The Golden Key Academy is a public speaking course developing the essential skills, knowledge and critical thinking required to deliver engaging walking and cycling tours unlocking complex architecture, heritage, and urban issues

 

Created by Open City, the charity behind the acclaimed Open House festival and a much-loved year round programme of public tours, the Golden Key Academy covers everything a skilled guide needs to create and deliver an insightful, entertaining, culturally-aware, critically-ambitious and financially successful outdoor event explaining the city and bringing its many stories to life.

The taught programme – running from February through to September – features a series of informative and interactive lectures covering core competencies including: editorial programming, critical interpretation, and the ethics of cultural production; guiding responsibilities and crowd safety; self-promotion and the use of technology and confidence in public speaking.

‘Open City draws on, and nurtures, our innate human curiosity. By revealing and explaining London’s hidden treasures it opens our minds to the value of our built environment’

— Alison Brooks, founder Alison Brooks Architects

What will the 2025 Golden Key Academy offer?

All course sessions take place during evenings or weekends to fit around jobs and other commitments. The first course sessions will take place on a Saturday in February 2025.

  • Lecture and Q&A sessions covering core guiding competencies, editorial programming: Inclusion in curation, turning a dull topic into an engaging tour, technology and self- promotion including social media, setting up a tour guiding company, how to use tours to showcase your work, recommended reading

  • Session on tour practicalities: Risk Assessments/insurance/ legals/permissions/public safety/crowds/security/accessibility

  • Half day public speaking workshop to inspire engaging story telling

  • Group project focusing on developing tour concepts and delivery of your tour

  • Exclusive tour for the Golden Key Academy cohort

  • Step-by-step coursework brief outlining how to create and deliver your own high-quality tour focussing on any theme or location for your final assessment

  • Peer and mentor guide-facilitated practice walks for enhanced development of route, content, interpretation and delivery prior to final coursework assessment

  • Complimentary tickets for Open City public tours and a Pocket London Tours subscription until the end of 2025

  • Deliver a public tour to a real live audience as part of the 2025 Open House Festival for your final appraisal with feedback by an expert guide or Open City team member

  • Graduation ceremony and Golden Key presentation and induction into the Golden Key Academy alumni network

 

What does the Golden Key Academy look for in a candidate?

  • Keen interest in tour guiding, architecture, landscape and urbanism

  • Self-motivated learner with good time management, research and planning skills

  • Good listener keen to engage with and learn from course leaders and fellow students

  • Ideally located in London and able to attend key scheduled course events

  • Public speaking experience and/or motivation to develop public speaking skills

  • Practical and respectful in delivering a performance in a public space

  • Supports Open City's charitable mission to make the built environment more open and accessible

How much does it cost?
The course fee of £800 is fully inclusive of all sessions, activities, assessments, and administrative costs. 

If you are an Open City Friend you will receive a 15% discounts on a full price place on the Golden Key Academy. 

Bursaries 
Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we are pleased to offer a limited number of bursaries subsidising the course fee to just £650 with instalment payment options available. 

New this year
Open City are supporting one free place on the course to a candidate otherwise unable to participate in our training.

Please apply early and complete the relevant sections of the form below for consideration for the discounted bursary or free place which aims to open up the art of tour guiding to wider audiences and those experiencing financial hardship.

How do I apply?
Applications for 2025 are now closed, please check back here for information on how to apply for the Golden Key Academy 2026.

Get in touch with Adrianna with any queries at goldenkey@open-city.org.uk

“I loved delivering my tour on the day as part of the Open House Festival, it was really exciting to see it all come together and being with a big group on the day has a lovely effect. I really enjoyed working with my mentor Roz, who gave me a lot of insightful tips and was very supportive”
— Sally Itani, 2023 Golden Key Academy Graduate
“I really enjoyed meeting new people and discussing and discovering areas of London that were new to me. It was a fantastic opportunity to develop my own idea for a tour with the support from those with experience - my mentor Mike was really helpful and great to work with!”
— Áine Grace, 2021 Golden Key Academy Graduate

2024 Golden Key Academy London wide alumni

Adrian Harper, Alex Hayes, Anastasia Abashina, Ashan Fernando, Benjamin Eley, Carly Simonaitis, Clancy Gebler Davies, Clive Tanqueray, Daniel Anstey, Danny Lang, Diogo Silvestre, Eleanor Swire, Elizabeth OHara, Jennifer Ball, Jennifer Schussler, Juan Castro Varón, Kateryna Davydova, Katherine Holman, Laura Marzec, Lucy Brown, Natalie Chalk, Nikola Yanev, Polly Schlesinger, Rachel Balmer, Sarah Garnhamm, Sue Thomas, Tim Lewis, Vanessa Neale

2023 Golden Key Academy London wide alumni

Andy Garland, Anthony Palmer, Brandon Jackson, Brian Jowers, Daniel Levin, Darren Leftwich, Debbie Kent, Emily McFadyen, Helen Longmate, Imogen Steinberg, Justin Manley, Kevin McNerney, Mary Crowley, Paul Steeples, Petra Cox, Rachel York, Rob Harris, Sally Itani, Sam Chen, Simone Kunisch, Susannah Ford, Vojta Nemec, Zoe Harmar

2022 Golden Key Academy London wide alumni

Adrian Gibbs, Alison Porter, Christopher Booth, Emma Keyte, Ian Kernohan, Irina Maliugina, Joanna Oyediran, Joe Brookes, Louise Vannier, Lynne Matthews, Olga Zilbershtein, Sara Probert,Sarah-Jane Day, Tony Ganio

2022 Golden Key Academy Royal Docks alumni

Anna Gibb, Danny Danquah, Emma Deba-Smith, Halima Hamid, Joanna Dong, Julia Omari, Matt Ponting, Miko Schneider, Momtaz Begum-Hossain, Tim Peake


2021 Golden Key Academy alumni

Áine Grace, Alison Rae, Courtney Plank, Evgeniya Petrova, Jack Chesher, Joseph Granata, Judith Nichol, Lisa Lu, Martin Scholar, Nic Durston, Noel Wright, Peter Burrows, Sarah Jackson, Stefan Cucos

Sponsor Golden Key Academy

The Golden Key Academy is part of our mission to create and deliver programmes which aim to open up the art of tour guiding to wider audiences and involve the public in conversations about the future and past of architecture.

If you want to find out about supporting this programme please get in touch with the Golden Key Academy Team at goldenkey@open-city.org.uk