Press Releases

Following a review of the successful pilot Short Course held at Ashridge Business School in Hertfordshire in July and further consultation with the arts sector, it has been decided to make a large reduction in fees for those from middle and large scale organisations.  

The fee for those nominated by organisations with 75 or more employees (Band C) has been reduced by 50% from £2,500 to £1,250; for Band B employees (those whose organisations number between 6 and 74) the original fee of £1,500 has now also been reduced to £1,250. The fee for Band A participants (freelancers and small organisations with 5 or fewer employees) remains at £750.  The fee covers all teaching, accommodation and meal costs for an intensive two week course.  

Take up by freelancers and those from small organisations has been overwhelming; places for them on the Easingwold (October), Nottingham (November) and Henley (January) courses are now full.  Each Short Course aims for a diverse mix of participants in terms of gender, ethnicity, geography, artform and size of organisation and by reducing fees for larger organisations it is hoped that a more representative mix can be achieved.  

The Short Courses emerged from the decision of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to provide £12 million to help raise management and leadership skills in the cultural sector.  These innovative courses have been designed for people in the middle ranks of larger cultural organisations or those at or near the top of smaller ones, and who have a minimum of 5 years' work experience. The teaching is a potent mixture of the practical and the academic, providing a large measure of intensive personal development, an examination of the nature of good leadership and an introduction to key areas of expert knowledge essential to effective cultural leadership.  

These Short Courses are open for booking -  

• 8 - 20 Oct 2006

Easingwold, York in association with Leeds University Business School

•  26 Nov - 8 Dec 2006

National College for School Leadership, Nottingham in association with Nottingham University Business School  

• 14 - 26 Jan 2007

Henley Management College , Oxfordshire  

• 11 - 23 Feb 2007

Coombe Lodge, Somerset in association the University of Bath  

• 18 - 30 Mar 2007

Longhirst Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland in association the University of Newcastle upon Tyne  

+ 8 more Short Courses courses are planned for 2007/08; details of these will be announced this autumn.