BU joins Skillset Academy Elite

18 December 2007

James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport; Professor Stuart Bartholomew, Principal of the Arts Institute at Bournemouth; Greg Dyke, former Director General of the BBC; Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Media School at BU, announcing BU's status as a Skillset Screen and Media Academy

BU joins the world’s media elite following the launch of the Skilllset Media Academy Network.

We’ve combined our talent and resources with the Arts Institute at Bournemouth to form a new Skillset Screen and Media Academy.

The partnership is part of the world’s first Media Academy Network and underlines our place as one of the UK’s top destinations for the study of film, television and interactive media.

It is one of only two Skillset academies in the UK to achieve both Screen and Media Academy status.

The Network was launched in London by James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport; Greg Dyke former Director General of the BBC and Chair of the Media Academy approvals panel and David Lammy, Minister for Skills.

It will enable world-beating talent from our region to develop excellent links with academics and creative artists in industry. This will allow them to exploit business ideas, new technologies and opportunities in broadcast talent and interactive media.

The Network has the enthusiastic backing of the UK government and active support from the UK’s biggest and best known media organisations. This includes the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Channel 5, Nickelodeon, Sony, Nokia and BAFTA to name just a few.

Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Media School, said: “This is another tremendous accolade for us and our partners, the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. We have been working closely together for two years now as a Screen Academy on creative film and are delighted to be able to extend this partnership into the areas of television and interactive media.

“This new status is a tribute to the hard work and skills of our staff. It reflects the innovation we have been able to bring to our courses and the strong capital investment we have channelled into these activities.”

Devised by Skillset, the UK sector skills council for the audio visual industries, the new Media Academy Network comprises of 17 academies based in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Network draws together partnerships from 43 colleges and universities, providing a powerful force in driving forward creative education in the UK.