We’re Confetti
We’re a specialist creative industry institute part of Nottingham Trent University and our Nottingham and London campuses are home to the very best technology, studios and equipment, industry-connected tutors and over 2000 passionate and committed students. Our graduates go on to careers in music, gaming, TV, film, live events, graphic design and many more.
At Confetti, we offer courses at varying levels to suit a range of academic abilities, but what unites all our students and tutors is their passion for creative technology. We then use our skills, experience and industry links to help turn that passion into real job options. Find out more by discovering our range of college courses, foundation and three-year honours degrees, and postgraduate degrees or coming along to an open day.
Our story
1994. Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president, Love was all around in the UK singles chart and the way we shop changed forever with the founding of Amazon. And in a small corner of Nottingham – a handful of students began training for careers as sound engineers.
Craig Chettle MBE’s vision was simple. To provide a platform for young people of all abilities to access the creative industries.
“As a former music producer I wanted to come up with a way for young people to learn about the music industry from those who were in it – not taught from books. And I couldn’t see anywhere that did that authentically. So we started Confetti. A couple of studios, some great kit and a handful of students. I didn’t expect the demand for our courses to grow quite as rapidly as they did. There are so many synergies between creative technology disciplines so music led to the creation of games courses, which led to media and to the formation of the Confetti Media Group. The rest as they say is history.”
Fast-forward 25 years and Confetti is now a renowned creative industries institute and since 2015 we’ve been part of the award-winning Nottingham Trent University. Thanks to unprecedented levels of investment in its campus and facilities – our education offer has expanded dramatically and it now teaches visual effects, film, TV, games, live and technical events and music to over 2000 further and higher education students.
Confetti’s story is one of growth, progression, access and opportunity. In so many cases, Confetti has had a transformative effect on lives. Our biggest advocates and supporters are our students – past and present. Ultimately, the story of Confetti is one of their success.
Our mission
At Confetti our aim is to make sure you receive the best, the most relevant & the most inspiring creative industry education & training. Our mission is to help turn your dream jobs into real jobs.
Our values are at the centre of everything we do. Core values help us to manage how we behave across the entire company. They give our work focus, influence decisions and underpin our success. Confetti Media Group strives for success by applying the same principles and five core values across its group businesses.
We’re all about making sure you get the best chances to ‘Do It For Real’ – perform it, produce it, design it, film it, stage it.
Excellence
Always asking how we can do, what we do, to the highest quality
Innovation
Always striving to do, what we do, in a better way
Openness
Operating cooperatively and decently in all situations
Integration
Remembering that we are at our best, our strongest, our most unique when two or more of the business divisions work well towards a common purpose
Enterprise
Retaining an appetite and readiness for new challenges, combined with an intelligent assessment of risk
Partnerships
Confetti has a wealth of carefully curated relationships and connections within the creative industries – in Nottingham and further afield. Some are “formal” – from education provider Access Creative – our partner in further education delivery and our parent company Nottingham Trent University.
Some are local, for example the Nottingham Poetry Festival, BBC Introducing, NUSIC, Hockley Hustle, the Young Creative Awards, some are national – Screen Skills, Bafta, Channel 4, The British Games Institute, Creative England. But all exist to generate opportunities for students and to create entry routes and give competitive advantage when advancing careers.
They also provide offer a valuable window into the real world of the creative industries. This comes into particular focus each year during Industry Week when connections, partnerships and industry friends are callled upon to showcase their skills to the student body.
Industry Week
Industry Week offers Confetti students unrivalled access to top names from within their fields. The scale and quality of the guest line-up currently makes it unique to Confetti and a key enrichment event for both further and higher education students.
The success of Industry Week lies in the careful selection of guests- all those invited to take part have a relevance to courses studied and there is a balance across different industry sectors. Some offer in-depth practical hands-on workshops – such as Aardman Animations where students got to make their own Shaun the Sheep models, and some deliver broader inspirational talks – such as 2016 guest and one of the “founding fathers of the UK games industry Ian Livingstone CBE, co-creator of Games Workshop.
Regular and returning guests include:
Jim Parkyn (Aardman Animations)
Andy Rogers (Producer BBC Radio 1)
Andy Davis (Rockstar Games)
Mark McCann/Michael Eavis (Glastonbury Festival)
Stephen Graham (The Virtues)
Vicky McClure (Line of Duty)
Previous years’ guests have included Shane Meadows, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, musician Professor Green, actor Joe Dempsie, Sleaford Mods, internet sensations Casetteboy, acclaimed music producer of Bob Marley and ACDC albums Tony Platt, TV presenter Stacey Dooley, former Stone Roses and Simply Red guitarist Aziz Ibrahim and former Director General of the BBC Greg Dyke.
In addition to industry guests, former Confetti students are invited to take part in a session called “Do What I Do”. This has proved to be one of the most successful elements of the week with students seeing a direct industry career path well within reach.
