Curtin University — Attraction in Bentley

My experience of studying a postgrad Masters degree at Curtin University can be summed up as an experience of an unprofessional humanities school. I could only get Curtin staff to adhere to their own internal policies by writing to the Ombudsman.

Prior to that in an effort to try to improve my studies I wrote to the the Pro Vice Chancellor of Humanities and did not receive a reply. So I then contacted the Curtin University Ethics Department that forced Humanities to meet with me where the head of Student Services informed me they were looking in to it. Then nothing more was heard from them. At this stage I was already 2 years waiting for Curtin Uni action about a formal Compliant I submitted about not being taught in class (for a different degree I was studying at Curtin) but was directed to pay to subscribe to online forums to learn what should have been taught in class.

For the Master's Degree I enrolled as an Internal student to gain the benefit from attending classes. But Curtin University forced me and other students to study externally. Curtin did not provide me with any ability to predict if I was to be forced to study externally with no class contact time. Then when being forced to study online externally the sub standard teaching grew to new unprofessional lows.

With one particular unit, I was forced to study externally, I submitted a informal complaint that gained no attempted resolution from senior Humanities staff. This forced me to submit a formal request for reassessment that by Curtin's own rules should have been resolved in 3 days. Instead it took Curtin University Humanities 15 weeks to conclude the Formal Request for Re Assessment and this was only after I engaged the Curtin University Ethics Department and had them pushed along by the Ombudsman. Because with no resolution via the Ethics Department I then submitted a formal Complaint with Curtin University and then still with no resolution I then wrote to the Ombudsman. It was only after submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman did I gain confidence that my Formal Request for Reassessment was proceeding and would be concluded.

Overall my impression of Curtin University is that they are doing all they can to avoid teaching. I was told by a thesis supervisor – 'we don't want ideas, we want to know what other people have said'. To a point that approach is applicable to any academic institution but you would think a university that uses advertisements suggesting it is an innovative learning institution then they would encourage and nurture innovation and ideas.

If I knew I was going to be forced to study most of the Masters online then I would have preferred to have enrolled with a more prestigious and professional university such are Stanford, Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge. If you want to get an education from Curtin University then be prepared to start writing to the Ombudsman.

My studies were undermined by this experience. Considering I represent Curtin University in Northern Europe and a relative I highly respect is the ex Vice Chancellor, then you can imagine that my experience was a shock as I expected so much more from Curtin University. My business school degree studies in the 1990's was a much better experience. Humanities staff did not know I would chat with the Vice Chancellor about family issues so there was no bias in my favour or influence from the Vice Chancellor.

The Business School now has it's own unprofessional issues considering my wife finished her Undergraduate Business Degree also at end 2013 with an average over 79% and was on the awarded Vice Chancellors List. But she never was offered an honours study option and never received a reply on this topic from many emails she sent to Student Services to find out about options.

The attached image is of the Humanities stand at the Curtin Careers Day. It was not staffed and not populated with any information when all other school stands were attended to. This is clear public evidence that the Curtin University Humanities School is...

