Our Creative Industries faculty offers a variety of courses which help prepare students to stand out from the crowd in their chosen fields, be it art and design, computing & tech media, music and sound production, performing arts & photography.
From budding artists and filmmakers to up-and-coming performers and software engineers, students showcase their talents across a variety of events across the year culminating in a two-month city-wide creative festival – Glow.
Creative Industries is the home of our PASS (Performing Arts Studio Scotland) Theatre as well as creative centres - The Music Box and CRE:8. Students have access to these state-of-the-art facilities throughout their studies, providing an environment to encourage their creativity and allow their talent to flourish.
We have excellent industry links with our partners delivering workshops, being panel members at our annual creative & tech futures day, offering work-experience, internships and actively recruiting our students.
Art and Design
The School of Art and Design is one of the largest of its kind in the UK with over 700 students. It has a strong reputation for progressing students into both degree-level study and employment in the creative industries.
Our students regularly present their art and design work in exhibitions at industry nights in venues across Edinburgh. Our graduate diploma shows in 2019 were held at The City Art Centre, The Fruitmarket Gallery and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.
Computing
Whether you have got what it takes to code the next big app, or you are a future innovator of computer science, there is a Computing course here at Edinburgh College to suit you. You can study everything from web design to desktop support, networking and games development.
Our courses are taught by experienced and certified lecturers. You will be able to master the skills required for careers in digital media, 3D printing, programming, networking, robotics and games development.
Media, Music and Sound Production
Edinburgh College offers full-time, comprehensive courses in music, music business and sound production, from entry-level to degree level. Our lecturers and instrumental/vocal tutors are experts in their fields, providing you with excellent teaching in a broad range of subjects.
We welcome students from all kinds of musical backgrounds and give you exposure to a variety of experiences and possibilities within our courses. Our students perform in some of the city’s top venues, including the Usher Hall, Queen’s Hall, Voodoo Rooms, Festival Theatre, Liquid Rooms, St Andrew’s and St George’s West, Old St Paul’s, and the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church.
If you are interested in outside broadcasting, audio-visual technology, film and television, radio, digital media or photography (still and moving image), our exciting range of programmes will provide the specialist training you require.
We offer courses that include multi-camera live capture and vision mixing, scriptwriting, directing, presenting, editing, lighting and sound to prepare you for a career in television or video production.
Our teaching in radio includes presenting, interviewing techniques, sound and audio programming, newsroom operations, scripting and live streaming production. We also offer training in audio visual technology, so you can gain technical expertise in cabling, camera operations, TV, studio and location production set up, lighting, editing, multi-media sound and track recording for broadcast. Outside Broadcast students are offered paid commercial work experience with clients such as Scottish Football, Scottish Motor Sports, Scottish Gymnastics and Scottish Social Services.
Performing Arts and Photography
Edinburgh College is home to Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS), one of the country’s largest and most respected centres for training in the Performing Arts. Whether you aspire towards a career in acting, dance, technical theatre, make-up artistry, costume production or design, PASS is a great place to kick-start your career.
Within PASS you will find a purpose-built theatre and dedicated rehearsal studios. These professional facilities make PASS the perfect place to showcase your talents. We deliver exciting performances throughout the year, giving all specialisms the chance to put their learning into practice.
We have a dedicated team of experienced lecturers who work closely with the industry to ensure our students are given the best opportunity to develop and progress.
Performing Arts Studio Scotland is proud to be an organisational member of Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (YTAS), the national development organisation and umbrella body for Scotland’s youth theatre sector. YTAS supports inspiring experiences for young people by connecting and training the people who work with them, they are a development body, that celebrates and encourages ambition, innovation and progression.
Our photography programmes cover digital capture, retouching, studio, portraiture, fashion, food, landscape, advertising, corporate, photojournalism and social. You will have opportunities to work on live industry projects as well as exhibit your work within the department and at end-of-year shows.
Browse our Performing Arts and Photography coursesGLOW Festival
From budding artists and filmmakers to up-and-coming performers and software engineers, students showcase their talents across a variety of events across the year culminating in a two-month city-wide creative festival – Glow.
GLOWCreative & Tech Futures Day
Every year the Creative Industries faculty hosts Creative & Tech Futures Day.
Come along to find out about funding and start-up advice, hear what it's like to work in the industry from professionals, and learn where to start with self-employment and how to stand out.