| Type | Music college |
|---|---|
| Established | 2018 |
Parent institution | Waterbear Education group |
| Location | , United Kingdom |
| Campus | Urban |
| Language | English |
| Website | waterbear |
Waterbear College is a British popular music college based in Brighton, England. [1]
The college opened its Brighton campus in 2018. Its cohort doubled in size from 2022 to 2023. [2] The college's patron Frank Turner played an acoustic set at the college's Brighton campus opening event. [3] Some of its students performed on the Croissant Neuf stage at the 2024 Glastonbury Festival. [4]
Its main campus is on Queen's Road, Brighton. In July 2024, it opened a grassroots music venue in Brighton. [5] The expansion was part of a wider move to broaden access to specialist music education beyond London and the South East. [6] In 2025, Waterbear opened its second campus on Gatecrasher's former site in Sheffield. [7] [8]
The college offers BA Honours and MA courses awarded by Falmouth University. [4] The university also invests in the college and has a seat on its board. [9] [10] The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in music. [10] The BBC has described it as a new type of music college that focuses on supporting independent musicians and preparing students for the realities of the modern music industry. [4]
The Carl Cox Scholarship was launched with the DJ and producer to support electronic music students. [11] The Pattern + Push scholarship covers fees for the three-year BA Honours Degree. [12] The While She Sleeps scholarship covers the tuition fees for one BA Hons student for the entirety of their course. [12] The Sarah Nulty Foundation scholarship, named after the late founder of the Tramlines Festival, covers the tuition fees for the three-year BA course at the Sheffield Campus. In 2025, the college launched the Skindred BA Hons Scholarship, which covers a three-year on-site BA (Hons) Professional Music degree at the Brighton campus. [13]