated this would include time off work, and a significant loss of family time with my son and wife as I would be putting all my effort into the school. The school was a failure within the first 3 weeks. First off, was the Personal Professional Development program (PPD) that the school provides once a week to prep the students for interviews, resumes and networking. It was supposed to have industry experts shed light on getting into the industry for someone right out of school and what to expect in the process. Instead, we got an accountant who basically had no tech experience and was actually working for RED’s partner Creative Niche, along with REDs own HR person who was clearly unimpressed with doing presentations and scheduled 2hrs for the PPD session but provided a whopping 30mins at times and at other times had us wasting valuable project time doing juvenile team work exercises like building popsicle stick towers and writing rap songs (yep you read that right. Rap songs.) Of course my cohort complained. The school said they would fix it but nothing was done. RED also promised interview prep, and being in the web developer program you would figure this included technical interviews with code challenges, but as with REDs other promises they dropped the ball again, and we received none. When we raised this issue, RED came out with its standard corporate PR message -- we will fix it and you will get past this. Once again, nothing happened. On top of the already horrendous approach to getting us job-ready, one of RED’s very pricey pieces of advice, was to exaggerate on our resume to get your foot in the door. Instead of having us fully ready to be able to present our skills RED believes dishonesty about your skill level would be the best course of action. Along with this jewel, any job offer between $30-$35k should be jumped on (which is dramatically lower than the salary expectations we were told going into the program.) As for the program itself, I will point out the teachers were knowledgeable, and one actually had prior teaching experience and he always went above and beyond. However, the 7:1 ratio RED advertises is misleading since each teacher teaches different aspects and specializes in different languages it really boils down to 1 teacher with 12 students teaching JavaScript to a class who has never learned it before. It's easy to understand why majority of us had to purchase our own tutorials outside of RED just to get an understanding of the material. Both these teachers were also expected to teach basic HTML to the other courses, talk with prospective students, and even work on repairing REDs own website, all of this during the time we had paid for. Our first two projects were created with HTML, CSS, and Javascript and were the only ones we were evaluated on and received feedback on. But when it came to the more complicated coding, where one would expect support, review and explanation, we received no feedback. In fact, the majority of us didn't even finish the rest of the projects until a month or 2 after the program ended and again after buying our own tutorials from Udemy, and basically teaching ourselves. A far cry from the "job ready" grads RED promised on it website. Finally, there’s Creative Niche. When applying, I figured that a school that's already partnered with a digital staffing agency would be a bonus as they would help us find jobs in the industry as junior web developers and they could rely on the education RED was providing to ensure they were getting "job-ready grads" but, like everything RED does, this was a huge failure as well. Since we graduated there has been one posting from Creative Niche for a web developer and even then, they did not hire from RED. It makes you wonder why RED’s own partner won't hire RED students. After many complaints from myself and my entire cohort, requesting they return our money, RED replied and told us they would not be giving us our money back, and offered to provide us the missed training and education that we had paid for. So, almost 3 months after graduating RED is offering to do what I had paid to learn during the program. The audacity of the CEO to offer this and expect me to take this offer, to take unpaid time from work, to again sacrifice family to get what I had paid for and they failed to deliver is a clear admission of wrongdoing on their part and, frankly, quite insulting. On top of that, were REDs CEO’s emails to my cohort where he insultingly suggests we aren't trying hard enough. The last thing that really got to me is RED’s price for the program that's shrouded in mystery. The school claims tuition is $8500. I paid $8000 ($500 discount and no clue why.) Others, I was shocked to find out, paid as little as $5700, and there were many who paid an amount somewhere in between the $5700 and $8500 price. I still don't understand why there is such a discrepancy between everyone's payment, and a lack of transparency. So, If you are at all considering this school, I say get yourself a Udemy web developer program for $30, and spend time at the library learning. You will gain more from that than you will from RED and you'll still keep $8000 in your pocket.Peter Lane of RED Academy
General Manager
Jul 06, 2017
Hi Jakub,We know that our Toronto school has struggled to deliver what you initially expected entering the web development full-time program. We were facing many challenges during your particular cohort, and were trying our best to support students while rebuilding staff teams and company culture. We sincerely apologize for the negative experience you had with us as this was definitely not the experience we'd hoped for you.Following the feedback from your cohort, we have since been looking for the right people to fill the roles necessary to set our students up for success in the industry. We've made changes in the leadership and administration team, and filled those roles with people who are committed to supporting our students anyway they can.Though we can’t undo the experience you’ve already had, we are sincerely and very much willing to continue to work with you in your job search. We will work with you on technical interviewing skills, resume reviews, cover letters, any sort of career coaching we can provide in addition to any suggestions you may have. If you are still open to receiving this support, please reach out to myself as I am the General Manager at the Toronto Campus either by phone: 647.793.2333 or email: peter.lane@redacademy.com - Haley KusumotoSocial Media, Marketing & Events Coordinator • Graduate • Digital Marketing Foundation • VancouverJun 27, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
Digital Marketing Foundations Part Time
I completed the 10-week part time digital marketing foundations class on Saturdays with Mike & Tonner. Fabulous class, great teachers, fabulous TA's, and great support from classmates. Well worth the $2500 investment. I've never taken in so much knowledge and received hands on experience with industry processionals in so little time.
