Point Blank is committed to attracting and supporting a diverse student population. This commitment is underpinned through our three core activities of Outreach, Accessibility and Inclusive Practice.
The addition of funded campus-based higher education programmes in the 2016-17 academic year has been a significant step towards diversifying the profile of students at Point Blank. We have further supported this with the addition of a wide range of scholarships, bursaries and a hardship fund.
Point Blank has a proud history of producing tutorial videos and masterclasses which are publicly available and free through our YouTube channel. These tutorials, live streams and masterclasses often cover course content from Point Blank’s specialist music curriculum and are a fantastic way of spreading our knowledge to people who are unable to enrol on a Point Blank programme or course. We have over 312,000 subscribers and have produced more than 1300 videos. Our videos have generated over 30 million views, and we have over 1 million Facebook followers so far. The social reach and the diversity of content makes this a significant outreach activity for Point Blank.
We also regularly host masterclasses at industry events and festivals, such as the Brighton Music Conference, Sonar festival and IMS in Ibiza.
Alongside our higher education provision we also run a variety of shorter Weekend and Summer School courses. The Weekend courses are designed as a concise taster of the accredited courses at Point Blank. The Summer Schools are aimed at a variety of age groups with Music Production and Singing Summer Schools designed for 11-14 year olds, 15-18 year olds and adult learners. We are pleased that 20% of Summer School students progress onto further study with us.
Point Blank also engages with local schools. In 2016/17 we began an initiative to contact schools and arrange a programme of free masterclasses hosted at our London campus. E.g. In November 2016 we welcomed diverse range of students from BSix, and in March 2017 students from Big Creative Education in Hackney. We were pleased to enrol over 50 students from our local community from these sessions.
Our entry guidelines have been written with access in mind. We take a holistic view of applicants when making a decision about their suitability to study at Point Blank. We are open to applicants without formal qualifications and take into consideration a diverse range of evidence, experience or portfolios.
We have also designed a 16-week Access Course delivered via our Online School where students can build vital skills and a portfolio of music to support their application. Students who achieve a merit on this course can progress onto further study at Point Blank. For applicants currently studying level 3 qualifications we have differential typical offers with the lower grade tariff reserved for applicants from schools with below national average grade scores.
Point Blank is committed to making music education accessible to people of all backgrounds and encouraging social mobility. We are delighted to offer a wide range of scholarships, bursaries, funds and grants to support this commitment. Please click here to find out more about our schemes and application process. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.
Point Blank has designed the structure of our programmes with inclusivity in mind. In 2016, 62% of our students were over the age of 21 and many study at Point Blank alongside other commitments such as work or family. The following practices are designed with all students in mind however we estimate that they will have the greatest impact for students within the remit of widening participation:
Point Blank has four enrolment points each year in September, January, April and July. This allows students to choose a suitable time to start studying but also means that we can offer flexibility for students who may need to suspend their studies for a term due to other commitments.
Our classes have been designed with multiple learning styles in mind. We are mindful that not all students learn best through traditional lectures so we have designed our curriculum to be delivered in small groups of 16. Within each class students will take part in practical exercises, group activities, class discussions and a range of other classroom-based activities.
To complement our taught and classroom-based sessions, all students are offered one-to-one tutorials to support their learning and give them valuable personalised time with our industry expert instructors. Students can attend these sessions in person or using Skype via our VLE.
Point Blank established its bespoke online school 10 years ago and over the last decade thousands of students have enjoyed courses delivered via this innovative learning platform. In 2016 we innovated further by giving all campus-based students access to course resources, notes and video content. The content is designed to complement the classroom-based sessions and provides a blended learning experience for our campus-based students.
Together with the individual module content, we have also designed induction and study skills modules to complement the core curriculum. This includes access to study skills videos to support academic writing, a series of ‘Essentials’ courses that provide an introduction to a range of software platforms used on our programmes, and access to information about additional learning support at Point Blank.
We are very pleased to offer flexibility in our programmes. This includes the 2-year accelerated pathway for our degree. This particular delivery mode is popular with mature students for whom the traditional 3-year model is not as suitable. This pathway allows students to study the programme continuously without a traditional break. In addition, we also offer evening and weekend classes for students who find it difficult to study during the day due to work or other commitments.