I completed a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree about two years ago, and have finally decided to give an overview of my experience at Curtin University. First off, I do want to give credit where it’s due. Campus is nice, staff are generally friendly, and there are probably worse places to spend money. My problem with the University extends only as far as the Journalism degree itself (I’m not bitter about job prospects, I decided to do a postgraduate in teaching at Notre Dame before my undergraduate wrapped up). The problem stems from the fact that students are taught to follow a very strict set of rules and styles, yet key areas that should probably be of serious importance (such as grammar) are all but ignored. If you’ve ever watched ABC or Channel 7 news and lamented the prevalence of dangling participles, sentences ended with prepositions, or numerous other errors, you can probably thank the fact that wherever they were taught (incidentally, I’d like to call the ‘Presentation for Broadcast’ workshop for providing practice scripts that stand as an affront to the English language). If you do decide that journalism is the career path you wish to pursue, I’d probably advise you simply try freelance work, as getting a degree in said field via Curtin, or any university for that matter, is likely going to do little more than teach you to conform to rigid and inflexible rules that will almost guarantee unemployment in an already overstuffed market. Every student is taught to write and present the news like a channel 7 reporter, and if you can’t see the mathematical issue in graduating dozens, if not hundreds of students, all with the identical set of rigidly enforced skills and styles into an already variety starved industry, you’re probably the target demographic for the degree. I, for one, would rather have been informed beforehand that what I was actually paying for was three years of access to the library’s sensory deprivation chairs in which I could sleep between tutorials, rather than a Journalism degree, where the biggest concern after I wrote an article focusing on declining student interest in politics, was whether it was adequately structured like the eight billion stories on the Channel 7 website. Make no mistake, they are training you to be employable at channel 7, and for the one or two of you who do end up there, congratulations. Maybe you were genuinely a better candidate than your peers, but if there’s anything that I and assuredly many others intuited from our time in the degree, it’s probably that your resumé landed at the top of the pile, or a tutor noted your extreme willingness to think inside the box. You’ll probably interview some fascinating people in your career, so I hope that makes up for the fact that you’ll be writing about all of them the same way until you either retire or snap and poetically end it all by bludgeoning yourself to death with an ‘English as a Second Language’ textbook. The world does not need another reporter who can write a news article in one very specific and very bland manner. What the world needs is journalists who have some degree of passion behind their work. You want to be a journalist? Awesome! Nothing’s stopping you. Wordpress is practically free. Start a site, report on something. As an aside, if you noted any no doubt hilariously ironic grammatical errors (I too can detect many a run on sentence) in this review, I’d like to counter that by pointing out that what you’re actually saying is that my degree in journalism for a field that should require a mastery of language, didn’t appropriately train me...

I'm an online student at Curtin University for 2025, and this is my first experience with Curtin. It has been frustrating from the start. Out of four units, two were chosen by the university, including the Foundation of Communication. For this unit, I had an assignment due on March 26th at 2 PM.

While I successfully submitted Part A, I couldn't upload Part B due to system issues. After I struggled to submit Part B of my assignment, I contacted student support at 1:55 PM to ask why I couldn't submit it. They advised me to contact the tutor but didn't provide any clear guidance on the issue, despite the system allowing three attempts. When I reached out to the tutor, knowing they typically responded within 48 hours and that late penalties would apply, I still followed the advice. Unfortunately, the tutor didn't respond on the same day, March 26th.

Even after I emailed the tutor, she responded the next day, immediately stating I would be charged a late penalty for the late submission. This response felt very unprofessional and unsupportive, especially as she didn't resolve the issue. She mentioned she didn't understand my problem, and despite my explanation that the system wouldn't allow me to resubmit, she didn't reply again until the 28th.

On the 28th, the tutor replied to my email, asking me to send my assignment directly. I felt unsafe dealing with her because she didn't offer a practical solution, and the system indicated I could submit three times. I contacted student support again and was advised to email the tutor with the unit coordinator copy. I did so, submitting Part B, but was asked to combine both parts into one PDF. After doing this, the tutor reiterated the 15% late penalty. This experience has been frustrating, unprofessional, and unsupportive. I never expected this kind of treatment from a professional university like Curtin. This horrible experience has confirmed my decision not to pursue my degree with Curtin.

My experience with Curtin University was very disappointing and stressful. They constantly flood students with distracting emails about policies, events, and parties—none of which help with learning. Tutors also send nonstop updates that are often pointless, making it hard to focus. The whole system feels more like a business than a place that actually supports students. They don’t care about your mental health or the pressure they’re putting on you—they just want your money.

If you try to speak up or question anything, they’ll shut you down by saying you’re breaking academic policy. And if you want to withdraw, you have to do it on the exact deadline. If you miss it, even by a day, they won’t let you leave, even if the course isn’t right for you.

Once you’re enrolled—especially in a government-funded course—they will trap you. Even if you explain that you’re unhappy and want to switch to a different course that suits you better, they’ll say no. I told them I wanted to cancel and enroll in a government-funded course elsewhere, and they refused, saying they’d already received part of the funding and needed the rest. It felt like they didn’t care about my education or future—just about making sure they got paid in full.

Curtin will make it hard for you to leave. Even if you finish your degree, you’ll be so emotionally and mentally exhausted that you might lose your love for education altogether.

If you want a respectful, flexible education where you can change your mind, grow, and be supported, I strongly advise: do NOT enroll with...