School of Communication Arts announces ‘Decent Landlord Scholarship’ covering tuition fees for an aspiring creative superstar.

The most awarded creative advertising school in the world, the School of Communication Arts (SCA), has announced that applications for its ‘Decent Landlord Scholarship’ (DLS) are now open. This exciting funding opportunity will fully cover the cost of tuition fees for a passionate individual eager to pursue a career in the communication advertising industry, regardless of their formal qualifications.

The scholarship has been possible thanks to pioneering community investment platform Make Shift, who manage the POP Brixton site, a creative space for local, independent businesses that is also home to the SCA.

When Make Shift kindly waived rental charges for all tenants to mitigate the impact of the current coronavirus pandemic, the SCA took the decision to create a scholarship with the money saved – the DLS – and attribute it to their landlords.

Now one person from the neighbourhood and surrounding boroughs has an opportunity to enjoy a first-class education at the most awarded, and best-regarded school for advertising and communication arts in the world.

Marc Lewis, Dean of the School of Communication Arts, confirmed: “I bang on about the word ‘reciprocity’ at least a dozen times every day. It’s our North Star. So, when our landlords showed an incredible act of generosity during lockdown and cancelled our rent, it was easy to follow that North Star and create The Decent Landlord Scholarship. Using the money saved on rent, we want to find a motived, curious and creative candidate from within our local community and offer them a place at the world’s most awarded ad school for free. Community spirit produced this scholarship, and there’s no better way to extend that spirit than through reciprocity.”

Interested applicants for the DLS must be residents of Make Shift boroughs such as Lambeth, Southwark, and Hackney. After taking part in the SCA’s standard application process, the successful scholarship recipient will be eligible to participate in the SCA’s 10-month course as part of the September 2021 cohort, with tuition fees of £16,500 being fully covered by the School.

Alumni of the SCA’s course frequently go on to secure careers in creative industries: over 80% of former students find work at a top 100 agency within six months of leaving the School. Of the alumni produced by the SCA over the past 10 years, 120 have been the recipients of scholarship places designed for underprivileged and underrepresented individuals, and they have all found success in major agencies.

Liz Tang from Pop Brixton added: “We’re so pleased that the SCA’s savings from cancelled rent are being used to ‘give back’ to the local neighbourhood. The fact that their scholarship is named The Decent Landlord Scholarship is humbling for us – doing the right thing has resulted in many unexpected positive outcomes, and this is certainly one of them.”

Established in 2010 as a revived version of John Gillard’s School of Communication Arts, the SCA aims to provide an education suitable to creative vocations such as copywriting, art direction, and creative advertising.

Based in Pop Brixton, close to creative centres including Shoreditch and Soho, the SCA’s facilities include a lecture theatre and a state-of-the-art virtual campus for its remote students. For more details, visit https://schoolcommunicationarts.com/the-decent-landlord/

Applications will close on 9th August 2021.

For all press enquiries please contact:
louise@schoolcommunicationarts.com