BRIT Trust Diaries: Yanse Cooper on her first year as Headteacher of ELAM

In the latest edition of the BRIT Trust Diaries, Yansé Cooper, now well into her first year as headteacher of ELAM, reflects on an amazing 2025 so far, with outstanding achievements by the creative arts academy for 16-19-year olds in East London, whose alumni are increasingly making their presence felt across British music and UK creativity….

In this week that our talented alumna Sienna Spiro is riding high in the Top 10 of the Official Singles Chart with Die on This Hill, I can reflect on an incredible first year as the Headteacher at East London Arts and Music (ELAM).  

I feel an overwhelming sense of pride in what all our trainees, staff, and alumni have achieved together. I also feel deeply grateful for the longstanding support from the music, film and TV and games industries, including our friends at The BRIT Trust, Universal Music UK, AEG, UTA and our other valued partners, without whom our successes would not have been possible.

For those of you that don’t know ELAM – we are a full-time Industry Academy that is free to attend for 16-19 year olds interested in pursuing a career in music performance or production, film and TV, and games design. Our ethos and curricula are shaped by six core values: collaboration, resilience, inquisitiveness, dependability, independence, and reflectiveness.  

We also have ELAMPLIFY – our enrichment programme that is reaching new heights in broadening minds and giving trainees meaningful opportunities to lead and to share in experiences that allow them to expand whatever definition they had of themselves.

It is such a great privilege to be able to lead this very special place of learning, located here in East London’s Bow, as we look to realise the amazing creative potential of young people drawn from across our local community and far beyond, especially at this exciting time when we are increasingly making our presence felt in the UK’s music and creative arts sectors. 

Since joining ELAM in 2022 (as assistant principal in charge of teaching & learning), I’ve seen first-hand just how powerful creative education can be when it’s delivered with purpose, compassion, and high expectations. Our mission goes far beyond qualifications – we seek to support young people from all backgrounds to find their voice, help shape their identity, and imagine a future they may not have thought possible. This means also instilling in them an unshakeable self-belief in their talent.

To this end, over these past 12 months, we’ve pursued a number of pathways to deepen our support for those trainees who face the biggest barriers, including through our travel bursaries, a mental health programme, provision for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and inclusive recruitment strategies. We’ve also continued to strengthen our links to industry, giving our young people not just access to the music and creative sectors, but genuine opportunities to thrive within these. 

And, as we’ve celebrated ELAM’s 10th  anniversary, it has become clear just how much our community of alumni is becoming a powerful force for change mentoring, performing, creating, and leading across the industry.

Other notable highlights in 2025 included visits from BRIT-winning Chase & Status, acclaimed film producer Tim Bevan CBE and Miles Jacobson OBE, Studio Director at Sports Interactive, the team behind Football Manager, who all gave inspirational masterclasses. We also announced a new partnership with AEG, which saw ELAM trainees and alumni perform at the Lido Festival and at All Points East, where they participated in a ‘takeover’ on the Chase & Status headline day and also supported Raye’s performance. 

We remain ambitious and urgent in our belief that creative education must be accessible to all, regardless of background, postcode, or income

- Yansé Cooper

I’m also pleased to say that our new alumni programme has really taken off, with a 10 year anniversary games cohort reunion at Sports Interactive and a music reunion at Ronnie Scott’s, including a wonderful showcase from eight cohorts and a 15-strong alumni board. It was wonderful to see, too, our alumna, songwriter Ines Dunn receive the Spirit of the Studio award at Music Week’s Women in Music Awards. 

Following the thrill of watching ELAM trainees participate in the Becky Hill x Chase & Status live performance at the O2 arena at last year’s BRIT Awards with Mastercard, this year alumni took part in ELAM’s 10 year-celebrations at another iconic venue – Abbey Road Studios. Our special day there was led by our inspirational Founder, Will Kennard MBE – and many congratulations to him on his deserved honour for services to music and for being such a passionate advocate of creative arts education. 

Our alumni were out in force at Glastonbury this summer, demonstrating their talent across performance, content and backstage roles. Among the standout moments were Hannah Smith drumming for CMAT on the Pyramid stage; Nia Smith on the BBC Introducing stage; Grammy-winning Venna with Yussef Dayes on the Other Stage; Emmanuel Da Silva drumming for Pa Salieu; Ty on bass for Humble the Great; Jazz playing saxophone for Tom Odell; Izco giving a DJ set with Liam Bailey; Eddie Lopez on stage with Myles Smith; and Rufus on steel pans for Ezra Collective. Also working there were Mahawah, leading on content creation for Spotify, Coleen Kate managing socials for Warner Music, and Isaiah creating content for Charli XCX.  

These talented alumni are part of a growing list who’ve been really making their mark. Others include FLO, who won The BRITs Rising Star Award in 2023; KWN, recently nominated for Best New International Act at the 2025 BET Awards, and who came back to ELAM in September for her British Vogue shoot and insisted on speaking to current trainees in their assemblies to share her heartwarming reflections on her time at ELAM; Layyah, winner of The Rap Game; and also Solomon, Tendai, Girli, Sekou and Chrissi, among others. 

Past trainees have signed to a range of labels, including 0207 Def Jam, Island, Polydor AWAL, RCA and Warner.

The scale and quality of our alumni presences reinforce the strength of the creative pipeline we’re building and the influence ELAM is having on the cultural landscape. 

I should add that these achievements have come in a seven-year period where we passed two Ofsted inspections with the highest possible rating (Outstanding in all areas). Their most recent (2024) report remarked: “Learners, known as trainees, love their time at ELAM. They are embedded in a culture of inclusiveness and respect. Trainees learn, create and perform in a safe environment using high-quality, industry-standard equipment. They have everything they need to find their creative voice.” 

The ratings reflects academic achievement that we’re so proud of: 80% of Music Performance and Production trainees achieved a distinction – placing ELAM in the top 1% nationally for value-added, and for games this figure was 85%, and for Film & TV it was 48%, putting us in the top 10%.

I list these outcomes at length because the music industry, the BRIT Trust included, having paid for the construction of our state-of-the-art performance venue, helped to make them possible with their support and encouragement.  

But we know the work is far from finished. As we look ahead, we remain ambitious and urgent in our belief that creative education must be accessible to all, regardless of background, postcode, or income. With continued support, we will go further, to reach more young people, build more opportunities, and ensure the creative industries reflect the full richness and diversity of our society. 

To learn more about the work of ELAM, click here.