National Film & Television School (NFTS)

What National Film & Television School (NFTS) does

The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a private UK educational institution founded in 1971 and headquartered in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, offering postgraduate degrees, diplomas, certificates, and short courses in film, television, and games production. The school serves three primary customer segments: full-time postgraduate students seeking intensive, hands-on craft training (800+ annually across MFA, MA, and diploma programs), working industry professionals seeking continuing professional development through short courses and part-time certificates (2,000+ annually), and aspiring creatives from underrepresented backgrounds reached through the Access NFTS and NFTS Academy outreach programs. NFTS operates across 17+ disciplines including directing, producing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound design, visual effects, animation, games design, production design, costume design, and hair and makeup, with delivery through its Beaconsfield main campus and regional hubs in Glasgow/Edinburgh (NFTS Scotland), Cardiff (NFTS Cymru Wales), and Leeds (NFTS North), plus London evening classes.

The school's core technology platform is a working-studio production environment featuring industry-standard equipment and software — Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Draft, Celtx, Movie Magic, DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, Unity, Unreal Engine, Houdini, Nuke, Maya, ZBrush, and professional camera systems from Panavision and Arri — organized into a 4K UHD television gallery with HDR monitoring, a Virtual Production studio with LED volume for real-time filmmaking, editing and color-grading suites, sound studios, and animation labs. AI tooling is now integrated as a curriculum thread across Virtual Production, Unscripted Formats, Animation, and Games Design, supported by a research partnership with CoSTAR National Lab.

NFTS's revenue model combines individual tuition fees (Home/EU and international tiers differentiated by program), regional government funding (Screen Scotland, Welsh Government bursaries), broadcaster and streamer partnership support (BBC, Netflix, Disney, Prime Video, Warner Bros. Discovery, Channel 4), BFI and Film London infrastructure funding, and annual fundraising gala income. Reported turnover for FY2024/25 was £25.0 million against a full-time staff base of 159, with a stated graduate employment rate of approximately 90% within six months of completion.

Name

National Film & Television School (NFTS)

Legal name

National Film and Television School

Website

https://nfts.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

NFTS is a private UK postgraduate school founded in 1971, training 800+ full-time and 2,000+ short-course students annually across 17+ disciplines in film, television, and games production. It operates from Beaconsfield with regional hubs in Scotland, Wales, and Northern England, serving aspiring creatives, industry professionals, and underrepresented groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film & Television Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Fine Arts Schools (611610), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Film, Television & Media Arts Colleges (EDAHAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Media, Entertainment & Sports (EDABALAS), Animation, Game Art & Digital Arts Colleges (EDAHAJAI)

Keywords

• Film school
• Television training
• Creative arts education
• Postgraduate programs
• Games design courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Beaconsfield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition Fees - Full-time Programs: Full-time Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Master of Arts (MA), and diploma programs charged at annual or full-course rates. Home/EU students and international students pay different rates.
2. Tuition Fees - Part-time Programs: Part-time certificate courses and short courses charged at course completion rates or per-module fees.
3. Short Courses and Workshops: Continuing professional development courses, workshops, and bitesized training programs for industry professionals.
4. Events and Fundraising: Annual fundraising gala events generating record-breaking support totals. Open day registrations and event ticket sales.
5. Bursaries and Scholarships (outbound): Outbound scholarships and bursaries awarded to British students, funded from school resources and external partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The National Film & Television School delivers postgraduate-level education and vocational training in filmmaking, television production, and interactive entertainment (games). Programs include master's degrees, postgraduate diplomas, certificates, and short courses, taught primarily through hands-on production work in professional studio and post-production facilities.

