Overview
We know that inspiring your students, whatever their ambition, is at the heart of what we do in creative education.
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Schools' Hub
Being a Boy
Being a Boy
At AUB, we believe that opportunities to engage with creative subjects and explore new art forms should be available to everyone. We also recognise the power of creativity as a tool to engage in conversations about important issues that affect our lives.
The Being a Boy project, launched in 2022, is a brand-new initiative which provides space for young men to creatively engage with the role of masculinity in their day-to-day lives.
The project has received recognition in the sector as an example of best practice. Winning the HELOA (Higher Education Liaison Officers Association) Best Practice Outreach and Recruitment Award, and HELOA Best Practice Collaboration Award in January 2023. Being a Boy was also a Silver Award Winner for Best Widening Participation Initiative at the 2023 HEIST Awards.
The Being a Boy project
The Being a Boy project provides a number of fully funded places on selected workshops that explore the themes of masculinity and identity. They provide a creative channel for participants to reflect on what being a young man means and their own lived experiences. The workshops are an innovative mechanism to conduct an exploration of the possible implications for boys’ future health, happiness and educational success.
Please see our participant eligibility criteria on the next tab and further details of the 2024 workshop series below.
Being a Boy Impact Reports
The Being a Boy workshop places are available to young people living permanently in England. To be eligible for participation in one or more of the workshops, attendees must be studying in either KS3 or KS4 (aged 12-16) and identify as boys.
Participants must also meet at least one of the following eligibility criteria:
- Received Free School Meals at any point during your school studies
- Been in local authority care or looked after for three months or more OR are estranged from your family
- Are a Young Carer
- From a Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showman, or Boater community
- Have a parent who has served, or is currently serving, in the armed forces
- Are currently studying at an Alternative Provision
- Current home postcode shows that you live in an area with low levels of progression to Higher Education falling within TUDRA LSOA quintiles 1 and 2.
- Current home postcode shows that you live in an area that falls within the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1 and 2.
Eligibility for the TUNDRA LSOA measure can be checked on this site and eligibility for the IMD measure can be checked on this site..
Being a Boy videos
You can now watch:
- Character documentary, following participants in the 2023 Character workshop explore acting processes.
- How to Be a Boy, documentary to see participants of the 2022 Empower workshop creative writing successes.
- Beneath the Surface, a participant's continued exploration of dance after taking part in the 2022 Lift Off workshop.
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Accept to viewUpcoming workshops and events
Being a Boy Celebration – 28 January 2025, 18.30–21.00
This will be an opportunity to join the young men from the 2024 Being a Boy workshop series and their supporters to celebrate their creative successes and achievements, from all seven of the 2024 workshops: Identity, Character, Empower, Lift Off, Capture, Transform and Freestyle.
Along with the premiere screening of our documentary, Being a Boy: Identity, which follows the experiences of the young men on the BA (Hons) Fashion Branding and Communication workshop in May 2024. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
Being a Boy workshops – May-July 2025
Our fully funded creative workshops explore the themes of masculinity and identity across art, design, media, and performance. The Being a Boy workshops for 2025 will be announced at the Being a Boy Celebration event, with bookings across all workshops live the following day.
Explore our photos
This gallery shows some of the Being a Boy workshops in action.
Previous workshops and events
Have a look at workshops and events through the years to get a feel for what we’ve been up to.
Explore more
On-campus activities
We run a range of on-campus activities so that your students can experience life at an arts university first-hand.
In-school activities
Our in-school activities have been designed to support your students in discovering more about Higher Education and creative pathways
Lesson resources
We have a range of learning resources at AUB that can support your teaching either in the classroom or online.
Helping your students apply
We appreciate that navigating the process of applying to university can be a daunting time for students – we're here to help.
Widening access to AUB
Those with the potential to benefit from higher education, deserve the opportunity to do so. At AUB, we’re committed to making that happen.
Teachers and Advisors CPD
Find out information about our CPD for staff...
Global Schools
AUB offers workshops, talks and presentations to global schools. Get in touch with our team to find out more
Dorset Boys' Impact Hub
The Dorset branch of Boys' Impact is the first in a series of regional networks with the aim of closing the gap in GCSE outcomes for boys.