City of Westminster College is situated in the Paddington area of Central London. The College is scheduled to move into a new state-of-the-art campus on the Paddington Green site in January 2011.

The Faculty of Culture, Media & Sport offers a wide range of vocational education and training in the Creative Industries sector from Introductory Level 1 to Foundation Degree Level 5 that engage students to take up employment or progress into Higher Education.

Our renowned Performing Arts courses and the proposed new Creative Apprenticeship in Technical Theatre give valuable experience to those who want a career in the spotlight or behind the scene. We provide technical training and the ‘real-life’ experience as courses are based in the College’s own performing arts venue, The Cockpit Theatre, which is located near to the main college campus on Gateforth Street.

The College is a Founder College of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills and is also a partner with University of Westminster in the Westminster Skillset Academy.

News & Events

Colleges Week: Theatre event highlights exciting offstage career options

In November 2009 City of Westminster College participated in a unique careers workshop at London’s Piccadilly Theatre, as part of its Colleges Week activities.

Designed to highlight opportunities in support and technical roles in theatre, the event was one of 15 Offstage Choices one-day workshops for schoolchildren happening across England. It was organised by the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills – of which the College is a Founder College – and led by the Ambassador Theatre Group.

Some 30 local schoolchildren aged from 13 years took part in workshops, which showcased areas including lighting, stage management, front-of-house and marketing. The students were shown the ropes by the production crew for the hit West End show Grease.

One of the highlights of the day was a ‘Dragons’ Den’ exercise where students had the chance to pitch a commercial musical theatre idea to leading producer Richard Hardwick. Among the many inspired ideas was a musical about the stormy relationship between Jordan and Peter Andre!

After these hands-on opportunities, students participated in a Q&A session with the College’s Deputy Director of Faculty for Culture Media and Sport Lyndon Sly and Ambassador Theatre Group’s Head of Creative Learning Julia Potts.

Lyndon Sly says: “This was a great opportunity for students to go backstage at a major London theatre and see all the exciting career opportunities available. Here at the College we are privileged to have not only excellent facilities and training, but close proximity to the theatres of the West End. I’m proud to say that many of our students go on to have successful careers in key technical and support roles.

“As a Founder College of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills, we are working hard to strengthen links between training providers and creative employers – ensuring we continue to provide the very best training and supply career-ready employees for these industries.”