SCOTLAND risks permanently losing specialist creative skills that support its growing film and television industry if three historic university courses are axed, an industry leader has warned.
Irene Kernan, Director of Craft Scotland, said the planned closure of three undergraduate courses at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) could have far-reaching consequences for the Scottish creative sector.
The University of Edinburgh is set to close its Jewellery and Silversmithing, Textiles and Performance Costume courses to new admissions from 2027.
Kernan warned that graduates from all three disciplines feed into Scotland's wider creative industries, including its growing film and television sector – projected to be worth £1bn to the economy by 2030.
She told The National: “Scottish screen has huge ambitions to keep that sector growing and developing and becoming an international player, but all three of those courses would feed into the kind of grassroots community that would be supporting film and TV in Scotland.
“It's just really, really short-sighted.”
Kernan said Scotland's craft sector has developed a strong international reputation, with graduates going on to work across the creative industries and promote the country abroad.
She warned losing the courses will mean employment and expertise leaving Scotland.
She said: “Those alumni who start out, start their career in those sorts of areas, when they become successful, they do give back to Scotland.
“They'll come back and teach here or they will promote Scotland abroad and act as advocates, and they're representing Scotland on a global stage.
“So we're just losing those sorts of opportunities.”
The University of Edinburgh disputed suggestions that the specialist skills associated with the courses would be lost.
A spokesperson said the subjects would continue to be represented within ECA's wider curriculum, while the academic and technical expertise and facilities associated with them would be retained and developed.
They said: “While the three specialist programmes at Edinburgh College of Art will close, these subjects will continue to be represented within the wider curriculum, providing opportunities for future students to develop skills in these areas.”
Kernan, however, argued that offering elements of the subjects within other courses could not replicate the depth of specialist degree programmes.
She said: “The level of research and material innovation and the sort of peer support that you get from a group who are all studying the same subject – you just can't replace that with electives.”
Kernan also pointed to the impact Scotland's film and television industries have had on tourism and perceptions of the country internationally.
She said arts and culture were an important way for Scotland to represent itself on the world stage, adding: “It's one of the ways you can have real power, through your arts and cultural outputs and people.”
She added: “If you look at the impact of film and TV on tourism and people's perceptions of Scotland, it's really powerful and positive.
“Everything that chips away at the sector like this is doing lasting and permanent damage.”
Kernan described the craft sector as an “AI-proofed career”, adding: “You can't replicate craft through AI means.”
She acknowledged specialist undergraduate programmes can be expensive to run, but argued this reflected the quality of teaching and expertise they provide.
She said: “These types of undergraduate programmes are expensive to run but that is because of the quality of the individually-focussed teaching and the technical expertise which takes time to be developed.
“This should be balanced against the level of innovation evident in the material research coming from these departments.
“Unlike many academic courses, makers and tutors are addressing real world problems and producing graduates that are ready to contribute to craft and other industries.”
She also warned that once specialist departments are dismantled, the investment and expertise required to recreate them means they may never return.
Pointing to the previous closure of ceramics and glass departments at universities, Kernan said: “It just doesn't come back because it's too big an investment to reinvest and restart a department like that.
“They would be lost for good.”
Craft Scotland has launched a campaign opposing the closures, with a petition attracting more than 10,000 signatures.
The campaign has also reached Holyrood, with Scottish Greens culture spokesperson Q Manivannan lodging a motion calling for the decision to be reversed.
Kernan said there was still time for the university to change course, but warned the window was closing.
“I think it would be possible right now, but not if it goes on for much longer,” she said.
“There is an urgency to this. It's a decision that would have to be made really, really soon.”
A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “The changes do not reduce the overall number of capped Scottish-funded undergraduate places at ECA, with places redistributed across other programmes.
"We recognise the significant cultural and economic contribution of Scotland's creative industries and remain committed to art and design education and to developing our academic provision in response to student demand and the evolving needs of the sector."
