Royal Drawing School

The Royal Drawing School is based in London, and works to raise the profile of drawing through exceptional teaching and practice and. Each week, more than 90 practising artists teach over 1,000 people across various courses, including the flagship programme, The Drawing Year. The Fund has supported the School with unrestricted funding since 2021.

In 2022-2023, the School ran over 322 courses reaching students in 25 countries with 40% of classes being taught online. Their Public Programmes benefit a wide range of individuals, with £126,000 of concessionary places awarded to ensure that teaching remains accessible.

The Drawing Year offers an exceptional opportunity for students with an unprecedented number of teaching hours and tutor contact time as standard as well as the promise of a full scholarship. Data from our Drawing Year admissions shows that 42% of students are from a household with an annual income below £20k, with 16% below £10k. Furthermore, 26% of course participants come from BIPOC backgrounds; 30% from non-art/design backgrounds,highly unusual for a postgraduate-level course and 40% of students have a declared disability. The School is committed to offering high quality tuition to people from all backgrounds.

The Young Artists programmes are thriving with weekly courses, after school clubs and school holiday classes with options including Creative Costumes, Folklore in the London Landscape; Drawing in the Wild and Drawing London. A total of 20 Young Artists programmes ran over the summer term with 235 students attending 16 courses. 86 of these students received means-tested scholarships.