The training is unpaid which by itself is fine if you were to be put on placement as soon as it finishes. However, that is not the case. I went through my entire 90 day period after my training was finished all completely unpaid. Watch out because this is something they don't tell you at the start! You only start getting paid when you're actually on placement. All in all I had a period of five months where I didn't touch a single pound. Furthermore they make it difficult for you to obtain a part time job on the side as they want you to come in on different days depending on the week.
The atmosphere in the Academy is the most depressing thing ever. You essentially have a bunch of trainees waiting to be placed and you're forced to come in unpaid and sit about all day. You study and "upskill" for potential interviews that more often then not fall through.
Do not trust the sales team! I have been in sales positions before and I therefore have some compassion for the job that they're doing but we use to have sales updates on a Friday afternoon where they would come in and simply lie to our faces. Talking about clients they were about to close with potential roles coming up. This was not the case, they were still about 6 months away from getting anything concrete.
When I signed on I asked if there are a lot of people who don't get placed after 90 days. I remember them clearly saying it was the case for one or two individuals and that it was because they were essentially not willing to relocate. In my time at FDM I believe 25 or more trainees weren't placed and outlasted their training contract and trust me we all tried our best to get jobs.