V&A Academy questions

V&A Academy Online courses are delivered via Microsoft Teams in specially crafted environments designed to support your learning.

A typical multi-week V&A Academy Online course may consist of video lectures, additional study materials and online discussion spaces where you can interact with your tutor and peers. Please refer to the webpage for your chosen course for more details.

You can follow your V&A Academy Online course in real time by joining live sessions, or you can use your extended access to catch up on recordings at a time to better suit your schedule.

Additional study materials may include pre-recorded video tutorials, resource sheets, PDF copies of PowerPoint presentations, further reading lists and other resources. These are all held in a secure space within your learning environment.

Whatever you are studying, in your learning environment you’ll find peer-to-peer discussion spaces, where you will have the chance to share your perspective on the topic at hand and explore the perspectives of your fellow students. You will often be joined in these spaces by one of our tutors. Discussions are moderated by a course administrator.

Unlike some online courses, each V&A Academy online course is a closed online learning environment, accessible only to students, tutors and administrators for that specific course, so whether you are in a Q&A session or a peer-to-peer discussion, you will always have a good sense of the people you are learning alongside. You’ll receive your dedicated V&A Academy login details via email in the days before your course begins, which you’ll then use to access this learning environment.

V&A Academy On-Demand Courses are delivered via a web browser, where all course content will be available at the same time, as soon as you enrol on the course, so you can learn at your own pace.

The videos are not downloadable and will need an internet connection to access, but all written materials are available to download and are yours to keep.

Please refer to FAQs specific to the On-Demand courses and any questions not covered, please use the Contact Form.

V&A Academy runs a wide range of different in-person courses.

A typical multi-week art history course may consist of lectures, gallery talks, object study sessions, demos and more. You’ll join us in one of our designated lecture rooms each week, where you can meet fellow learners and your course leaders and speakers, and enjoy a shared learning experience. Please refer to the webpage for your chosen course for more details.

You’ll also be provided with additional study materials such as lecture recordings, resource sheets, PDF copies of PowerPoint presentations, further reading lists and other resources.

When your course begins, you’ll be given access to an online learning environment where these additional learning materials are stored. This means that even if you miss a week in-person due to illness or other commitments, you can still use your extended access to catch up on lecture recordings at a time to better suit your schedule. You’ll be sent an email before your course starts with login details and guidance on how to access the online learning environment. You’ll receive your dedicated V&A Academy login details via email in the days before your course begins, which you’ll then use to access this learning environment.

V&A Academy runs a wide range of different Study Days, across our sites at V&A South Kensington, V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum, and also online.

A typical V&A Academy Study Day may include lectures, gallery talks, object study sessions, demonstrations and more. Please refer to the webpage for your chosen V&A Academy Study Day for more details.

If you’re joining us online, you’ll receive the link to join via email on the day before your Study Day.

After your V&A Academy Study Day, you’ll receive a follow-up email with further information including resource sheets.

V&A Academy courses and events vary in their intensity, so make sure to check your specific course programme.

For a 10-week art history course, you will have two or three hours of lectures a week, plus if you join us in-person you’ll have access to extra non-lecture teaching such as gallery talks, demonstrations and object study sessions. There will be optional additional readings to accompany lectures, and you may choose to watch a lecture more than once to consolidate your learning. Therefore, we would recommend setting aside at least 4 – 6 hours a week to get the most from your course.

A typical 5-week art history course consists of two hours of live lectures a week, plus you’ll get access to a range of additional resources to enrich your learning experience. There will be optional additional readings to accompany lectures, and you may choose to watch a lecture more than once to consolidate your learning. Therefore, we would recommend setting aside at least 3 – 5 hours a week to get the most from your course.

An On-Demand course is approximately 3 hours in total, but the videos can be watched at your own pace and you are free to pause, rewatch and skip over sections – it’s up to you!

For V&A Academy Online and In-Person courses, your course director will be available to answer questions during the Q&A sessions that follow each lecture, and there may also be opportunity to chat with your course director outside of lectures at our 'meet-and-greet' sessions. These will be publicised in advance. Course directors and speakers will not be obliged to make themselves available outside of these set times to answer questions, however they will respond to questions from learners who are catching up asynchronously in the online learning environment. A member of the Academy team will be on hand to answer any technical questions you may have.

V&A Academy On-Demand Courses are pre-recorded, and do not include any live interaction with speakers.

