Drawing Courses in London
At City Lit, we have a variety of drawing courses, delivered in our bright, modern studios for students to create and develop a body of drawing work. Supported by our team of experienced and expert tutors, we offer students both a practical guide and an informative insight, providing an opportunity for all levels to explore traditional and contemporary styles of drawing.
We have classes for everyone, whether you’re a complete beginner and you want an introduction to drawing; or you’re at an intermediate or higher level and you want classes that focus on developing advanced drawing skills such as mark making techniques, experimental approaches and use of colour, tone and shade within these disciplines.
Our courses are specially designed to offer you support in overcoming any frustrations, learning new skills and helping you achieve your personal creative goals.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
To arrange a conversation with our drawing coordinator about your interests, options and courses available, please contact our Visual Arts team at visualarts@citylit.ac.uk
- Piano/keyboards 2CCourse start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simon AtkinsThis is the third term in our beginners piano programme. If you have completed ‘Piano/keyboards 1B’ or have existing keyboard and music reading skills, this course will further develop your technique and musicianship.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £167.00 - Developing your novelCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah LeipcigerHave you started work on your novel? This course is suitable for experienced creative writers who want to make progress with a novel draft. Learn more about the art of novel writing and move your project forward in a supportive workshop environment.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £125.00 - Tolkien on ScreenCourse start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
In his literary essay On Fairy Stories, J.R.R. Tolkien famously wrote that “in human art, fantasy is a thing best left to words”. Despite this claim, The Lord of the Rings is arguably one of the most profitable media franchises of the 21st century. It has inspired academy-award winning films and record-breaking TV series, and continues to generate material that resonates with new generations of fans to explore. This course will explore the history of adapting Tolkien to the cinema, considering not only what was altered or left behind in attempts to turn Tolkien’s vast mythology into the stuff of popular cinema, but what might also have been enhanced as a result.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Ways into poetryCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Cecilia KnappRelatively new to writing poetry? This inspiring course offers an opportunity to experiment with language and a variety of poetic devices alongside fellow emerging poets. Discover the key elements of a poem in a friendly and interactive class.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £120.00 - Writing for magazinesCourse start date: Wed 7 May 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Phyllis RichardsonGet inspired to write on this practical course for freelance journalists and bloggers. Learn to carry out research, interview people, pitch and publish stories, and build your presence on social media.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00 - Piano/keyboards 1CCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lucia Sanchez de HaroThis is the third term in our beginners piano programme. If you have completed ‘Piano/keyboards 1B’ or have existing keyboard and music reading skills, this course will further develop your technique and musicianship.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £139.00 - Writing fictionCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Develop your creative writing skills on this practical intermediate course. You'll explore the fundamentals of fiction-writing craft, such as character and structure, and unlock your imagination to produce compelling prose. Suitable for those with some creative writing experience.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £125.00 - Spanish 2 lower tasterCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Roberto GallegoCome and discover what an elementary Spanish class feels like.
This course is suitable if you have studied Spanish for 1-2 years recently.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Writing creative non-fictionCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 8 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Paul LaffanExplore practical and imaginative approaches to creative non fiction, including travel writing, life writing and the essay. Analyse published work, produce your own pieces, and benefit from detailed feedback.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £125.00 - Lipreading and managing hearing loss: advancedCourse start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Adam GurneyDevelop your lipreading skills and strategies for face-to-face communication and keep up-to-date with relevant equipment and services. This course is suitable if you have completed a lipreading class at improvers' level.
This course will be taught in spoken English and not in sign language.Full fee £399.00 Senior fee £399.00 Concession £200.00 - Guitar: fingerstyle workshopCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Tony RowdenFor classical guitar players, this online class will work on technique and fingerstyle versions of Baroque, Spanish and popular music.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £153.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Understanding AbstractionCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayLearn the common reasons for abstraction in art, across time and culture. From the Byzantine icon to the Igbo figurine, from Young Sook Park to Mark Rothko, we’ll think about how abstraction is more common in the history of art than is typically thought. Explore ways into thinking about and experiencing abstract art.Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinemaCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul SuttonThis course will develop your critical appreciation of the cinema by teaching you how to read and understand film texts. We will look at the elements that underpin film form – narrative, mise en scène, cinematography, editing and sound – alongside its historical development. We will consider film style by exploring classical, post-classical and art cinema and we will examine influential critical modes of analysis, such as genre, authorship and spectatorship.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Access to HE diploma: humanities and social science (evenings)Course start date: Tue 17 Sep 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Applications for the September 2025 start are now open.
This course has 4 free spaces for learners aged 19-23, who meet the residency criteria and who have not previously achieved a full level 3 qualification. We can also offer 3 free spaces for over people over 24 on the Free Courses for Jobs scheme if you meet the criteria. These places are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis to applicants who fully meet the course entry requirements.
If you are not eligible for a free place you can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan from Student Finance England (SFE).
Please click Start Assessment on the course page.
The Access to Higher Education Diploma (Humanities and Social Science) is a qualification designed for anyone who has left school without the usual qualifications (GCSEs or A-levels) and wishes to study at university.
It is a highly intensive, fast-track route to higher education, where you will complete the equivalent of 3 A-Levels in one year, and requires attendance ONLINE via ZOOM two nights per week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 6-9.15pm, as well as online tutorials every two to three weeks (from 5pm) and substantial private study. These dates and times are non-negotiable and you are required to attend every session. There may also be optional study sessions at our Central London Campus on one Saturday each term.
Due to the course's intensity, priority will be given to applications from those who are serious and sure about progressing to degree level study and are ready to take on the intense challenge that the year will bring.
The Free Courses for Jobs initiative is for Londoners aged 24 or over at the start of the course who are: on a low-income; or on certain benefits; or do not have a full level 3 qualification. For more information Click here
The course fee is £3022.00 payable at the time of your enrolment. If you are unable to pay the course fees, you can choose to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan from Student Finance England (SFE) to help cover the course fee. The Advanced Learning Loan is written off on completion of a Higher Education degree course. You can find more information about the Advanced Learner Loan www.citylit.ac.uk/advanced-learner-loans
For more information, please call Access to HE Diploma (Humanities) on 020 8078 0486.Full fee £3,022.00 Senior fee £3,022.00 Concession £3,022.00 - Beyond the headlines: Left populism and socialism todayCourse start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Salome IetterThis course will provide an overview of the politics of ‘Left populism’ in their historical perspective and contemporary manifestations as well as in their relation to socialist politics.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00
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