KLC has extensive links within the interior and garden design professions.
These have been steadily built up since the school was founded with designers, suppliers, manufacturers, specialists and other professionals in the field, including some of the leading names in design, contributing to the courses.
A vital source of potential work shadowing, internships and employment, these links also provide a source of lecturers and support tutors who play an important role in the delivery, teaching and learning experience of the students overall.
This genuinely collaborative engagement with professional practitioners in turn ensures that course content is up to date with current skills, knowledge and methods of practice and these contacts are frequently a source of exciting design projects for students to undertake during their course.
Our staff are closely involved with both the Society of Garden Designers and the British Institute of Interior Design (including KLC's Founder, Jenny Gibbs, as a past President) and KLC students are encouraged to join these professional associations.
We are also very grateful to the generous Industry Sponsors of our annual Graduation Ceremony, which makes the occasion very special and memorable for our graduates.
Don't just take our word for it
We are proud to maintain some very special relationships with a number of professional bodies:
- Four of our qualification courses are validated by the University of Sussex and, in this year of transition (2022), up to two by the University of Brighton
- We work with Historic Royal Palaces in maintaining our Hampton Court 20th Century Garden and teaching relationship
- Our Principal, Jenny Gibbs, is a past president of the British Institute of Interior Design(BIID) and we retain close working ties with them. Similarly, the garden courses benefit from our relationship with the Society of Garden Designers (SGD)
- We run regular short courses and online courses in both Interior and Garden Design with industry partners
- We developed a successful course with FutureLearn, which provides online courses from the world's leading universities and specialist organisations
- We plan events with organisations such as Media 10, with our regular presence at Grand Designs Live, House festival and Chelsea Flower Show
- We're a member of Independent Higher Education, the national association for providers of independent education higher education services
- We're given educational oversight by the Office for Students (OfS) and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), who ensure the quality of standards in UK higher education providers
- The Home Office (UKVI) have given us Tier 4 Highly Trusted sponsor status, so international students can also apply for our courses.