If you have access to an online learning environment as part of your course, then this will typically stay open for you to access your materials for a period after your course delivery ends. This is usually at least as long as the course duration, i.e. a 10-week course will stay open for 10 further weeks after the last lecture. This is to allow you plenty of time to consolidate your learning, to explore further, and to continue your discussions. During this time, there will be no further contact from course directors or speakers, and the Academy team may not be able to provide technical support. You will receive an email reminding you when your learning environment is about to close.

No. Our year tickets are for specific consecutive course programmes, and details of these can be found on the year course webpages in the ‘course overview’ section. But not to worry – each term can also be booked individually, so if you prefer to follow a different path through a year of learning with us, we simply recommend that you book your term courses of choice individually at the start of each term.

If you are joining an Academy course that is being held in-person but also streamed online and recorded, you’ll have access to the accompanying Microsoft Teams learning environment. Within this learning environment, you’ll have access to all of the lecture / session recordings for the duration of the course, as well as for a period after the course has ended.

If your in-person event or course is not due to be recorded, there will be no accompanying Microsoft Teams learning environment, and a recording of the session will not be made available. This will always be communicated clearly via the webpage for the event.

V&A Academy courses are designed to give you a great experience wherever you are in the world. Our 10- and 5-week course lectures are all recorded, so if you’re not able to join live – whether your ticket is for online or in person – you can catch up with what you missed via the lecture recordings in your online learning environment.

Please note that our in-person courses also include access to additional sessions such as gallery talks or object study. These sessions are not recorded, so if you wish to attend these you will need to be present on the day.

We are based in London, UK, and so our live learning tends to take place between 10.00 and 17.00 GMT/BST, but wherever possible, live content will be recorded and made available for you to view in your learning environment, usually within 12 hours of it being given. There may also be additional content for you to engage with at your own pace, such as pre-recorded tutorials, or PDF copies of PowerPoint presentations.

To see what UK timings mean for you, check the World Clock.

Yes. Our online learning environments have a 'Q&A' channel where you can post questions for your tutor or fellow learners to reply to.

There is no mandatory homework on V&A Academy online courses.

On every V&A Academy course, your course leaders will provide avenues for further study, and you will have a lot of opportunity to enter into discussions on the topics at hand with your fellow students. The learning does not stop when the lectures end!

No. V&A Academy online courses are not accredited, and you will not receive a certificate on completion. In some circumstances, we can provide written confirmation of attendance. To request confirmation of attendance, email courses@vam.ac.uk or contact your course administrator.

No. There will be many opportunities for you to contribute your perspective to group discussions, and it may be that your course director may join those group discussions as an equal participant. If you have previously chosen the 'certificate option' on an in-person V&A Academy art history course, that option is not currently available on courses.

No. Owing to data protection rules, we regret that we are unable to accept students under 18 at this time. Find out more about V&A's programmes for young people.

When you sign up for a V&A Academy Online course, we will send 'how-to' videos to get you started, as well as some tips and tricks. Plus, there's plenty of support from the V&A Academy team.

V&A Academy On-Demand Courses are delivered via a web browser at the website https://www.vandacourses.com/. Once signed in, any purchased courses are available to access.

For V&A Academy Online and In-Person courses, if you're already on a course, visit the Microsoft Teams website to get the most up-to-date version of the free Teams App, for work or school. Alternatively, sign in via the Microsoft Edge web browser.

Please ensure you device is compatible with Microsoft Teams:

If you can’t remember your sign-in details, email courses@vam.ac.uk

V&A Academy online is a closed learning environment built using Microsoft 365 software, including Microsoft Teams. Each class exists as a 'Team' within that environment. To access your class, you will need to sign in to Microsoft Teams. We will send you sign-in details shortly before your course is due to begin, along with full instructions on how to get going.

Note: We do not advise using Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox as they are no longer fully compatible with Microsoft Teams.

If you have forgotten your password or sign-in details, email courses@vam.ac.uk with 'Forgotten password' in the subject line, so we can reset your account and provide you with new login credentials. We endeavour to respond within 72 hours. Password resets may not be available outside of UK office hours.

For V&A Academy Online courses, No. To gain access to your course and all the features of your learning environment, you need a V&A Academy Online account. We create this for you, and it takes the form of a username and password.

When we create your V&A Academy online account, we will create a new email address for you ending @academy.vam.ac.uk – this is your V&A Academy Online username, and you will need it to sign in to your course. This username, and your password, will be sent to your personal email address before the course begins. During the course, the large majority of communications will be made using Microsoft Teams.

