Love to learn with the WEA

Our languages and culture courses span the length and breadth of England and Scotland, with the option to study online or in person at a time that suits you. Whether you’re looking to learn a new language and immerse yourself in another country, or you simply wish to indulge in your love and fascination of film, we have the course for you. 

Skip to course

Our creative writing courses will nourish your inner writer, providing you with a platform to develop your love of poetry, non-fiction or script development. If literature courses are more your kind of thing, then you’re in luck too, as there are a wide range of topics to choose from.  

Literary greats and great periods in history

Our language courses offer you the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in a completely new culture, developing your skills so that you can speak confidently in countries right across the world. German, Italian and Greek are just a few examples of the language courses we have to offer, with many others taking place throughout the year.  

As you’d expect, literary greats such as Agatha Christie and Shakespeare feature regularly. There’s also the option to examine other time periods in English literature too, helping you develop your critical reading and analysis skills - perfect whether you’re a beginner or more experienced in the subject.  

If you prefer history then you’ve got a choice too, from courses on subjects you’d expect such as the first world war, or art history and studying the works of iconic painters such as Salvador Dali. 

Support and guidance

Whatever course you choose, you'll learn in a supportive environment where the class sizes are small, ensuring you get the attention you deserve, with an experienced and qualified tutor on-hand to guide you through your learning too.  

A lot of our cultural learning is delivered by our branch network: learn more here.

Please enter your postcode

In order for us to give you accurate results for your courses, please click on the Search options and enter your postcode and the mile radius for your search.

Refine search

How you'll learn

Your location

Please enter your postcode or town for your search in the boxes below.

We have defaulted the search to ten miles, but you can change this number in the box as you wish.

Sort by start date

Choose to sort the course start date in ascending order (furthest away dates first) or descending (most recent dates first)

Results per page

Days

Other Filters

Part of day
Level of study
Availability
Search for the branch name/location, without adding branch e.g. Barnet

Creative Writing: Creative Writing for Wellbeing: Shorts

Enrol for the focus, fun and fulfilling opportunity to increase your well-being by digital interaction with others, reading varied, inspiring examples and then making your own texts for poems, stories, memoir essays and plays for stage and/or screen that are short ones, as opposed to full-length, and to develop creative writing and thinking through a range of wise, thoughtful feedback comments from others in weekly online seminars and on the WEA’s digital platform, including tutor feedback from a prize-winning, published author and literary critic, who is a practising creative writer! This course is FREE for state benefit-claimers. Please see details.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 19/03/2025 -
Wed 04/06/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:15pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Sarah Wardle
Course code:
Q00021427
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

Creative Writing: Plot Your Novel

You've got your story flowing and building on paper but you're at the stage where you need it to cohere, to hit the key story beats. Yes? Then this is the course for you! You will be introduced to the beats and turning points that a long-form story should. With plotting these points, you’ll keep the reader engaged and they’ll help you write with ease and flow. This course has digestible teaching content, takes you step-by-step through the structural beats of a story. Take this step to put the excitement back into organising your story.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 19/03/2025 -
Wed 16/04/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021560
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

Creative Writing in the Landscape: Writing the River Tamar

In a stunning location overlooking Brunel’s famous Tamar Bridge to Cornwall, this workshop will be a feast for the creative senses. You’ll be encouraged to write what you can see, hear, feel, smell, touch – and taste! - in this ever-changing landscape. The workshop is open to everyone who likes to write, from beginners to published, and all genres from poetry to prose. This is a unique and wonderful opportunity to spend a day in the company of other writers, exploring the immediate natural and human-made environment. It’s also a chance to share your written work, if you wish, at a local festival.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 20/03/2025 -
Thu 20/03/2025
Times:
10:00am - 4:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Bridging the Tamar Visitor and Learning
Tamar Bridge Office
Pemros Road
Plymouth
PL5 1LP
Tutor:
Kate Cotton
Course code:
Q00018499
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £25.20

Creative Writing: Start Your Story

Start Your Story is the course to encourage you to tell the stories you've been meaning to write. With stimulating writing prompts, by reading inspiring stories from fiction and creative non fiction, you'll have time to write and share and get feedback from peers and the tutor.  Each week we’ll learn an element of craft from well-rounded characters, conflict and tension and setting which we can apply to our own writing. We are all writers, given a supportive group and tips for shaping and sharing our stories.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 20/03/2025 -
Thu 01/05/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
The Good Story
45 St Leonards Road
Bexhill
TN40 1JA
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021422
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.40

WEA Membership

WEA membership is changing: more information is coming soon!

