The Margate School is an independent, not-for-profit, postgraduate liberal arts school situated in the former Woolworths building since 2019 that had stood empty on Margate High Street since 2008.
The not-for-profit organisation, which currently supports a community of around 100 students, artists, designers and makers from a wide range of practices, offers not only a European Fine Art Masters, accredited in France by the higher education art school Esä, alongside year-long practice-developmental courses in Sound Arts, Graphic Design and The Still & Moving Image, but also provides a platform for creative work, supporting artists and makers with affordable studio and gallery space, alongside a community sculpture garden. TMS creates real positive change in people’s lives, supporting, empowering and actively working to level up the community. As such The Margate School is a diverse creative community of artists, makers, students, academics and volunteers located in the vibrant coastal town of Margate, Kent. As a not-for-profit postgraduate liberal arts school at the heart of this community, we focus on the role of the arts in social and environmental justice.
Students are offered postgraduate study with international links and the rigour of a qualification accredited by our partner Esä, a leading French higher education art school based in Dunkerque and Tourcoing. We take a radical, democratic approach to arts education, equipping every student to envision, shape and navigate an uncertain future. TMS supports artists and makers to develop a sustainable creative practice and provides an exciting alternative to mainstream arts education.
“I am writing to thank the Margate School for all that it does. It has brought the inspiring new school to an area which has been deeply neglected. The creativity & courses have increased the attraction of young people to the area & has given us older people more opportunities. Art in times of tension, worry & isolation is even more important than at ordinary times. Invitations to be creative are stimulating & even if we don't see ourselves as artists or join the courses we have been stimulated by the presence & the ideas!”
Adrienne Ayres, Mindfulness Health and Well-being, Independent Social Worker, Counsellor
