The Printmaking Project started in 2017, it takes place over 3 days and introduces KS4 and KS5 students to the art of drypoint etching and gives them practical printmaking skills. Students study original prints at the UCL Art Museum, make their own prints in the Slade printmaking workshop as well as meet and learn from Slade students and alumni to find out about studying at the Slade. The students’ prints are then displayed in an end-of-year exhibition. 

The UCL East Schools Engagement programme encourages students at schools and colleges in the London boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest, to study for a degree at UCL. The museum and schools’ programme sits within UCL East Schools Engagement in the Access and Widening Participation Office (AWPO), which recognises that some students can face obstacles when accessing higher education. The Printmaking Project is committed to trying to ensure that these obstacles are mitigated as far as possible. The project aims to support students to think creatively, broaden their experience and skills, as well as helping them find their way to university, if that’s the path they choose.