City Lit is an

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

college in

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

, central London, founded by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities and sciences, languages, performing arts, visual arts, deaf education, family learning, community outreach, learning disabilities education, speech therapy and universal skills. In 2011, City Lit was graded as "outstanding" by government inspectors

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

. Then, in 2016, it was ranked "outstanding" for "personal development, behaviour and welfare" and "good" in four other categories. More recently in May 2023, City Lit was graded as "outstanding" by Ofsted in all five categories which are: The quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and adult learning programmes.

History

In 1918, following the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, the

wanted to strengthen non-vocational education. It approved the opening of five literary institutes:

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, and City Literary Institute (City Lit). They took their first students in September 1919. At the time, it was a radically different approach to

. The City Lit's first four classrooms were leased from a teacher training college. City Lit is now the sole survivor of London's Literary Institute movement. Among the very first courses City Lit offered in 1919 were lipreading classes for Londoners returning with damaged hearing from the battlefields of the First World War. In 1939, City Lit moved to its first purpose-built home in Stukeley Street, off Drury Lane. The new building was officially opened by the then Poet Laureate,

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...

, and contained a theatre, concert hall and gym. City Lit never closed its doors in the war; during the Blitz classes took place in air raid shelters, on the platforms of

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

and

Tube station, one music tutor even wheeled a piano underground for recitals. In 2005, City Lit moved from its building in Stukeley Street to new, purpose designed premises in nearby Keeley Street, which are fully accessible and include facilities such as studio spaces (for visual arts, drama and health and movement), "supported learning centre" (library), roof terrace with a herb garden, theatre and music recital room. Since then, they have also opened new photography, fashion and digital arts studios. In 2019, City Lit celebrated its centenary with a year of events reflecting upon the previous 100 years. At the City Lit Centenary Awards, The

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...

was awarded the Centenary Fellowship for her outstanding contribution to adult learning. In early December 2022, City Lit suffered a severe IT outage, with the central website and a number of online resources becoming unavailable.

Courses

City Lit offers subjects in the areas of art, drama, dance, creative writing, history and politics, philosophy, languages ranging from French and German to

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Korean, computing, counselling, music, and fitness. Its courses are held across nine schools and "centres of expertise": * School of Humanities and Sciences * School of Languages * School of Performing Arts * School of Visual Arts * Centre for Deaf Education * Centre for Family Learning and Community Outreach * Centre for Learning Disabilities Education * Centre for Speech Therapy * Centre for Universal Skills The college also offers specialist areas, including education for deaf adults, courses for adults with learning disabilities, and work in stammering therapy.

Events

City Lit hosts a programme of visual arts exhibitions, drama productions, musical performances, book launches, creative writing performances, stand-up comedy, festivals, talks and lectures. Flagship events include Deaf Day; one of the UK's biggest gatherings for Deaf and hard of hearing people, and the annual Mental Wealth Festival, in partnership with Beyond Words and The National Gallery, bringing together professionals and key stakeholders to discuss mental health issues, providing a forum for informative, challenging and inspiring discussions and workshops exploring mental health issues. Speakers and contributors of the Mental Wealth Festival include

Grayson Perry Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foib ...

CBE,

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British former politician, broadcaster and economist. He served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to ...

, Jonny Benjamin MBE, Dr Kathryn Mannix and Antony Gormley.

Notable alumni

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style known as "Be ...

– actor *

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

– musician * Souad Faress – actress *

Esther Freud Esther Freud is a British novelist, known for her autobiographical novel '' Hideous Kinky'' (1992). She is the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud. Early life and education Born in London in 1963, Freud is the daughter of Bernardine Coverle ...

– author * Kerry Godliman – comedian * Natacha Karam – actress * Andrea Levy – author * Mikko Mäkelä – filmmaker * Shazia Mirza – comedian *

Michelle Magorian Michelle Magorian (born 6 November 1947) is an English people, English author of children's books. She is best known for her second novel, ''Goodnight Mister Tom'', which won the 1982 Guardian Prize for British children's books. The novel has ...

– author * Francesca Martinez – comedian * Malorie Blackman – author * Moira Young – author

Notable lecturers

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was als ...

* G. K. Chesterton *

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

* Dorothy Sayers *

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

Rebecca West Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

City Lit Fellows

* HRH The Princess Royal *

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...

OBE *

* Malorie Blackman OBE *The Rt. Hon Sir

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency), Twic ...

*The Rt Hon.

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy FRSA (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held vario ...

MP * Francesca Martinez *

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

CBE *

CBE RA * Ruby Wax OBE

Accolades and criticism

In 2007 City Lit was the first adult education college to be given the

Queen's Anniversary Prize The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education (formerly Queen's Anniversary Prizes) are a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to universities and colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms ...

, to mark its international reputation in stammering therapy. In 2014, proposed cuts and redundancies, including to university access, English and maths

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

courses, and deaf education, attracted controversy. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reports a "senior source" blamed the government and warned "We got outstanding in our last inspection. How are we going to maintain that outstanding education with fewer staff?". Criticism was directed at the college's marketing budget and the expansion of short courses such as "graffiti"

cross-stitch Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches (called cross stitches) in a tiled, raster graphics, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. The stitcher counts the threads on a ...

, beer tasting and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. Principal Mark Malcomson said the advertising expenditure was intended in part to support "more charitable provision" in the future. In 2016 City Lit were graded "Good" by government

inspectors, down from 2011's "Outstanding". In 2018, Russell Alderson, tutor in the Centre for Deaf Education was shortlisted for the

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

FE Awards Teacher of the Year award. In 2019, Fiona Pickett was awarded the Festival of Learning Tutor of the Year award. In 2019, City Lit was awarded the Festival of Learning President's Award for its outstanding contribution to adult education over 100 years. In 2019, City Lit Students Sylvia Rowbottom and Dace Miksite were named Finalist Winners at the Festival of Learning Awards for their commitment to adult learning.

References

External links

City Lit website
{{Authority control Further education colleges in London Education in the London Borough of Camden 1919 establishments in the United Kingdom Holborn