Open College of the Arts
| Established | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Type | Independent, charity |
| Chief executive | Gareth Dent |
| Location |
Redbrook Business Park Wilthorpe Road Barnsley South Yorkshire S75 1JN England Coordinates: 53°34′02″N 1°30′22″W / 53.567266°N 1.505995°W |
| Staff | 200 tutors |
| Affiliations | University for the Creative Arts |
| Website |
www |
The Open College of the Arts (OCA) is an open learning independent arts college, with a Head Office in Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1987 by Michael Young, it is a registered charity.
Courses
The OCA offers BA honours degrees in the following areas:
- Creative Arts
- Painting
- Photography
- Textiles
- Creative Writing
- Visual Communications
An MA in Fine Art was launched in 2011. Degrees are accredited by the University for the Creative Arts.
The OCA has an open-door academic policy for its level 1 courses. Each student is assigned one of the college's 115 specialist tutors, who are arts practitioners and have experience teaching in higher education. The tutors' responsibilities are limited to marking and providing feedback on student assignments.
Courses offered by the OCA are frequently updated or rewritten and new courses are added from time to time. Recent introductions are graphic design, illustration, digital film production and visual culture and there are new courses in photography and printmaking, adding to existing courses in these areas. Students and tutors all work from home and there is a well attended programme of study visits.
Management
As a charity the OCA is overseen by a board of trustees chaired by Chris Jelley, former head of education at Yorkshire Television.