Product overview

The National Film & Television School (NFTS) is a globally renowned educational institution offering a comprehensive portfolio of film, television, and games production courses. The school operates as a platform-plus-program architecture, providing multiple tiers of programs including two-year MFA degrees (such as Screenwriting MFA, Producing MFA, Directing and Producing Science and Natural History), one-year MA programs (including Animation for Film and Games, Virtual Production, VFX - Environments and Assets, VFX - Lighting and Compositing, Hair and Makeup for Film and Television, and Developing and Producing Unscripted Formats), diploma programs, certificate courses, and a wide range of short courses and workshops. The school also offers regional programs through NFTS Scotland, NFTS Cymru Wales, NFTS North, and London campuses. Programs are designed with industry partnerships and include practical production facilities, equipment access, and masterclasses from leading industry professionals. The curriculum increasingly incorporates AI tools and workflows, particularly in Virtual Production, unscripted format development, and specialized AI short courses covering practical applications, ethical considerations, and creative opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• ~90% of students secure job in area studied within six months of graduating
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability13 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BBC DramacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for screenwriting course development and delivery. Laurie Nunn, creator of Sex Education, is NFTS graduate. Students benefit from industry exposure and potential employment pathways.
• BBC Studios and BBC Children'scoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial course partner for Developing and Producing Unscripted Formats MA. Provides industry insight, potential placement opportunities, and curriculum input for unscripted television training.
• Iver Makeup AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning industry professionals for Hair and Makeup MA. Led by Elizabeth Tagg, Director of Iver Makeup Academy, with credits across major productions.
• BFI (British Film Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational strategic partner for film education and skills development. Supports Metro London Skills Cluster training, BFI NETWORK talent initiatives, and various scholarship programs.
• Prime VideocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner of choice for talent and skills development. NFTS graduates work on Prime Video productions.
• Walt Disney StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalent development partner supporting NFTS programs. Students benefit from industry masterclasses and potential employment pathways.
• Warner Bros. DiscoverycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for talent development and skills training. NFTS graduates work across Warner Bros. Discovery productions.
• NetflixcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalent pipeline partner - two-thirds of Netflix productions have at least one NFTS graduate in key creative roles.
• Channel 4coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBroadcast partner for talent development. Supports Factual Editing Course and various student productions.
• Screen ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner for Scottish film education. Supports NFTS Scotland hub in Glasgow/Edinburgh with bursaries and talent development initiatives.
• Film LondonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partner for Metro London Skills Cluster training programs. BFI awarding £9.6 million over three years to support screen production workforce development.
• CoSTAR National LabcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership providing insight into ongoing research in real-time imaging, volumetric capture, and emerging production workflows for Virtual Production course.
• Royal Television SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAwards partner for student productions. NFTS students regularly win RTS Student Awards for postgraduate work.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• London Film School: UK-based postgraduate film school offering MA programs in filmmaking disciplines. Direct competitor for UK film postgraduate applicants, operating in a similar London/UK market with overlapping specializations in screenwriting, directing, and production.
• AFTRS (Australian Film Television and Radio School): Australia's national screen and broadcast school, funded by the Australian government. Closely comparable model — national, publicly funded postgraduate film/TV/games school with industry partnership pipeline and graduate placement focus.
• Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg: Germany's state-funded film school with comparable disciplines including animation, VFX, and production. Closest European peer with similar state-funded model and project-based curriculum producing internationally awarded graduation films.
• USC School of Cinematic Arts: Major US film school consistently ranked alongside NFTS in international film school rankings. Offers comparable MFA programs in film/TV production, animation, and interactive media with similar Hollywood-industry placement outcomes.
• Met Film School: London-based film school offering practical MA and short courses in filmmaking disciplines. Direct UK competitor for postgraduate and CPD students, particularly in producing, screenwriting, and post-production.
• NYU Tisch School of the Arts: US peer with industry-leading film, TV, and emerging media programs. Comparable interdisciplinary structure spanning film production, animation, game design, and postgraduate certificates aligned to industry practice.
• La Fémis: French national film school offering postgraduate training across directing, screenwriting, editing, sound, and production. State-funded, conservatory-style peer with similar mission to develop national creative talent for the screen industries.
• AFI Conservatory: US-based MFA-only film school training directing, cinematography, editing, producing, and screenwriting. Comparable postgraduate-only model with strong industry reputation and graduate placement record in major US productions.
• FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague): One of the oldest film schools in Europe with postgraduate programs across directing, cinematography, sound, and editing. Comparable state-funded European conservatory model with strong international graduate placement in major productions.

Emerging players

• Royal College of Art: UK postgraduate university with film/animation/visual communication programs that overlap with NFTS at the intersection of screen design, animation, and creative technology — particularly via Animation and VFX-adjacent pathways.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NFTSFilmTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/NFTSFilmTV
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/national-film-&-television-school
• Instagraminstagram.com/nftsfilmtv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Film & Television School (NFTS)