Leeds Arts University — Attraction in Leeds

Comic and concept art course Is not worth the money. Only know 1/2 alumni in the industry and only a few in art relevant jobs, even after 4 years graduation, class size of 50-70. There are simply not enough jobs in these fields to justify the debt.

There were a lot of problems with the course and unfulfilled promises from both them and the uni itself. Tutors were lovely but you’re genuinely not taught much, rather left to your own devices. Almost all classes are either a brief or a critique. Classes cost £100+ Per hour.

In our final year we only had 30 mins of class - which was critique - per week. Never had an end of year show. Tutors promised a year book but never made it. No reimbursement during covid. Silence once you graduate.

Career wise it’s a near impossible course for employability. They have no industry links and so cannot get you jobs, experience, or placements. Comics doesn’t even really have a jobs market, it’s the kind of thing you have create yourself. I can only think of 1-2 people who are selling their short comics at pop ups, not their job, but a hobby.

And concept art has a lot of people for a very very small pool of jobs. You have to be very competitive and driven to even get your foot in the door. Almost all jobs in concept art (at least near Leeds) is for games. And the industry infamously isn’t the best for graduates, while also currently struggling with general layoffs for years now. They lack long term skilled professionals (hence why you’ll see many jobs are for lead/senior/ or ask for a few years exp) not grads. Most jobs you’ll find are for character/environ artist which require 3D proficiency. Which we only had a few classes on Zbrush. You’re not taught much 3D at all, certainly not enough for a 3D related job. I believe there’s only one person out of my entire year and all lower years working as a concept artist even this many years on. Another one is a visual development artist. And that’s it. No one else.

This course did have its fun moments. But you’re being sold a course in which you have to wait years to get a job. You may find a better path to your goals than this course. Or at least make it your life mission to apply for every internship you want possible (one of the best perks of uni you may brush over. Esp for concept art. They make almost no attempt to collect up and coming internships and tell you about them, so do look into it yourself)

I just found while we did this course you’d often hear complaints. Things like: at one point the whole class complained about a certain tutor, actually kicking him from the course. Because it was that irrelevant what we were doing.

May have improved since as it’s been 4 years since grad for me. But, In terms of 3yrs & £30,000+ (your loan incurs interest from the first day you take it out, meaning it is much much more than that £9k a year they tell you)

The course isn’t worth that cost - this course gets you into debt for a hobby - with little to no employability. You have a 98% chance of paying off the loan with a non relevant job. (Look forward to being a: Barista, teaching assistant, supermarket worker, office worker, unemployed. Which is what real people from this course do, despite trying to do this course to try avoid that). If and when you do get something, it’ll only be from your own hard work, connections, merit, talent, and persistance, so good luck. With this course you’ll struggle to get a job that’s anything to do with art or design, let alone do comic or concept art. I couldn’t in good conscience recommend...

More of a corporate machine than an educational institution. Went here years ago and remember meeting the vice principle. Looked like a bit of a lizard. Completely and utterly out of touch (think current PM), as all the management were (has it changed? Probably not). It’s a cliquey, pretentious playground that favours rich kids.

Not sure what I spent my £27k on exactly as I pretty much educated myself 😂. Absolutely nothing (nothing) in the way of developing your own professional practice, getting a job or any of that, so you’ll be straight back to your mums.

They refused to remark my dissertation, too, which I was fuming about, as I was one of the few that went WAY above and beyond.

As a professional who has been working in the industry for a while now I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this place if you want a proper education in design or anything creative. If you’re a my DaDdY gOt Me a PoNy type then yeah, it might suit you. Bring your crayons and get busy making “art”. Or why not go throw a tin of beans at art that someone else has made, in the way of “making a statement”? For the robots out there, this is called humour.

There’s so much more I could say, but would probably get the review removed because it’s infuriating tbh. I’m sure there are some genuine teachers here who will feel the same way. But the ones I had were absolutely pretentious and creatively stifling. Not bad people, just unfit for the job. I went here for college too, and had AMAZING teachers on the graphic design course like Jane Denton who is a LEGEND. Different world. I stayed on thinking it would be just as good. I’m sure there’s probably worse, but I genuinely couldn’t tell you what my £27k went on. I’ve spent £10 on Udemy courses that have taught me WAY more.

Check out Shillington College. Or anywhere else. Leeds Beckett had a better vibe. Or even better, get out of the North. It’s grim. Or succumb to a life of mediocrity and get a job stacking shelves at Aldi because it pays better than being a creative does. Sadly. Wherever you work, a mortgage is nothing but a dream these days unless you’ve got an inheritance or a mY dAdDy gOt mE a PoNy aNd a HoUSe...

LAU let me down, big time. I attended the college course. I was bullied by my tutor, I wasn't the only one he bullied either, he wasn't sacked, even when doing it in front of his colleagues. I'm trans and when I was recieving feedback privately he took it upon himself to give me 'advice' that I shouldn't be transitioning during education. Also, if I was using 'they' pronouns for a friend of mine he would single me out infront of the entire classroom and make me defend my use of 'they' pronouns, simply because it wasn't grammatically correct. (which by the way he's wrong, singular they is grammatically correct and if you don't believe me, google it) Which of course, he never tried to correct anyone else's grammar for any other reason in class. He also made other inappropriate comments, which went past constructive criticism, one example was "you don't deserve a website" after I had spent hours desgining one for a online portfolio. At the time I was 16 and fleeing a household that did not except me for being trans and had just started living independantly after being made homeless, the college and my tutor had known fully about my situation (making the bullying even worse in hindsight) and offered NO extra support, nothing. The support was available, apparently, but nobody ever thought to tell me, and I find it weird that they just forgot one of the most vulnerable under 18s in the year. Oh and lastly, if you're a student reading this, don't specailise in Fine Art, it's a waste of time, they barely teach you anything when compared to the other pathways on offer. There's way more messed up stuff that happened at LAU regarding student welfare, but you'd be here hours reading this so I'll...