New membership benefit - £50 off Open College of the Arts courses!

The BFS are delighted to have teamed up with the Open College of the Arts to offer a £50 discount on enrolments to BFS members.

The OCA is a non-profit educational charity which offers flexible distance learning Arts degree programmes, which you can start at any time and work at your own pace in the comfort of your own home. Courses can be studied towards a Higher Education qualification or for personal development. Students are guided by specialist one-to-one tutors and the college is affiliated to the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) which validates their degree programmes.

The OCA’s Music provision includes an Open Foundation course which prepares students for degree level study. The BA(Hons) Music degree is open to anyone with Grade 5 theory—no other qualifications are required. The course provides a unique opportunity for students to fufill their creative potential through a dedicated focus on composition, orchestration or practice-based musicology for the final year portfolio. The new level two (HE5) Orchestration and Arrangement course includes an opportunity to arrange for flute choir, and the forthcoming Instruments and Repertoire course will, as well as covering other topics, provide an opportunity to explore the history of the flute and its repertoire. Performers can take part in the OCA’s New Music Collective, a group which explores cross-curricular collaboration, improvisation and more exploratory aspects of new music performance.

In addition to Music, the range of Higher Education courses on offer includes BA(Hons) courses in Photography, Painting, Drawing, Fine Art, Illustration, Graphic Design, Creative Writing, Garden Design, Visual Communications, Textiles, Interior Design and Moving Image, in addition to an award- winning online MA Fine Art course. The BA(Hons) Creative Arts degree allows students to combine two disciplines of their choice.

The OCA provides an ideal opportunity to pursue your individual interests and develop your creative voice across one or more disciplines. Students come from all walks of life, including many who already have degrees in other subjects, with an age range from late teens to nineties, and the flexible approach to learning means that degree level study can be combined with full time work.

To see the full list of membership benefits and join the BFS, click here. Find more information about the OCA at www.oca.ac.uk.