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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.

Please note that due to popularity, funded places are limited to one per household per term. 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 the eligibility criteria below.

Applications for the fully funded places for Autumn 2023 are now closed.

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

Eligibility criteria

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 armed forces
  • Current home postcode shows that they live in an area with low levels of progression to Higher Education (postcodes within the lowest 2 POLAR4 quintiles)
  • Current home postcode shows that they live in an area that falls within the lowest 20 per cent of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
  • Young person has Refugee or Asylum seeker status

Eligibility for the POLAR4 measure can be checked here (postcodes in the lowest 2 POLAR4 quintiles qualify).

Choose your Saturday Art School course

Explore creativity from a young age

­­­­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.

Young Artists (10–12yrs)

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.

Rainbow Jewellery

Jewellery Making - an Introduction

This vibrant and practical jewellery making course has been specially designed for budding makers aged 10–12 to let their imaginations free.

Learn new skills and develop existing ones

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.

An illustration of a character.

Digital Character Design

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

A hand is reached out to catch a bubble in which there's a ballerina dancing

Photoshop Art

On this exciting course, young artists aged 11-14 have the chance to master digital creation using Photoshop.

Two large eyeballs sitting on a colourful surface, and several tiny eyeballs on sticks.

Fine Art (stage 1)

In this exciting fine art course students aged 12–15 will experiment and explore a wide range of creative techniques, plus learn new skills.

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.

Photo of a road at night with a multi-coloured light rail going through it.

Digital Photography

Our creative digital photography course teaches students aged 11–15 years-old fundamental photography skills in a fun and inspirational way.

students in animation studio

Animation – an Introduction

In this hands-on course, budding animators aged 12–15 will let their imaginations free as they learn the fundamentals of animation.

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

Digital Filmmaking

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

Saturday Art School – Modelmaking

Modelmaking – an Introduction (stage 1)

In this fun and imaginative course students aged 12–15 will learn a variety of new skills in modelmaking and create unique 3D designs.

Ikea tray design

Graphic and Digital Design

In this dynamic course, young designers aged 12–15 will harness their creativity, gain confidence and develop their graphic design skills.

pink material with pom-poms

Fashion Design and Styling (stage 1)

This hands-on course gives budding fashion designers aged 12–15 the chance to learn the fundamental skills of fashion design and styling.

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.

Explore more

Overview

We know that inspiring your students, whatever their ambition, is at the heart of what we do in creative education.
Illustration work displayed in the Drawing Studio at AUB. The work is surrounded by plants and lit but a large oval glass window

On-campus activities

We run a range of on-campus activities so that your students can experience life at an arts university first-hand.
Student talking to a member of AUB Staff at a UCAS Event

In-school activities

Our in-school activities have been designed to support your students in discovering more about Higher Education and creative pathways
Colourful rectangular archway with lights inside and people passing through. A train is passing across the bridge over the archway.

Lesson resources

We have a range of learning resources at AUB that can support your teaching either in the classroom or online.
Illustration of two women, one taking a picture and another lifting a red cap of her head

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.
Two students working with screen printing equipment in the print room.

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.
Students in the AUB print room holding tools with paint and screens around them.

Global Schools

AUB offers workshops, talks and presentations to global schools. Get in touch with our team to find out more