StepEx Reviews 29

Really good in pursuing my career. They guided me completely. Make it easy to gain visa and study my course.

Stepex.co is so helpful in guiding me throughout the course. They simplify the things and enable me to study a course that would seem like out of reach. Thanks to them.

I was given a deadline of March 16, 2026 to submit my circumstances update. However, when I tried to complete it on March 15 — the day before the deadline — the system had already changed my status to “Assumed” and would not allow me to submit any update.
To make matters worse, on the morning of March 16 — which was supposed to be my last day — Stepex had already sent me an email stating they assumed my annual income as £50,000, which is nearly double my actual salary, and issued an invoice based on that figure.
They did not even wait for the deadline to pass. The system blocked me from updating before the due date, and they immediately used an inflated income assumption to increase my repayment obligation. This is not an administrative error — this feels like a deliberate trap designed to extract more money from borrowers.
This practice is unacceptable, potentially misleading, and I will be escalating this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I strongly advise anyone considering Stepex to think twice.

Been charged for an invoice on my FEA even tho Im way bellow the threshold on my earnings.

Trying to fill the financial hardship form but the feature won't work on their own platform.

Costumer service is not responsive and everytime I get in touch, even if it's on the same email thread I need to explain the issue over and over.

have had an extremely bad experience with Stepex.
I have been trying for weeks to update my circumstances, but their system does not allow me to log in or register. I repeatedly contacted support, sent emails, and even provided a video showing the issue step by step — all of which were ignored.
Despite their system failure, I was still charged a large amount of money. On top of that, I received an email claiming I had received £50,000, which is completely incorrect and very concerning.
They have failed to respond, failed to fix their broken system, and failed to provide any real customer support. This has caused me stress, financial issues, and risk of missing my deadline.
I strongly advise people to avoid this company until they fix their systems and start treating customers properly.

Still awaiting for them to respond.

I would not recommend taking out an FEA, get a bank loan instead.

I was desperate to reskill into cyber which is why I made the terrible decision of taking out an FEA stepex. If I had just gone to the bank, I would’ve saved thousands of pounds.

They are technically ‘interest free’ (only because they added on £6,000 at the start). My course was £9000 if paid out of pocket, however the repayment cap for the FEA is £15,000.

They also take the % number of your wages pre tax, yet take the money after tax, which I didn’t realise prior to the first payment being taken.

Losing 13% of earnings is hard, especially in a cost of living crisis. I really regret the choice I made.

I was charged £541.67 based on an assumption of what I would be earning, but this was never clearly explained. According to the stated threshold of £25,000, the charge should be 13% of monthly income, which in my case would have been £270.93. It is unclear how they arrived at the higher figure, and this lack of transparency was not made clear before signing.

In addition, I am required to complete a form every single month to provide access to my bank account. I have been doing this consistently for around three years, yet this ongoing requirement was also not clearly explained upfront. The process feels unnecessarily invasive.

I was also charged an additional £80, which later increased, despite informing them on 1 July that I did not have the funds to pay a charge I should not have been receiving—especially as my circumstances had not changed. At the time, I was receiving Universal Credit.

The system itself is frustrating to navigate, particularly on mobile. There was an issue where I was told I had not signed the form in July, yet when I did sign it, it showed my circumstances as “updated,” which added further confusion.

There is also no reasonable option to pay off the loan early. The only apparent way to do so would involve paying £15,000 for a £9,000 loan, which is not realistic. Overall, the loan structure feels predatory, highly expensive, and overly invasive. While it is presented as a more accessible option for funding education, I struggle to see how this is the case when a traditional loan is significantly more cost-effective and does not require monthly financial monitoring or a percentage-based charge on wages.

Based on my experience, I would strongly recommend looking at alternative options before considering this service.

Update: Even after proving I am not making £50,000 a year (this is a crazy assumption anyways) they are still sending me threading emails that I owe them money.

Difficult to navigate

So far, transparency has been great and they helped me sign on for a program. They have explained every step so far and I have no reason to doubt their credibility. I came across the program at the last minute, so StepEx was my best option for funding it and getting in. I really don’t see any red flags (in spite of some negative reviews on here). They don’t twist your arm or hold a gun to your head. See what they’re offering and the terms they’re proposing and if it’s convenient for you, work with them. I, for one, am grateful for the service they offer. So far, I’m happy.

Now that I've finshed paying my loan back I can give an honest review.

This company is pretty much a scam.

During my application every bit of information they provided stated that the repayment would function like a conventional student loan, where you have a minimum threshold income and you pay a set percentage of any income you earn over that threshhold.

In my case the documentation they provided stated that I would repay 15% of any income I made over my threshold value of £23,000. So let's say I earned £30,000, that would mean I paid 15% of the £7,000 difference, or £1,050 for the year.

However when they actually sent the final contract over they changed it, so that it actually said that once I earned over the threshold I would have to pay 15% of my total income. So if I earned £30,000 I would have to pay them 15% of all of it, or £4,500 per year.

The first time this repayment structure was mentioned, or appeared in any paperwork, was when they sent the final contract.

