It’s one of the institutions having a huge impact on creativity in the UK, with seven campuses across the country. From music to media; games to computers and e-sports, and two centres on Manchester.
We’re talking about Access Creative College, the UK’s largest national independent training provider.
We wrote recently in Live Manchester about one of it’s alumni, IAMDDB, and now we’re taking a look at a few of the other famous and key artists which have steps through their doors.
Beth McCarthy: An alumni of The Voice, huge on TikTok and with UK and Europe headline tours all in the bag, Beth McCarthy has enjoyed huge success since studying at ACC in 2014. It was during her time at the college that she competed on the third season of The Voice. She has since gone on to perform at major festivals including Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Rock For People.
Ed Sheeran: He’s one of the biggest names in music across the world – and he started out on Access Creative College’s Artist Development course. He’s now a Patron of the college, multi-award winner, world-touring success story who has gone a long way from busking on his lunch break!
Amy Love (Nova Twins): OK – we’re going to ‘fess up – Nova Twins just happen to be one of our favourite bands but we had no idea that the vocalist/guitarist started off at ACC until recently. Amy Love studied at the college just before forming the band with her best friend Georgia. The band have since gone on to win multiple awards, tour the globe and release the Mercury Prize nominated Supernova.
Sam Bowden (Neck Deep): Neck Deep’s lead guitarist studied Music Technology at ACC Lincoln before he was hired as Neck Deep’s guitar technician. During a 2015 tour the formed guitarist left and Sam Bowden was asked to step in. It’s been a success story since then with three albums, multiple world tours and a string of festivals later.
Arkz Beats: Producer Arkz Beats started off at ACC Norwich on their Artist Development course and has since made a name for himself as a producer, working with Fredo, Giggs and R.A.
Jorja Douglas: Jorja Douglas studied Music Performance at Access Creative before forming hte UK group Flor who signed to Island Records in 2022. The band have since released their debut EP The Lead, performed on Later With Jools Holland and Jimmy Kimmel and at Coachella. They won the BBC Sound of 2023 Award for their debut single Cardboard Box.
Find out more about Access Creative College alumni via their website.
