School of Communication Arts sets up new home in The Drum Labs

The ad school, which is backed by over 100 creative agencies, will share its offices and creative studios with The Drum and run lectures and seminars from the building.

The SCA will open its knowledge and archives to The Drum, which the publication can share with the wider advertising community, while students working from The Drum Labs will also be involved in co-creating content for The Drum and will add creative input into client briefs and delivery.

The ambition is for The Labs to become a vibrant research hub, working with students and faculty to test emerging ideas and explore new ways of thinking.

The school’s founder and dean Marc Lewis said: “The SCA is moving to The Drum with all the benefits that this brings our students, faculty, partners and industry. The best ad school is moving in with the best publisher of creative news, insights and opinions. It's win/win/win.”

With 36 students and a network of 800 industry mentors, the SCA runs its portfolio course in the form of one-day or two-week briefs for students set by agency partners. The portfolio school is a one-year intensive course with six months of paid placement following completion. For 2024, the SCA will run a degree-level creative apprenticeship scheme, initially with 10 placements but rising to 50, placing emerging talent within an agency to train on the job.

The Drum Labs is a three-story building in the heart of Shoreditch that houses a production studio, filming and editing equipment, offices and a bar and terrace.

The Drum’s editor-in-chief Gordon Young said: “This collaboration will have a profound impact on students, the creative industries and The Drum business as a whole. It allows us to make a real difference by actively contributing to the continuous flow of talent that drives our industry forward.”