Point Blank is committed to attracting a diverse student population. This commitment is underpinned through our three core activities of Outreach, Inclusive Practice and Access.
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 and we have further supported this with the addition of four means-tested scholarships in 2017.
Point Blank has a proud history of producing tutorial videos and masterclasses, publicly available through our YouTube channel. We have over 250,000 subscribers and have produced in excess of 1000 videos. These often cover course content from Point Blank’s specialist music curriculum and are a fantastic way of spreading our knowledge to people who are not able to attend a Point Blank programme in full. The social reach of the videos 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 BPM 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 small taster of the larger provision 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 contacted a number of schools in Hackney to arrange a programme of free masterclasses hosted at our London campus. We were pleased to welcome over 50 students from our local community for these sessions.
Our entry guidelines have been written with access in mind. We take a holistic view to applicants, looking at a range of evidence when making a decision about their suitability to study at Point Blank. We are open to applicants without formal qualifications and have 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.
To aid Point Blank’s widening participation goals, we have introduced three new means-tested scholarships in 2017 to complement the existing scholarship programme. Each year six scholarship places are available to study at Point Blank. For more information please visit our Scholarships & Bursaries page.
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.