City College Plymouth has been collaborating with the Plymouth Music Zone to provide musicians with two industry recognised qualifications.

The foundation arts degree in community music is the first course of its type to run in the UK and level 3 soundskills an existing course is now being offered in partnership with City College Plymouth - both are designed to provide the essential skills and knowledge to get ahead in the music educational world.

The soundskills qualification is a part-time course, which has been gaining an increasingly prestigious reputation among community musicians. The course aims to develop educational skills to provide professional workshops and creative projects, and can be used as a progression onto higher education courses.

The foundation arts degree in community music is a unique programme taught by community music professionals. The two year full-time and three year part-time course covers a range of modules, including learning the principles of professional teaching and using musical skills from a variety of genres in an educational context.

Mark Trewin, Programme Area Manager at City College Plymouth said: “Today’s musicians have varied portfolio careers combining performance, teaching and a range of other music activities, which is why we’re excited to be able to offer these courses.

“The courses offer advanced teaching skills along with business, project management, communication and sector knowledge. This combination of professional and personal skills is relevant to and transferable across a wide range of creative and fulfilling work opportunities.”