West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is launching a one year part-time Online Foundation Certificate in Art and Design, which starts on Friday, February 12, 2021. This new course offers an opportunity to develop practical and creative skills in a broad range of mediums and subjects, including drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. All students are encouraged to apply regardless of previous experience.

The Clothworkers’ Company is generously supporting the Designer Bookbinders’ ‘Transferring Design initiative’; offering funding that enables Kate Holland, a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders, to teach a bookbinding course within West Dean College's Graduate Diploma in Conservation Studies, specialising in Books and Library Materials.

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation are very pleased to announce that they have won the 2020 Public and Community Award as part of the Sussex Heritage Trust Awards 2020 for the restoration of the College’s 126-year-old roof. Taking almost two years to complete, the project repaired the numerous leaks, rotten roof timbers and failed masonry of the 39 individual sections using 26,000 Welsh slate tiles to the highest standards, ensuring the building can continue to provide world-class education for future generations.

As it’s getting close to Christmas, Rose Zhou, who is studying at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, for an MA in Conservation Studies (specialising in Ceramics & Related Materials) knew there was a sense of urgency to finish working on a pair of ceramic elves, so they could be reunited with their owner for the festive season.

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation has announced that it will be hosting a series of “virtual” Open Days on Wednesday, November 25; Wednesday, December 2 and Wednesday, December 9, 2020. The online sessions will cover a variety of degree and diploma subjects from the School of Arts and School of Conservation.

The current situation has undoubtedly made people want to pursue their inner passions, and would-be writers will be thinking about whether they have the capability to write a short story or a novel. To coincide with National Writing Day (Wednesday, June 24, 2020), Mark Radcliffe, Subject Leader of the MA Creative Writing and Publishing two-year part-time course at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is sharing his top five tips to start Creative Writing.

Students on the Fine Art programmes at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation are hosting their annual Summer Show exhibition online this year. This is the first time they will be presenting their work on a new website, dedicated to the graduating class of 2020, and launched on Monday, July 13, 2020.

West Dean College aims for on-site teaching from September. 

There’s no denying that the past two months have been a life changer for many people whether it be financially and/or professionally. Rising unemployment and recession against a backdrop of wide-scale change and, for many, more time to think about what is truly important, can be the catalyst for a career-change. Those graduating into a flat market may also instead opt to pursue their Masters, preparing for a post-crisis world and side-stepping the immediate struggle to find a job.

In 2019 Clockmaking was classified as an ‘endangered’ craft on the Heritage Craft Association’s Red List of Endangered Crafts. The College is now offering five fully-funded places on a special horology taster course for students aged 16+ years to support the future generation of clockmakers.