We’re Confetti
We’re Nottingham’s specialist creative college, part of Nottingham Trent University. For over 30 years, we’ve focused on one thing —making sure creative learning leads to real opportunities.
Our facilities match professional studios, and our tutors bring real industry expertise. We’ve built a reputation for shaping talent in music, media, games, film, TV, and live events.
With around 900 students in our community, we’re deliberately focused. Big enough to offer outstanding opportunities, but small enough to stay personal, supportive, and ambitious for every student.
Our story
Confetti was established in 1994, at a time when specialist creative education was still in its early stages. The vision was to build a dedicated place for young people to study music, media and technology in a way that connected directly with industry.
What began with a class of just six students has since grown into a specialist college with over three decades of experience. Over the years, we’ve expanded our subject areas, invested in new facilities, and become a recognised name in the city’s creative community.
In 2015, we became part of Nottingham Trent University. This partnership strengthened our resources and created clear routes into higher education, while keeping our college offer focused on practical, career-driven courses.
Confetti’s story is one of growth and opportunity. Time and again, we’ve seen the impact our college has on people’s lives. Our alumni, past and present, remain our biggest advocates – 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. We strive 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.
