Faculty of Arts, Community and Leisure Studies

A lively and diverse Faculty

The Faculty of Arts, Community and Leisure Studies provides a broad curriculum mix, offering courses in areas such as art and design, performing arts, fashion, media studies, childcare and education, health and social care, catering and hospitality, hairdressing, and beauty therapy. We also offer a wide range of courses covering essential vocational and life skills for students with learning difficulties and disabilities Although these areas are apparently diverse we find that working together across the curriculum areas enriches our students’ learning experiences and enhances the quality of work that they produce. For example, hairdressing students work with fashion and performing arts students by producing hair designs for fashion shows and other productions, and health care staff work with beauty therapists in developing alternative therapies courses.

What do you want to do?

Whether you’re interested in nursing, social work, dance, ceramics, stage management, production management, web design, tailoring, upholstery, computer graphics, photography, or massage, we provide the opportunities to develop skills and build up portfolios of work to enable you to gain access to employment or relevant courses at university or art school. We also have an annual programme of events, including at least three major productions and a high profile fashion show, and take part with notable success in national hairdressing competitions, to enhance your knowledge and experience. We can also offer work placements in hospitals, day care centres, hotels, restaurants, and schools, where you can gain first hand experience of work in your chosen field.

Everything you need to help you succeed

Our courses are accredited by nationally recognised awarding bodies, and we have a fantastic range of high quality, specialist facilities for our courses. These include a suite of professional hair and beauty salons, purpose-built design and production workshops, a large theatre with digital lighting and sound technology, an industry-standard clothing craft workshop, a digital design suite with top of the range equipment and software, and a fully equipped, purpose-built teaching kitchen - with the attractive Tower Restaurant overlooking the new Wembley stadium! Our teachers are highly skilled, dedicated and experienced, and we have strong links with many local businesses and national organisations.