Note: certain V&A Academy Online events, such as our Study Days and 'In Practice' webinar series, do not require you to have a full V&A Academy Online account, only a free Microsoft account. Guidance will be provided when you buy your ticket.

For V&A Academy On Demand Courses, you will create an account using your own email address and a password to sign in.

The use of Microsoft Teams for V&A Academy courses depends on the security settings of your primary work environment. If your device is provided or managed by an organisation or institution it may not be possible to access the V&A Academy Teams environment. Please check with your organisation that you can access a secondary Microsoft Teams work or school account.

We recommend using a personal device should your organisation prohibit running a different Teams account.

Signing in with your V&A Academy Online account details will bring you to your learning environment, which will be separate from any other Teams environments you may already have.

It depends on what type of account you have.

If you are a V&A Member or have bought something from the V&A Shop online, then you may have created a V&A Shop account.

To access your V&A Academy Online course you need a V&A Academy Online account, consisting of a V&A Academy email address (ending academy.vam.ac.uk) and a password. We will send you this before your course begins.

If you've studied with V&A Academy Online before and have an account with a username ending @academy.vam.ac.uk, you will be able to use these same login details to access your new course or workshop. If you have forgotten these details, please email courses@vam.ac.uk.

For V&A Academy On-Demand Courses, you will create an account using your own email address and a password to sign in. This is not the same as your membership or shop account as we do not have single sign on, but you are welcome to use the same email and password.

For V&A Academy Online courses, yes, with a note of caution. To gain access to a course on your tablet, please download the new Microsoft Teams app from your device's app store. If you already have the app, please ensure you have the most up-to-date version.

Some learners have reported difficulties using Apple iPads to watch live lectures delivered via Microsoft's 'Live Events' and 'Town Halls'. This is an ongoing issue for which there is no current resolution. This affects the majority of our courses, including all art history courses. Many students experience no problems at all, but for the most reliable service we recommend using a desktop computer or laptop where possible.

For V&A Academy Online courses, please make sure your desktop computer or laptop can support the latest version of Microsoft Teams. We recommend downloading the Microsoft Teams app for the best learning experience, however Teams can also be accessed via a compatible browser such as Microsoft Edge.

Please check your hardware and browser requirements. You can find out what hardware your Windows computer has by going to the Control Panel and clicking on 'System'. On a Mac, simply click the little apple in the top left corner of your screen, and choose 'About this Mac'.

For V&A Academy Online courses, Microsoft Teams will adapt to make sure that you get the best possible experience. However, to make sure you can see and hear your video lectures clearly, it's good to have a download speed of over 2MBps. Check your broadband speed with the Which? website.

Not necessarily. For V&A Academy Online courses, there will be moments where you will be invited to turn on your webcam and microphone if you wish. This may simply be to say hello to your fellow learners in one of our ‘meet-and-greet’ sessions, or it may be more formalised, as in the case of our practical workshops, where you will have the chance to engage in a small-group tutorial. However, you will never be obliged to turn your camera on. What's more, you will always be given a warning before a session is recorded, so you will have the opportunity to choose whether you appear in the session recording.

No. Your fellow learners will never be able to see your personal email address, though they will be able to see the email address associated with your V&A Academy Online account. Note: the V&A will not use your V&A Academy Online email account for any communications. We will only ever contact you in Microsoft Teams, or via your personal email address.

For the best experience on laptops and desktops, we recommend that you download the latest version of Microsoft Teams. It is also possible to access Microsoft Teams via a compatible browser such as Microsoft Edge. Other web browsers may not give you a completely integrated experience with the Microsoft Teams software. Note: Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox are no longer fully compatible with Microsoft Teams, and we advise not to use them.

If you are planning to use a smart device such as an iPhone, iPad or Android, you must download the Teams App compatible with your device to access the course content.

For more information about system requirements, please check the latest updates from Microsoft.

We recommend downloading the free Microsoft Teams App for work or school for the best experience. Simply visit the Microsoft Teams website and click 'download now' to start the process.

There are many videos and articles online about how to use Microsoft Teams, and once you sign up for a course, the whole Academy team will be on-hand to support you if you need help getting started.

For help signing in, try our step-by-step videos:

The group dynamic is so important to the happy running of our learning environments and so we would prefer that students attend under their own name. In exceptional circumstances, we will allow students to attend under a pseudonym. Please contact courses@vam.ac.uk to request this.

Yes – how kind! To buy a V&A Academy course or event ticket as a gift, simply make a purchase in your own name, then forward the booking confirmation to courses@vam.ac.uk and let us know that you would like to transfer the place, including the name and email address of the lucky recipient. If it's a surprise, let us know, so we don't let the cat out of the bag before you are ready.

