Celebrating 20 Years!

In 1999 we started to offer courses to disadvantaged young people and those not engaged in education, and while this is still at the heart of what we do, we now offer courses to learners from all backgrounds and at all levels. We offer access to opportunities in the creative and cultural industries such as Games Design, Film, Fashion, Music and Performing Arts.

BCE has been operating for 20 years, supporting our learners and transforming their lives. Working with them, developing their talent, increasing their life chances and providing access to resources and opportunities to ensure achievement and progression in their chosen career paths.

This report is a celebration of our work and the young people that make up the DNA of Big Creative Education.

Click here to view our full 1999-2019 Impact Report

Click here to watch the 20 Year Impact video

“The process of putting together this impact report has allowed me to take a step back from the day to day operations and really appreciate the significant achievements of Big Creative Education as an organisation.

Talking to former students, who were more than happy to share their stories on how their time with us helped to shape their own futures, has been special. It’s important to say that this impact report also reflects the first 13 years of our time when we were known as Dv8 Training and to many of the staff and students of that time, we are still Dv8. I’d like to thank my co-founders and good friends Ian Morton and Ben Jolly for their 20 years of support and unswerving commitment to our BCE values and vision.

I’d like to thank all of the staff, past and present, that have given their skill, energy and passion to the Dv8 and BCE cause and who are the DNA of all of our success and achievement to date. As an organisation we exist to meet the needs and interests of the young people we work with and for me, the positive work that takes place in all of our classrooms and across our programmes, is our proudest achievement.”

Alexis Michaelides
Founder, BCE / MD, Big Creative Training

“BCE is a family full of creatives, some wanting to share their creativity, others wanting to develop it. Together those shared goals, dreams and aspirations underpin a unique education offer.

That offer is leading the way in re-imagining how education is delivered. Being a part of BCE and leading the Big Creative Academy has allowed me to deliver a truly student centred experience, with well-being and character education at the heart of what we do.

BCE has allowed me to be brave, bold and realise my vision for developing the next generation of creatives. We work with a team of forward thinking educationalists who truly believe that all young people have the potential to succeed and have the right to be heard. Having worked for over 20 years in education, BCE has allowed me to re-imagine my career and start the careers of many others. I am looking forward to being a part of the next 20 years of shaping the Big Creative Education legacy.”

Sacha Corcoran, MBE
Principal, Big Creative Academy

”Over the last 20 years Big Creative Education has grown to be a crucial asset in the creative landscape of Blackhorse Road, Waltham Forest and London. With one in six jobs in London being in the creative sector, Big Creative Education is making a major contribution to ensure our young people have the skills, ambition and access to these roles, improving the
life chances of our residents and supporting our local businesses. We look forward to working with Big Creative Education over the coming years to build a fantastic creative and cultural legacy in the borough
Cllr Simon Miller & Cllr Grace WilliamsCabinet Member for Economic Growth and Housing Delivery & Cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families

Our impact
in numbers

Vocational success rate for Academy students

97%

BCE Level 3 students progress to university

74%

BCE apprentices progress into careers in London’s creative economy

88%

10,000

young people on our full-time programmes

3,000

young people on our NXT Creatives community programme

1,200

young people engaged on Music Projects

500

apprentices supported into creative careers

2,000

young people engaged through outreach and estate based programmes

50%

of BCE students that graduate to university are the first in their family to do so