
This is the authoritative Virtual Excellence Academy review.
The Virtual Excellence Academy is a popular virtual assistant course by Hannah Dixon. My team and I have signed up for the course and researched it thoroughly.
(Have you taken this course? Add your rating!)
If you want to know…
- If the VEA can help you make money online
- How it compares to other courses
- The pros and cons of Virtual Excellence Academy
- If Hannah Dixon is legit
- Are students getting results?
Then you’ve come to the right place.
Jump to…
About the Author
Hey, I’m Niall Doherty.
I quit my last 9-to-5 job back in 2010.
Since then, I’ve earned my living online in various ways. Over the last 4 years (through 2023) I’ve earned $842,000 from my laptop.
I’m on a mission to accurately rate and review all the best online business courses. My team and I are spending many hours investigating these courses and getting feedback from real students.
All that to say: we know a thing or two about such courses and making money online.
The Best Virtual Assistant Courses?
We’re on a mission to properly rate and review all the top virtual assistant courses, based on our own in-depth research plus feedback from verified students.
The Virtual Excellence Academy is one of the best we’ve seen…
🏆 Best Virtual Assistant Courses 🏆
How does The Virtual Excellence Academy help you make money?
The Virtual Excellence Academy aims to help you make a living as a freelance virtual assistant.
A virtual assistant is someone who works online, helping another person or business with various tasks (eg. email management, data entry, customer service, etc).
As Hannah writes on the course sales page…
This program focuses heavily on the business side of things, from how to find, communicate with, and keep high-quality clients, to contracts, setting boundaries, pricing and marketing yourself in an ongoing and innovative way.
Who is The Virtual Excellence Academy for?
The Virtual Excellence Academy sells itself as a platform for both new VAs and those with experience who haven’t yet reached their full potential.
As stated on the sales page…
The Virtual Excellence Academy is THE business building course for both beginners in the online space and those who are ready to raise the bar and are tired. Tired of applying to fruitless low-paid gigs on Upwork, tired of working the 9-to-5, tired of working without the reward of your ideal lifestyle. We teach you the stuff that’ll set up you with strong foundations for long-term business success, whether you just want to work from home or want to travel the world!
Having seen inside the training, I tend to agree: it first introduces you to the VA world, then teaches you about more advanced subjects.
If you already have experience with virtual assistance, chances are you’ll still learn plenty due to the course’s size and all the bonuses.
- 70+ ways how to make money online (including easy options)
Does Hannah Dixon have a good reputation?
Yes.
I only found words of praise for Hannah and her training during my research.
The Virtual Excellence Academy is widely considered to be one of the biggest and longest-running VA platforms. And Hannah has apparently “trained over 16,000 VAs who go on to work with top entrepreneurs and thought leaders.”
Hannah Dixon herself is a vocal advocate of ethical, intelligent hiring. Not only does her company, Digital Nomad Kit, regularly update its job listings, it also makes sure its students get adequately paid.
And as a “fully woman & LGBTQIA+ led team,” DNK seems to make it a priority for everyone to feel valued, too. As one reviewer puts it…
What makes VEA’s community different is the level of healthy advice that we receive, both from the team itself, as well as from each member. It is by far my favorite place online and I know that no matter the issue, the community is a safe space to talk. It is a truly diverse and unique space, and to be honest, I’ve never seen any other online community like this.
Andreea Celmare
Below is an interview with Hannah so you can get a feel for her style…
Are VEA students getting results?
They seem to be, yes.
We’ve collected and published several reviews from Hannah’s students (see them all here).
One of the most impressive testimonials…
I went from being alone at my laptop with low confidence, no solid plans, and a nagging fear of needing to apply to a 9-5 job again to make ends meet… to making more annually than I ever made at my corporate jobs – in just 2 years!
Ren Caldwell
Others have praised the VEA matchmaking service…
One of my retainer clients came from the matchmaking service, where Hannah introduces the perfect VA depending on the client’s needs and personality. I’m happy I got to meet the client in this way because the introduction was so much easier. Having the VEA approval before meeting the client meant that we could have a very calm discovery call.
Andreea Celmare
Browse through the official Virtual Excellence Academy webpages and you’ll also find no shortage of student testimonials…


