City Lit’s Centre for Advanced Practice is where you can find advanced courses from across all subject areas in Visual Arts. In many cases, this means well established courses of a year or longer, with outstanding reputations for preparing students for study at Bachelors or Masters level. Equally, their quality and depth makes them a viable alternative, for many learners, to the conventional Higher Education route into careers as creative practitioners.
To continue to support learners from a range of backgrounds, with diverse requirements, we have several newly developed courses – with more appearing soon – that build on our long-standing fine art and contemporary craft provision, and bring traditional practices up to date, to ensure learners have the relevant skills for the contemporary creative industries. This is supported through increasing connections with external organisations and practitioners in many courses, for example through real-world project briefs, public exhibitions, and visits from industry professionals.
In the last couple of years, we have introduced new titles in contemporary media and communications-based creative practices, and new courses running across a range of patterns and modes (weekly, monthly, studio-based, online or blended), to ensure that our advanced provision remains accessible and manageable alongside learners’ existing commitments. Alongside these developments, we are progressively refreshing many of our well-established courses, with an increased emphasis on critical discourse, and contemporary cultural debate, in keeping with the advanced level of study and focus on increased confidence, independence and professionalism that are the common characteristics of all our advanced courses.
In addition to our expanding range of advanced long courses, a growing range of advanced one-day workshops is available, aimed at providing knowledge and insight required to support specific aspects of professional practice. These can be taken individually, according to need or interest, or as complementary components of your own pick-and-mix modular course. In common with our long courses, these will provide you with the skills, knowledge and confidence you need to take your advanced creative practice forward.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
- City Lit basketry course: advanced
Course start date: Fri 19 Sep 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lisa Atkin, Christiane Gunzi, John Page, Katie PriceFor learners experienced in a wide range of basketry techniques, this is a new course to build develop your skills. You will be introduced to some new techniques and emphasis will be placed on self directed study and developing a personal portfolio of work. This course is suitable for those experienced in a wide range of basketry techniques and who have completed the City Lit basketry course or have equivalent skills.Full fee £1,749.00 Senior fee £1,399.00 Concession £1,224.00 - Advanced figure and portrait Course start date: Fri 10 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul Dixon, Desmond Haughton, Amy-Rose Holland, Brian Sayers, Benjamin Senior, Andrea VoiseyRepresentation of the human form offers inexhaustible potential for expression and for the communication of ideas. This is an exciting advanced course for those with experience of working with the figure and/or portrait who would like the challenge of exploring new perspectives on the figurative tradition through drawing, painting and and a range of contemporary and mixed media.Full fee £2,899.00 Senior fee £2,319.00 Concession £2,029.00
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