Schools' Hub : Saturday Art School Funded Places

Saturday Art School Funded Places

We're committed to equal access to creative education and careers. As such, each academic year we're delighted to offer a limited number of funded places on our Saturday Art School courses.

Funded places are only available for Spring and Autumn term and the young person must be aged 10-15 at the start date of the course (subject to individual course age range).

Please see below for our eligibility criteria, key dates and answers to frequently asked questions.

Applications for Spring 2026 have now closed. Have a look at our key dates for further information for Funded Places application rounds.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with our friendly team.

Get in touch

To be eligible for a funded place on one of our Saturday Art School courses, students must meet at least one of the following criteria:

They're currently in receipt of Free School Meals or eligible for Free School Meal if home schooled
They're in local authority care or looked after for three months or more
They're a Young Carer
They're from a Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showman, or Boater community
They have a parent who's served, or is currently serving, in the UK armed forces
They're 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 TUNDRA LSOA quintiles 1 and 2.
Current home postcode shows that you live in an area that falls within the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Has Refugee/Asylum seeker status

Eligibility for the TUNDRA LSOA quintiles measure can be checked on this site and eligibility for the IMD deciles measure can be checked on this site.

Please see our frequently asked questions below:

How do we apply for a Funded Place?

To apply for a Saturday Art School Funded Place please complete the application form on our website.

Please note: while places aren't allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, we may close applications early if we receive high volumes of applications to manage expectations as places are limited.

We’ve had a Funded Place before, does this mean we'll receive a place again?

All applications are reviewed individually, and we can’t guarantee that if you've received a place before that you'll receive a Funded Place for future rounds. However, we still welcome applications from those who've had Funded Places before.

We’ve applied for a Funded Place before and been unsuccessful, can we apply again?

Absolutely, providing the young person meets our eligibility criteria, you're welcome to apply for future rounds of Saturday Art School Funded Places.

What happens after we've applied?

Once applications have closed our team will review all applications individually. Once our limited number of Funded Places are assigned, we get in touch via email to let all applicants know the outcome of their application. Key dates for the application process can be found in the next tab.

Please note: while places aren't allocated on a first come, first served basis, we may close applications early if we receive high volumes of applications to manage expectations as places are limited.

We’ve accepted a Funded Place. Where do we find information about the Saturday Art School course?

Lots of handy information can be found on the Saturday Art School website. Please navigate to your allocated course where you'll be able to find dates, times, and anything you need to bring to the sessions e.g. a water bottle.

If you have any specific questions about the Saturday Art School course content please contact our friendly Saturday Art School Team – academy@aub.ac.uk

Saturday Art School Website Contact AUB Academy

Are there any other opportunities like Saturday Art School Funded Places that we can engage with at AUB?

Within Access and Participation we offer a variety creative workshops in the summer months for young men aged 12-16 as part of our Being a Boy programme. For our eligibility criteria and to learn more, please visit our Being a Boy webpage.

For students aged 16-18 in their first year of A Level or equivalent study we have our All Access AUB programme. It involves a summer residential with creative workshops, exhibiting work in TheGallery, 1:1 portfolio tutorial support, a Transition Day with information about university life and more. To find out more, and see our eligibility criteria please visit our All Access AUB webpage.

AUB has lots of exciting events on all year round, many of which are free to the public, including exhibitions at TheGallery, Open Days and many more. You can see what’s on here.

If you still need help with Saturday Art School funded places please get in touch via email.

Contact Widening Participation

We're able to offer Saturday Art School Funded Places during Spring and Autumn terms. Below are key dates for the terms:

Autumn 2026

15 April 2026 – Applications for funded places open
18 May 2026 – Applications for funded places close
End of May 2026 – Applicants that have been allocated a funded place will be notified by the Access and Participation team
8 June 2026 – Deadline for applicants that have been allocated a funded place to confirm acceptance
End of June 2026 – Waitlist applicants to be contacted offering any available funded places
Mid-July 2026 – Applicants we are unable to assign a place to will be notified with details for the next round of funded places for Spring 2026.
5 September 2026 – Saturday Art School Autumn Term starts

Spring 2027

Late September 2026 – Applications for funded places open
Late October 2026 – Applications for funded places close
Early/mid-November 2026 – Applicants who've been allocated a funded place will be notified by the Access and Participation team
Late November 2026 – Deadline for applicants who've been allocated a funded place to confirm acceptance
Early December 2026 – Waitlist applicants to be contacted offering any available funded places
Mid-December 2026 – Applicants we're unable to assign a place to will be notified with details for the next round of funded places for Spring 2026.
Late January 2027 – Saturday Art School Spring Term starts for eight weeks.

Contact Access and Participation

Choose your Saturday Art School course

Courses for 10-12 yrs

Our courses for blossoming artists as young as 10 years-old will help them explore their creativity, harness their imaginations, and gain confidence in creating and sharing their work. No art and design experience is necessary; all we ask is students come with buckets of enthusiasm.

A person painting horizontal strokes on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard.

Creative Artists

This practical course has been designed specially for 10–12-year-olds to have fun with their creativity and learn new art and design skills.

Digital Character Design

On this course young artists aged 10-12 will develop digital drawing skills to create exciting characters.

Courses for 11-15 yrs

We offer a range of courses to enable budding artists aged 11-15 to develop skills in a range of different creative disciplines either to find their creative calling or simply enjoy learning new skills. Students don’t need to already be experts in their chosen subject, all we ask is that students come with enthusiasm for learning new things.

A sketchbook with a colourful painting of a human face half-covered with flowers.

Art and Design using Mixed Media

This imaginative course gives young artists aged 12–15 the chance to experiment with different art forms to identify their specialist area.

Clapper board lying on a stone floor. Film title reads "Deep Water".

Digital Filmmaking – an Introduction

In this creative course young filmmakers aged 12–15 will gain hands-on experience in writing, filming and editing their own material.

Why study at Saturday Art School?

Unlock creative talent

We understand how important young creative artists are – they've so much potential, untapped abilities, and enthusiasm. At Saturday Art School they’ll be supported to fully explore their creative talent and future potential, whilst being themselves.

Learn from the best

All our tutors are experts in their creative fields and love sharing their skills; their passion for their craft is infectious. Our young artists will learn in an encouraging, inclusive, and supportive environment, where there’s no right or wrong way to be creative.

Study at a specialist institution

We’re proud to be the UK’s top specialist art and design university. We invest heavily in technology and spaces to best equip our students during their time with us, as such our young artists will have access to our industry-standard resources and learn in our state-of-the-art studios. All course materials are included in the funded course fee.

Start your creative journey

We welcome young artists aged 7–18 (age restrictions applicable by course) of all abilities, from beginners to experienced creatives. In fact, many of our students continue to study with us for years to come. We offer a range of portfolio preparation courses to help prepare young artists to continue their creative studies at foundation or undergraduate level.