Unfortunately, many testimonials on the sales page seem to offer generic praise, and thus don’t show the true value of the training, IMO. However, those that mention results achieved from having followed the training do sound impressive.
Overall, my impression is that the training proves effective for most people who put in the work consistently.
How much does The Virtual Excellence Academy cost?
The listed price for The Virtual Excellence Academy is $1,100 one time.
There’s also The Legacy Edition, an upgraded version of VEA that offers additional coaching on niching and website building, among other things. It costs $1,500.
According to Hannah, you can also pay for both plans in 2, 4, or 6 installments. The total cost is the same either way.
You get lifetime access no matter how you pay.
Keep in mind that you may want to put a little extra money aside for some paid tools that Hannah recommends within the training. (None of these are essential to follow the training or to become a successful VA, and they do a good job of recommending free tools when sufficient.)
The Virtual Excellence Academy Discount?
I didn’t find much info about discounts for VEA, but Hannah often offers a discount for The Legacy Edition.
If there’s an active promotion, you’ll see the discount applied automatically when you visit the sales page.
Refund Policy
The sales page for The Virtual Excellence Academy never seems to mention refunds.
However, Hannah told me via email that the training usually doesn’t give refunds at all…
We don’t offer refunds officially as students get instant access to all of our material and community events, even if they are on payment plans, however behind the scenes we are open to offering discretionary refunds under exceptional circumstances on a case by case basis.
Policies like this are no good, IMO. I’ve seen many digital products that are delivered instantly but still offer refunds.
How is The Virtual Excellence Academy structured?
Here’s what the training looks like once you log in and open one of the lessons…

There are 12 modules inside of the core training, as well as numerous bonus modules. They feature a healthy mix of concise text and video lessons.
The text lessons usually have plenty of pictures and examples to showcase good VA practices more efficiently.
The same goes for the videos, which are usually between 5 and 35 minutes long. Most of them also have some nice add-ins like transcripts and subtitles.
Even though the VEA is huge, there isn’t a search function, so finding your way around isn’t exactly easy. Returning to a certain lesson may be a challenge, but at least the modules are well organized.
The core training has tons of bonus content, such as tool recommendations, templates, and action steps. The Legacy Edition improves this even further by adding a total of eight bonus courses:
- The WordPress & Divi Beginner’s Kit
- 5 Day VA Challenge Lifetime Access
- Sales & Marketing Mastery for VAs
- Niching your Business
- Twitter Mastery Kit
- The Ultimate Guide to Networking on Facebook
- Contracts+ Bundle
- The Podcast VA Kit
You also get access to a private Facebook group when you sign up for VEA…

There is a decent amount of activity in the group, with a few posts each day and every question seems to get a thoughtful response.
Green Lights 🟢
A few things to like about The Virtual Excellence Academy…
- Lots of student testimonials and success stories.
- Many students love the community.
- You pay once and get lifetime access with free updates.
- The training is comprehensive, practical and step-by-step.
- The training is regularly updated.
- Hannah Dixon seems like the real deal.
- No hype or sleazy sales tactics.
- Tons of bonus content provided.
Red Flags 🚩
Some knocks on The Virtual Excellence Academy…
- Refunds only available under exceptional circumstances.
- Not always open for enrollment.
- So much content it can be overwhelming, and not always easy to find your way around.
- No mention on sales page of expenses beyond the price of the training.
Other things you should know
- Hannah Dixon’s training outlines key steps she’s taken to build her own very successful VA business. When you buy The Virtual Excellence Academy, this essential information is yours to explore.
- The training equips you with several useful downloads, containing things like spreadsheets.
- Unfortunately, the Virtual Excellence Academy is NOT open for enrollment all year round. Hannah only seems to open the doors every couple of months or so, usually right after her free 5 Day VA Challenge.
Should you join The Virtual Excellence Academy?
From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of people who buy this course end up happy with their purchase.
I think it’s easy to see why: this is one of the longest-running virtual assistant courses around, yet Hannah still seems to update it on a regular basis. The training also seems incredibly comprehensive, and the students only have good things to say about the community.
Given that, I consider VEA to be a solid investment if you’re committed to starting – or scaling – your freelance virtual assistant career.
Check the sales page to see if the Virtual Excellence Academy is open for enrollment right now. If it isn’t, consider signing up for Hannah’s next 5 Day VA Challenge; that’s free and will give you a good feel for her training.
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Your Thoughts on The Virtual Excellence Academy
- Have you taken this course yourself?
Add your rating so others can see if it’s worthwhile. - Do you have a question about this course?
Let us know below and we’ll try find the answer.
Is this course still recommended if the student is from a third world country or Southeast Asia wanting to start a thriving VA business?
Hi Annie. In general, yes. There are lots of successful VAs from countries like the Philippines. But you would need to have a decent laptop and internet connection to make it work.