For V&A On-Demand courses, self-service gifting is available and can be sent immediately, or on a future date. For full instructions, see Can I buy a Course as a Gift?

For V&A Academy Online courses, each course will appear as a separate 'Team' in Microsoft Teams. So all you need to do is sign in to Microsoft Teams as normal using your V&A Academy Online account and make sure you select the correct course from the 'Teams' list once you are inside.

V&A Academy Online and In-Person courses and events are bookable online, until the day before they start. After that, you’ll need to call our V&A Contact Centre on +44 (0)20 7942 2000 to book. If you are having difficulty, please give our Contact Centre a ring and they’ll help you out.

V&A On-Demand courses are not available to purchase by phone booking, and payments can only be processed online. We accept major credit/debit cards or PayPal. To pay with a debit or credit card, select "PayPal" at the checkout, then select 'Pay with credit/debit card'. You do not need to create a PayPal account. Simply deselect 'Create a PayPal account' towards the end of the form.

No, at present we do not offer the option to pay in instalments.

No, at present we do not offer the option to pay in any other currency. We do not currently accept WePay or GPay.

V&A Members receive priority booking on V&A Academy courses, but do not receive a discount.

Course costs vary depending on length and depth of study. Check individual course pages for more information.

For some of our practical workshops, you may be required to purchase additional materials. A list of required materials with rough pricing will be supplied in good time.

There may also be opportunities arising during courses for paid optional extras such as walking tours, handling sessions or practical workshops but these will never be obligatory.

We want to make our learning available to all. If you have any accessibility requirements you would like us to know about, please do not hesitate to email courses@vam.ac.uk or call our Contact Centre on +44 (0)20 7942 2000.

Find out more about accessibility features in Microsoft Teams, on the Microsoft website.

Yes. We use Microsoft's automated caption software to generate captions during our events. Find out more about captions in Microsoft Teams Live Events, on the Microsoft website.

Absolutely. Email courses@vam.ac.uk to let us know what you need and we will be happy to arrange it.

We – learners, teachers, and the Academy team – all work hard to create learning environments that are warm, creative and rigorous. For more information, see our Learner Values and Conduct policy:

In the first instance, email courses@vam.ac.uk or call our Contact Centre on +44 (0)207 942 2000 and we will make sure that your complaint gets to the right place as quickly as possible.

Full details on our complaints procedure are available in our Learner Values and Conduct policy above.

If you change your mind or can no longer attend a course, email courses@vam.ac.uk or call +44 (0)207 942 2000 no more than 14 days after you made your purchase and we will be happy to provide you with a full refund with no administrative fees. In exceptional circumstances, refunds may be offered after this point – contact courses@vam.ac.uk. Find out more with our full terms and conditions.

During the course

When you purchase a V&A Academy course, we will require some personal data from you to complete the purchase process in our online shop. Data from this (your name and email address) will be used to create a student account for you in our Microsoft 365 environment, so that you can participate in V&A Academy Online activities and access your online learning environment for your course materials and session recordings. You will be able, but not obliged, to add information to your profile, including a picture and a screen name.

If you ask a question during a live lecture via Microsoft Teams, or contribute to online discussions/chat forums, your name and contribution will be recorded and held in Microsoft 365. All lectures will be recorded and made available with the closed course environment. You can choose whether or not to contribute during the session. It is also possible to ask a question anonymously during a lecture by selecting that option in the Q&A interface.

Service usage data

We may also collect identifiable service usage data, such as which resources you have accessed on a certain page and data on which courses you have previously attended. Tutors may invite written contribution from students, to be uploaded via Microsoft Teams. In this case, that work would be stored in an identifiable way, along with tutor comments/responses. Anonymised business insight information may also be collected, for example to see how many students have accessed a certain resource or how much time people spend on certain pages, so that we can make sure we are providing content that students find useful.

Sharing your data

Your data will not be shared outside of the V&A. Students may be contacted by email by V&A course administrators or by their course directors for the following reasons:

Your student data will be retained for up to six years after the last course you attended, at which point your Microsoft 365 student licence will also be revoked. If you come to purchase another course in the future, a new account will be created. Financial data is retained for seven years after your last purchase.

Lawful bases

We are relying on the following lawful bases for processing your data for Academy online purposes:

More information

For further information on how the V&A manages personal data, your data protection rights and who to contact in the event of a data protection query, please refer to the full V&A privacy policy.