A few years ago I wrote a piece about the big increase in film students in the UK, showing how the number of UK film students grew by 240% between 2004 and 2012.  Not only is the number of film students increasing, there is more of a focus towards practical film courses.  Production-based courses rose by 589% 2004-12, meaning that by 2012 17% of the approximately 5,500 film students in the UK were studying ‘Film Production’ (as opposed to ‘Film Studies’).

In the third installment of my film school study, I am giving voice to this growing cohort of film students.  I surveyed 317 film students past and present and asked them an array of questions about their course, their school and their experiences. In summary…

• Film students seem to really …

Today I am sharing the second part of an investigation I performed into UK film schools and courses.  Part one last week looked at the number of film schools and qualifications on offer and next week I’ll be sharing more of the opinions of UK film students. I looked at all film courses in the UK which last at least a year, feature some element of practical filmmaking and are open to join in 2015. In summary…

• Film schools charge much higher fees than universities that offer film courses
• The National Film and Television School (NFTS) charges non-EU students £50,000 for their two-year MA
• The majority of international film students at UK universities pay between £10,000 and £15,000 a year.
• There is just one full time Documentary …

As regular readers will know, I have a strong interest in film education. In the film industry there are few formal barriers to entry, many paths to a career and strong competition among the large number of new entrants. This creates a much more muddy situation when it comes to vocalising education than is the case in other professions, such as in the legal profession. The debate about the efficacy of film schools is as old as celluloid and is not one I will be addressing today. Instead, I will be looking at the number and nature of film schools and courses available to students in 2015. In the coming weeks, I will also be sharing more details of the …

Last week I published figures for the huge growth in the UK Film sector in the last decade. This sparked a number of people to contact me and ask about if this boom is mirrored in the number of people studying film in higher education. The short answer is, kinda. There has certainly been a massive increase in film students in the last eight years, however its growth curve is largely uncorrelated to that of jobs within the film industry. I found that…

• The number of UK film students grew by 240% between 2004 and 2012
• Of 2012 film students, 17% were studying ‘Film Production’ and 83% ‘Film Studies’
• Between 2004-12, ‘Film Production’ students grew by 589%
• More and more ‘media students’ are focusing …