NCT Reviews 8

How this Company wins operator of the year every year is amazing. Their busses are more than often late and thats if they even turn up up.

Booked this course a long time ago as there are multiple dates you need to attend. We planned a lot around said dates for them to decide to cancel just a few weeks before because there are “not enough numbers”. This should have been thought about before now!
Missed opportunity for alternatives as a result of this late notice cancellation.
Overall very unreliable. I wouldn’t bother booking as there are plenty of free alternatives online. Pregnancy can be tough enough to juggle without this mess about when it is something you are relying on for support.
I will probably have to battle for a refund which will be fun.

If you are reading these reviews then you are luckier than me because I had not.

NCT course was very detached from reality in terms of preparing us for birth (NHS) and parenthood.

In our group 60% of the moms had c section, 20% intervention which were explained as unfortunate situations to us. This course does not share the actual statistics and the situation of NHS.

I truly wish I had not taken this course because then I would not have argued with my doctor regarding an elective c section. This course basically pushes you to have an anticipation for natural vaginal birth.

And after birth - there is no therapy support, no additional resources.

If you are doing this course just to have peers go on one of those pregnancy apps and I promise you you'll find peers, who become good friends - without paying 300 pounds! which you could save for a doula

The worst service ever raised bus prices to over £3 buses are always late and machines over take your money bus drivers are grumpy and rude number 11 service should be ashamed

We found the NCT course quite disappointing overall. It was very discussion-heavy with not enough practical, hands-on learning. There was barely any chance to practise things like changing nappies, washing, dressing, or even handling a baby with confidence—just a lot of vague conversations without many clear answers.

Most of what we needed to know, we ended up learning from free audiobooks and podcasts. Now that our baby has arrived, we've realised we’ve barely used anything we were taught during the course. The resources shared were often a bit dated, and while the WhatsApp group was useful at times, the sheer amount of information sent through it was overwhelming and hard to keep up with.

The only real benefit was meeting other parents in the same boat, but even that can be done easily (and for free) through apps like Peanut or Mush. For the cost, we expected a lot more practical value and updated, relevant guidance.

Joined a course in January 2025. The delivery of the course was dated, rolled up, aged posters that had seen better days were held in front of us to explain topics .. Meetings held in a cold room, one session had no heating and we all sat there with our coats, heavily pregnant, on the most uncomfortable chairs for a pregnant woman, so uncomfortable, we were taking our birthing balls to sit on instead.

The timings of the meetings were changed a week before they began, by this time we were 5 weeks from giving birth and everything else was booked up - as first time parents we needed to learn and educate ourselves which is why we attended anyway, then, other things happened, but to top it off the final session which is when all attendees come together once all the babies are born was cancelled and online courses offered as a goodwill gesture. At no point when a complaint email was written did it seem they were remorseful. The course cost near £500 for my husband and I to attend and it was nowhere near worth it. Overpriced and much of the information was incorrect, and had a 1990’s dated vibe.
Disappointing . Don’t book them, find an alternative just research early for those in your area. I do not recommend an NCT course Im sorry to say.

NHS courses are better. This was just touchy feely stuff to talk about feelings and the like. Plus they’ve lost their focus lately.