Degrees apart: the wackiest courses in the capital

circusspace.co.uk

FOR FASHION FANATICS

‘I had the chance to speak to Lucinda Chambers [Vogue’s fashion director] at the college’s opening party and she answered my questions about styling. It was one of the greatest lessons I’ve picked up so far and something I couldn’t have learned at Parsons or FIT in New York’

Can Remzi Ergen, 21, from Turkey

Contrary to expectation, students on the new Vogue Fashion Foundation Diploma needn’t worry about what to wear on their first day; their wardrobe will be the last of their concerns once they find themselves alongside Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman in a magazine features meeting, or at Burberry HQ on an internship. The one-year course (which launches in October) is all about offering access to top stylists, designers, journalists and photographers. The college, which is headed by principal Susie Forbes, an ex-Vogue deputy editor and founding editor of Easy Living, and her vice principal, education expert Dr Gary Pritchard, has just taken up residence in a shiny new building on Greek Street, where the minimalist décor and pastel flower arrangements make for a suitably fashionable backdrop.

ENTRY PROCESS Top grades aren’t crucial. Applicants present a portfolio demonstrating an interest in fashion and complete The College Challenge, a critical evaluation of a particular collection or a major advertising campaign. There is also an interview, which can be done via Skype.

COST £19,560 for the year.

LOOKING FOR Risk-takers with a hunger to learn. ‘Not giggly school leavers interested in shopping,’ says Dr Pritchard.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN The language of fashion. The course doesn’t focus on how to be a fashion designer, but covers the wider fashion industry, including media, history, beauty and retail.

CONTACT TIME A minimum of 15 hours’ formal teaching each week. Students are in school from 10am to 5pm, attending lectures and tutorials or working on their assessed project, which may be based on fashion retailing, styling or fashion journalism.

BEHIND THE KEYHOLE Students have unrivalled access to key figures at Condé Nast’s HQ, including the chance to attend editorial meetings at Vogue. An average day at school could include lectures from Condé Nast digital director Jamie Jouning on how to harness social media, followed by fashion consultant Yasmin Sewell talking about how she broke into fashion.

LIFE AFTER SCHOOL Work placements aren’t guaranteed for every student but the college is forging relationships with fashion heavyweights, including Net-a-Porter, Harrods and Burberry, with the aim of placing students in internships.

condenastcollege.co.uk

FOR SECRET SOMMELIERS

‘I have tasted so many wines before but I didn’t know any wine vocabulary. I don’t go to the wine shop and say, “I want a heavy, red wine,” any more. I can be more specific and ask for a French wine and name a region that I know I like’

Hiromi Umezawa, 37, from Tokyo

In the subterranean depths of Berry Bros & Rudd in St James’s, a bottle of 1830 Armagnac Grande Champagne and an 1899 Grand Cru Classé Sauternes are gathering dust. Next door in the Pickering Cellar, once the shop’s bottling cellar, the in-house Wine School is in full swing. Set up in 1999, the school is the latest addition to Berry Bros, which has occupied its corner of St James’s Street since 1698. The school’s courses are devised by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and are formally recognised by the wine industry internationally. And you don’t have to be a wine buff to sign up — the school’s manager Rebecca Lamont believes anyone can learn to appreciate the finest wines. ‘It doesn’t have to be exclusive. The idea is to empower everybody and show that wine is fun and you can be a great taster.’

ENTRY PROCESS No formal application process, they will take ‘anyone’. Levels 2 and 3 of the WSET award are taught (considered the wine equivalent of GCSE and A level).

COST £645 for Level 2; £1,095 for Level 3. It’s one of the most expensive WSET courses around but costs cover examination fees, materials, tuition, and use of Berry Bros’ equipment and tasting samples.

LOOKING FOR Closet oenophiles who want to know their tannins from their tinto. A lot of students work for large companies and need to know what to order for big corporate lunches to impress their boss and clients.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Tasting techniques for wine, sparkling wine and spirits; winemaking; food and wine matching; how to interpret labels and the quality and price of wines. Exams are marked externally.

CONTACT TIME 20-25 hours over five days of teaching for Level 2; 35 hours for Level 3, plus 10 hours of revision classes. Picnic-style lunches break up the day, and there are tea and coffee breaks when you can’t handle any more booze.

