The Lincoln Company (TLC), based at Lincoln Arts Centre and delivered through the Lincoln School of Creative Arts, has been awarded the Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE). 

CATE celebrates outstanding collaborative work that has made a transformative impact on teaching and learning and aims to highlight the vital role of teamwork in shaping the future of higher education. 

The Lincoln Company is the University’s interdisciplinary company-in-residence at Lincoln Arts Centre. It provides opportunities for students to take on roles across performing, writing, directing, producing, marketing and technical support, while developing creative, leadership, management and entrepreneurial skills. The company produces and tours original work to venues and festivals across the UK, equipping students with valuable professional experience, paid opportunities, industry engagement and a supported route into the creative industries. 

Founded in 2008, TLC was redesigned as a student-staff collaboration in 2017 through the appointment of Associate Professor Rachel Baynton as an embedded Creative Engagement Producer in the School of Creative Arts. Unique to Lincoln, the hybrid industry/academic role and Baynton’s reshaping of the company have since offered significant opportunities for staff and students to work in the professional sector. 

The award recognises TLC’s distinctive model, which brings students, graduates, professional artists and staff together to create, produce and tour original performance work. Staff and students are paired across leadership roles with student company members leading on strategic and artistic work, supported by their staff equivalents. 

“Over the past nine years, every process, task and decision has been treated as a professionalising opportunity”, said Baynton, “Students shape our artistic work but also their own learning, developing employability skills aligned to their career aspirations – building their C.V.s and cultural capital while still engaged in their studies.  

“TLC is a unique springboard for our students to a rich creative career, and it’s built on teamwork, care, and true collaboration. The Advance HE CATE award is such a huge national recognition of this, and I’m grateful to all the staff and leadership of the School of Creative Arts who’ve helped and supported us every step of the way.”  

The award also highlights The Lincoln Company’s contribution to graduate outcomes, with alumni progressing into influential roles across the cultural sector and establishing professional companies of their own. 

Graduates of the School of Creative Arts who have been members of TLC consistently credit their time with the company as transformative. Felicity Donelly, currently in a lead role for the National Theare’s critically acclaimed production of War Horse, said: “TLC was the bedrock of my early career, giving me confidence and shaping me as a performer. It also introduced me to puppetry, a journey that’s come full circle with War Horse at the National Theatre.” 

James Ashfield New Musical Producer, Birmingham Hippodrome stated: “The Lincoln Company were and are, at the core of it, the reason I am a Theatre Producer”. Coralie Palmer, TLC Student General Manager (2023-2025), said: “It was one of the first times that I really felt like a professional in this industry and one of the first times I think other people thought of me that way too.”  

Projects developed through The Lincoln Company have been presented at major arts festivals – including the Edinburgh Fringe – and industry venues, helping students build networks, confidence and experience in professional creative practice. The company have received four- and five-star reviews in the national press, and have recently participated in an international collaboration hosted by Derby Theatre. 

Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance and co-creative lead for the company Ollie Smith said, “This award is shared with every one of our members and collaborators over all the years of the company and demonstrates the importance and value of proactive and collaborative ways of thinking and doing. The heart of what we do is team-driven and co-led, providing meaningful hands-on experiences that professionalise and empower. The Lincoln Company has equipped countless students to thrive as innovative sector leaders, proving just how necessary creativity and access to the arts are.” 

The recognition supports the University of Lincoln’s wider commitment to developing future-ready graduates with a breadth of real-world experience and demonstrating the value of creative arts education, industry engagement and professional learning. 

The award will be presented at the Advance HE awards ceremony in Edinburgh in September.