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

Film & Media: The Women Who Built The Film Industry (Day School)

This day school aims to introduce learners to the stories of some pioneering women from early cinema history who were hugely important to the development of the art, craft, and business of film, but who modern movie goers may not know. We’ll look at the unique challenges they faced as women in their times, their contributions – in some cases – deliberately overlooked, but also the immense possibilities of the emerging cinema industry. With a wealth of clips and background material.

Course Information

Dates:
Sat 22/03/2025 -
Sat 22/03/2025
Times:
10:30am - 4:00pm
Duration:
2 sessions
Location:
Friends Meeting House (King's Lynn)
38 Bridge Street
King's Lynn
PE30 5AB
Tutor:
Christopher Budd
Course code:
Q00019924
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £30.00

Art Appreciation: Why so Radical? An introduction to Post Impressionism

This course provides an introduction to the work of key artists who rejected the concerns of 19thcentury Impressionism and evolved away from it in new and radically independent directions. Now grouped together as Post Impressionism, we will consider how these groundbreaking artists related to developments in philosophy, psychology and science at the time to inspire their artwork. We will examine the artistic concerns and work of Cezanne – and discuss why he was thought to be the father of modern art, Gaugin. Seurat and Van Gogh, famous for his use of bright emotive colours, amongst other artists. We will also examine as to how their artistic journey and style contributed to paving the way for the modern art movements that followed.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 25/03/2025 -
Tue 15/04/2025
Times:
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Debra Collis
Course code:
Q00021378
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Art Appreciation: Spanish painters from Velazquez to Miro

An introduction to the rich history of painting in Spain, which had produced some of the most important and influential artists in art history - from Baroque masters Velázquez, El Greco, and Murillo to romantic figurehead Goya and impressionist Sorolla to the vital role Spanish painters like Dalí, Picasso and Miró played in the development of 20th Century Art.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 27/03/2025 -
Thu 08/05/2025
Times:
2:45pm - 4:45pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Ruth Mulandi
Course code:
Q00017449
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
0 places remaining
Status:
Waiting list (Waiting list)
Fee range
Free to £44.40

Art Appreciation: Sculptures and 3D Art

This 5 week course delves into the works of 5 street artists including Damian Ortega, Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn, Rachel Whiteread and Micheal Craig-Martin. Each week explores key art concepts including, colour and composition through sampleas of their work. You will engage in group discussions, take notes, and recall information. By the end of the course, you will be able to name significant sculptors, describe their artistic methods, sport similarities and differences among their work, deconstruct essential components of artworks, and select a preferred piece based on personal opinion.

Course Information

Dates:
Fri 28/03/2025 -
Fri 25/04/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Castle Methodist Church (Colchester)
Maidenburgh Street
Colchester
CO1 1TT
Tutor:
Abbie Cairns
Course code:
Q00017692
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.60

Art Appreciation: British Art, Architecture and Design; 1900- 2000

This course will cover the changing currents of the ways in which the Visual Arts in Britain have evolved over the Twentieth Century. It will be broken into 4 parts; the pre 1914 period, the War and its aftermath, the post WW2 years and lastly the period 1980 onwards. The foci will be on changing relationships with international art, the impact of the Wars on art; and also how art maps in in relation to evolving concerns about equality and in relation to rapid urban and social change

Course Information

Dates:
Sat 29/03/2025 -
Sat 29/03/2025
Times:
10:00am - 3:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Swaffham Community Centre (Swaffham)
Iceni Partnership
Campingland
Swaffham
PE37 7RB
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00019920
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £21.00

Creative Writing: Creating and Developing Characters

Bring your characters to life with our Creative Writing: Creating and Developing Characters course. Learn techniques for creating complex, believable characters that drive your stories. Ideal for writers looking to enhance their character development skills.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 03/04/2025 -
Thu 12/06/2025
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
11 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Patrick O'Reilly
Course code:
Q00017316
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £92.40