LIFE AFTER SCHOOL A celebratory glass of Berry Bros & Rudd Champagne. Some graduates may go on to careers in the wine or hospitality industries, but a lot of students just want to feel confident on a date when faced with an extensive wine list.

bbr.com

FOR JOLLY GOOD SPORTS

‘I watch football in a completely different way now. Most people see the green rectangle and 22 lads running around, but when I was here for the FA Cup Final I was thinking about the nitty-gritty and what goes on behind the scenes’

Jake Harrison, 20, second-year student in Football Business & Media

If students on the University College of Football Business’ courses ever feel despondent, they only need to glance out of the classroom window for encouragement; they won’t be looking out on to a soulless, concrete campus but the hallowed turf of Wembley. UCFB is in the process of transforming 60,000sq ft of Wembley Stadium into state-of-the-art lecture halls, seminar rooms and a refectory that will be able to accommodate up to 2,000 students from September 2014. Headed by Philip Wilson, who at the moment runs the original campus at Burnley FC, there will be eight degrees on offer, including football business combined with finance, marketing or media, as well as sports business and sports law. ‘Students will walk into Wembley every day to do their sports degree. How much more motivation do you need?’ he says.

ENTRY PROCESS The traditional way, via UCAS. Most UCFB degrees require 280-320 UCAS points (an A is worth 120 points). Four thousand 17-year-olds have already expressed interest in the new Wembley courses; 250-300 students will be admitted in September 2014.

COST £6,000-£9,000 a year, based on degree and campus location (the Burnley campus will continue to operate).

LOOKING FOR People who are passionate, motivated and haven’t been too swotty at school — good grades don’t count for everything on this course. ‘UCAS points are important but they’re also just a snapshot of what that person’s done for two hours in an exam when they’ve been on the planet for 18 years,’ says Wilson.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Alongside the academic curriculum, students do a lot of Dragons’ Den- and Apprentice-style activities, including real-life scenarios such as what to do when you’re told there’s a bomb in your stadium on the morning of a match day.

CONTACT TIME Good value for money with 20-30 hours a week of seminars, lectures and personal professional development courses (one is led by Neil Doncaster, CEO of the Scottish Premier League), which involve work experience in the industry.

LIFE AFTER SCHOOL Surprisingly, half the students don’t have a specific desire to work in football — they just want to do a degree in something they’re interested in. Many go on to work in the media, sports administration and abroad: two of this year’s graduates are going to shadow the CEO of the Hong Kong FA.

ucfb.com

FOR LIVING DOLLS

‘My mum won’t admit I’m doing this to anybody. A lot of people immediately ask whether I do Punch and Judy — that’s the only thing they think I do’

Anna Marshall, 23, third-year student

In the snug puppet studio at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, amid a 7ft, arm-flapping puppet called Archie, a black papier-mâché Labrador who goes by the name of Oscar, and a marionette bumblebee, is a group of students in one of their weekly seminars. The school’s puppetry degree, the first in the country, has recently been boosted by the success of the West End production of War Horse, in which the puppets stole the limelight. ‘We had lots of enquiries after War Horse. It’s definitely changed people’s perspective on puppetry,’ says course director Cariad Astles, who was a professional puppeteer before going into teaching.

ENTRY PROCESS Via UCAS with three A levels at grades B, B, C. Students have usually done an art foundation course or an A level in drama. There is also an interview day, which involves creating a group project, followed by a one-to-one meeting with Cariad.

COST £9,000 a year.

LOOKING FOR An aptitude for puppetry and a desire to make theatre, evaluate previous work and get on with ambitious luvvies. The course attracts people from all walks of life, as well as mature students up to the age of 50 — one student starting in October previously worked as a fundraiser for Barack Obama.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN As well as making a range of puppets, students work on drawing, design and sculpture, animation, movement, and vocal and manipulation skills. During the third year they work on community projects in prisons or schools, or on placements with puppet theatres in London, including the Little Angel Theatre in Islington.

CONTACT TIME Up to 18 hours a week, including voice and movement sessions, collaborative work with other strands of the Theatre Practice course such as production lighting, academic and literary theory, and weekly seminars where everyone shares the work they’ve been doing. There are only four students per year so there’s no scope for slacking.

LIFE AFTER SCHOOL Most students go on to be puppeteers, working for companies such as Handspring, which makes the puppets for War Horse. Others go into education or on to theatre schools, such as L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, which teaches physical theatre, movement and mime.

cssd.ac.uk

Photographs by David Yeo