Clearly they were hoping that because I'd seen the nicer repayment terms written down multiple times I would fail to notice the change in the final contract, and unfortunately they were right.

Even if we move past the deception, they are still a terrible company.

If you want to get in touch with them, good luck. They have a phone number on their website, it is never answered and voicemails never result in a call back. I have just checked my phone history and at one point, when I was having a problem with repayments, I attempted to call them 87 times in 14 days and not once did I get through to a person. Emails take weeks to be responded to, they never actually answer your questions and seem to be allergic to honesty and helpfulness.

Their loan terms themselves are also predatory. My course was £9,000. The repayment period was 36 months. The amount I would have to repay was £14,500. A personal loan from a bank would have been around £10,300 for the same amount loaned with the same repayment period.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

If you need a loan for a course then get yourself a regular bank loan.

I wish I had done so, but I was naive, but if my experience and this review stops a single person from using this awful, predatory company then I will consider it a success.

Never again. Get a loan with a bank instead.

I'm reaching the end of my repayment and as any person would, I've been trying to work out how much more I need to pay. That has proven really hard though. Stepex sends me 2 Annual Statements per year and I used the last one to work out my remaining payments and sent them an e-mail asking about that amount, they provided me with a completely different amount remaining and said that the statements were wrong. Yesterday they invited me to open an account with my email and password to access a portal, again, the amount doesn't match either the statements or what they stated in the e-mail. Also, the invoices on the portal do not match the statements I have paid and have completely different amounts.

I've tried to figure out how much more I need to pay from my bank, and AGAIN, nothing matches anything Stepex has been telling me. Notice that my last e-mails have been exchanged via contact stepex.co and nobody signed the e-mails, so I have no idea who I'm talking to. The last email was exchanged in
Wed, 9 Oct, 14:59 and yes, I have everything saved.

During the past three years, I have also received a number of rude emails accusing me of not paying the right amount or lying about my income, and I have had to resend them contracts and payslips. I vividly remember exchanging e-mails about this with a rude girl called Lauren Beggs in 2023, but now they even stopped signing the e-mails. I have always done everything on paper and this company insults you over and over.

All I want to say for possible customers is RUN.

Stuck with them due to taking a loan for cyber reskilling course.
The repeated circumstance updates is frustrating, especially when having to use a VPN to access the update forms. Have tried on multiple devices and browsers and failed until turning on the VPN.
Don't want to use teamviewer or allow IT to take access of my PC, especially after completing said course!
Also, feels a little concerning that they ask to see everything. I hope my data is safe now more of it is being access...definitely more points of failure on this supply chain of data.
Have had two annual statements, mistakes have been made and they correct them eventually. Still don't fully trust my overall total due to being an employee of a company that they have a deal with. Suspicious that I have been overcharged on interest. No-one has confirmed, when I asked over a year ago.
However, they have helped the needy...one saving grace?

Good application process. No dramas. Setup my direct debit to make repayments and had no issues so far.

The scheme is truly outstanding. This is an easy to use program. There were a lot of challenges throughout the process, but StepEx provided excellent support. My sincere thanks go out them. Thank you StepEx for fulfilling dreams!

I feel so thankful for Stepex! Coding skills helped me better my life. Big thank to you all. I'm gratefull to your service team, too. They solved every query and issue I had. Your company truly wants students to succeed. I really value your support. I strongly suggest StepEx. People should use this great chance.

I was not able to give 0 rating because the minimum rating is 1.
Worst service provider. I paid 200£ plus 20£ for future earning agreements through Stepx, but their client, Purple Beard, later said they would take my application due to visa status. My money is gone and they haven't returned my money. They even deactivated their email and constantly denied returns. I won't recommend anyone to go ahead and do it. My question was why they approved my application and asked me to pay if they knew their client wouldn't take my application. The whole process looks like a scam for immigrants. Why would I pay a hefty amount to know my application won't be accepted? Why didn't they talk to their client before accepting my payment? Do not fall into this SCAM. My message to StepX is how you guys can snatch money from innocent immigrant's hard-earned money.

I recognize the difficulty of getting funding for trade schools and bootcamps and I think Stepex takes full advantage of vulnerable students by not being clear up front about what type of contract you're getting into. The rules of the contract are excessively complicated and difficult to understand and additionally, what you pay depends on your financial circumstances which means even if you are paying your loan off faithfully you can look forward to threatening letters from the company as though you are in collections to update your circumstances via a very horrible interface and sending detailed financial documents every few months. If you don't enjoy being harassed and threatened, find a different route to funding.

Absolutely awful company. Consistently lie and demand extra money which has already been paid! Please do not use or trust this company!!

Tried to charge me before I reached the income threshold.

Now they are asking for open access to my bank accounts for the last 3 months. Absolutely do not recommend ever going with this company for financial services.

They think that saying they need access to bank information in the contract means they can get open access to your accounts and if you don’t consent you can’t submit your monthly update so you’re automatically in breach of the contract in their eyes for multiple things. Don’t go with this company.