- PatriciaDigital Strategist & Communications Coordinator • Graduate • Digital Marketing Professional • VancouverJun 13, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Digital Marketing Professional Review
RED is not only a school, but a place you can call your second home, at the end of the day. Out of all of the schools and certifications that I've undergone (undergrad, Master's and PR certification) it was definitely the most intimate learning experiences I've ever had. So special! Right?
Just a little disclaimer: the course is not for the faint hearted. You really need to be passionate about digital marketing and put 110% in order to stay on top of things. Procrastination will ...
RED is not only a school, but a place you can call your second home, at the end of the day. Out of all of the schools and certifications that I've undergone (undergrad, Master's and PR certification) it was definitely the most intimate learning experiences I've ever had. So special! Right?
Just a little disclaimer: the course is not for the faint hearted. You really need to be passionate about digital marketing and put 110% in order to stay on top of things. Procrastination will literally eat you alive. It's all totally worth it though as you will come out knowing all about digital strategy, develop all the digital marketing skills and apply into the real world. In today's day, practicality trumps theory. Having taken this course, I've now got a competitive edge over others and feel confident to undertake digital marketing on in the real world.
RED is more than a school, it is a culture and a way of life. If you're into the idea of 'we're all in this together' then you'll fit right in. The teachers are hip and charismatic and know what they're talking about, massive bonus. I highly suggest taking one of their tours, so you can see their cool work space and get a general feel for the RED vibes.
- AntonPaid Search Strategist • Graduate • VancouverJun 13, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
People who do things right
I have changed my career from Sales to Digital Marketing Professional and got three job offers during the first month after graduation - this is all you need to know about RED!
- VINCENT BARBERGraduate • Digital Marketing Professional • VancouverApr 16, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Re-Engage Brain.
Here's the deal: 12 weeks of how to become a competent digital marketing specialist at either entry or intermediate level.
For me, I found:
-The course well planned out
-The course material is streamlined to give only relevant information that is current
-The instructors are young and have recent experience to offer.
-Most, if not, all elements of digital marketing are covered, particularly SEO and SEM best practices.
But there'...
Here's the deal: 12 weeks of how to become a competent digital marketing specialist at either entry or intermediate level.
For me, I found:
-The course well planned out
-The course material is streamlined to give only relevant information that is current
-The instructors are young and have recent experience to offer.
-Most, if not, all elements of digital marketing are covered, particularly SEO and SEM best practices.
But there's a catch; it needed my time and full attention (the whole 12 weeks of it!). That was due to the amount of information I needed to learn since marketing was not my background.
My only gripe would be not having funds set aside to implement AdWords excercises. This, in my eyes, can only be learnt by implementing and learning from your mistakes.
What's the real story? I found the community partner projects (working with real clients) to be hugely advantageous, which sets Red aside from its competitors. I found the personal development sessions and the advice offered by the career development team very useful. I also found the time and support the instructors gave more than adequate.
The best part? Well, Red's network is their net worth (sorry for the cliché). The instructors are also well connected within the community and can offer advice and referrals.
Why does this matter? Because it will speed up your chances of employment, and could land you a better job than anticipated.
Advice to future students - make the most of your time at Red, and plan you time wisely.
- CrystalGraduate • Full-Stack Designer Professional • VancouverApr 06, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Highly Recommended
A 12 week intense program (or as I did...a 6 month full stack program) is costly but worth every penny! It's definitely not for everyone, but as long as you're here and willing to commit, the things you take away from the programs are priceless. Having first hand experience of other programs at other local tech schools (BrainS------), I was blown away by the commitment these instructors and staff are willing to give to their students. RED instructors actually create their own curriculum s...
A 12 week intense program (or as I did...a 6 month full stack program) is costly but worth every penny! It's definitely not for everyone, but as long as you're here and willing to commit, the things you take away from the programs are priceless. Having first hand experience of other programs at other local tech schools (BrainS------), I was blown away by the commitment these instructors and staff are willing to give to their students. RED instructors actually create their own curriculum so I felt assured that these industry professionals teach what they preach.
The environment they've created at RED is very similar to that you'll find within a tech company. The PPD (Personal Professional Development) program is also something that sets RED apart, and shows that they care and prep their students for the industry.
I've recommended RED to fellow colleagues and they've all stopped by for a sample course or two and ended up taking the course as well. RED is obviously doing something right, because my colleagues are just as pleased as I am.
- Jordan AmitGraduate • Digital Marketing Professional • VancouverApr 06, 2017Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Great experience at RED
I had a really positive experience at RED. It was great to dive deep into Digital Marketing for such an intensive period, and I learned a lot. The instructors are awesome and super helpful.
RED Academy Alumni Outcomes
Recent RED Academy News
RED Academy Alumni Reviews Summary
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