10-Day Beginner Tattoo Course
Go from complete beginner to tattooing a live model in ten days. Our most complete course, taught in small groups in central London.
£1,499 from
Secure your place with a £300 deposit.
East London (Tower Hamlets)
Want to learn to tattoo and based in Canary Wharf? Train at London Tattoo College, an accredited college that is an easy trip from Canary Wharf. Small classes, real skin and live models, and a CPD accredited course with a certificate of competence at the end.
Pay in installments with Klarna
Courses
Every course is open to students travelling from Canary Wharf and across East London (Tower Hamlets).
Go from complete beginner to tattooing a live model in ten days. Our most complete course, taught in small groups in central London.
£1,499 from
Secure your place with a £300 deposit.
Start straight into the fine-line style clients ask for most. Four focused days on delicate single-needle line work, for beginners.
£849 from
Secure your place with a £250 deposit.
For SPMU, microblading and beauty professionals: add fine-line tattooing to your services in a focused two-day intensive.
£699 from
Secure your place with a £250 deposit.
Dates
All dates are at our London studio and open to Canary Wharf students. Places are limited to keep groups small.
What's included
Who it is for
Different starting points, same goal. Find yours.
Never held a machine? Start with the 10-Day Beginner Course and go from zero to tattooing a live model in two weeks.
10-Day Beginner Course
Want to specialise in the fine-line and single-needle style clients ask for most? The 4-Day Fine Line Course is built for that.
4-Day Fine Line Course
Already work in SPMU, microblading or beauty? Add fine-line tattooing to your services in a focused two-day intensive.
2-Day Fine Line CourseLearning to tattoo from Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf and the wider Docklands are only about 10 minutes from the studio on the Jubilee line, with the DLR and Elizabeth line as backups. That makes a career change into tattooing genuinely practical for people already based in E14.
We welcome students from across Tower Hamlets, from the Isle of Dogs and Poplar to Limehouse and Mile End. The short fine line courses fit neatly around other commitments, and the 10-day beginner course is an easy daily trip north to Stratford.
We teach a steady stream of people leaving desk jobs in the Docklands, and the question is almost always the same: can I really change career off the back of a two-week course? The honest answer is that it gives you sound fundamentals and a portfolio - the rest is how much you practise afterwards.
Getting here
about 10 minutes from Canary Wharf to Stratford on the Jubilee line, or via the DLR and Elizabeth line. Stratford is one of London's best-connected stations and the studio is a few minutes away.
roughly 20 minutes by road via the A12, though the Jubilee line is usually quicker. In practice the Tube, Elizabeth line or Overground is usually faster than driving into London.
bus and DLR links run between the Docklands and Stratford across the day, dropping you close to the studio.
With the Jubilee line running frequently, Docklands students commute straight in and out each day, no accommodation required.
Find us
London Tattoo College
Celebration Avenue
Stratford City, London, E20 1DB
The studio is in Stratford, East London (E20), a few minutes from Stratford station, served by the Central & Jubilee lines, the Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground and national rail. We send full arrival directions when you book.
Get directions View on Google MapsWhy make the trip
We cap every course at a handful of students so a tutor watches your work, not a lecture hall. You get real bench time, not a seat at the back.
Artificial skin is where you start, not where you finish. Every course ends with a supervised tattoo on a live model, because that is the only way to be ready.
Your tutors tattoo professionally. You learn how the craft actually works today, from technique to how a studio really runs.
Cross-contamination control and blood-borne pathogen safety run through every course, to the standards UK studios and clients expect.
You finish with a London Tattoo College Certificate of Competence and a folder of supervised work you can put in front of any studio.
Your questions do not stop on the last day. We help with your portfolio, finding work, and the steps to setting up on your own.
We regularly welcome students from across East London (Tower Hamlets), including Poplar, Isle of Dogs, Limehouse, Blackwall, Canning Town, Mile End.
We also train students from Croydon, Enfield, Brighton, Reading, Cambridge. See every area we cover.
Reviews
I started the 10-day course never having held a machine and tattooed a live model by the end. The small group meant the tutor actually watched every line I did.
The 4-day fine line course was exactly what I wanted. I came out able to hold a clean single-needle line and I've been building a fine-line portfolio since.
I run a microblading studio and the 2-day course let me add fine-line tattoos to my services in a weekend. It assumed I already knew skin and hygiene, which saved so much time.
Genuinely the most professional training I looked at in London. Real bench time, real feedback, and the hygiene side was taken seriously from day one. Worth every penny.
Travelled in from Brighton for the beginner diploma and it was completely worth the trip. Small class, patient tutors, and I left with a portfolio I could actually show studios.
I'd done an online course before and learned almost nothing. This was the opposite. Hands on machines from the first morning, corrected in real time. I finally feel ready to guest.
The hygiene and blood-borne pathogen side was covered properly, which is exactly what studios asked me about at interview. I walked in with a certificate and a portfolio and got the spot.
The small group meant I never felt lost or rushed. The tutors are working artists so the feedback is honest and current, not something read off a slide. Best decision I've made for my career.
As an SPMU artist the 2-day course was perfect. Focused, no filler, and it respected what I already knew. I was offering fine-line tattoos to my clients the following week.
Questions
No. The Docklands has very few tattoo studios and no training provider - it is not that sort of area. The nearest accredited course is London Tattoo College in Stratford, about ten minutes up the Jubilee line.
The Jubilee line runs from Canary Wharf to Stratford in about ten minutes, and the DLR and Elizabeth line are alternatives. The studio is a short walk from Stratford station. Driving takes roughly 20 minutes on the A12, though the Jubilee line is usually quicker. Full arrival directions come with your booking.
The 10-day beginner tattoo course is £1,499. The 4-day fine line course is £849, and the 2-day fine line course for experienced beauty professionals is £699. Equipment and materials are included for the duration of the course.
No. The 10-day beginner course assumes you have never picked up a tattoo machine. You will start on artificial skin and build up to tattooing a live model under supervision in the second week. If you already work in SPMU or microblading, the shorter fine line courses may suit you better.
Ten days across two weeks, Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Week one is theory, hygiene and practice on artificial skin; week two is hands-on tattooing. Upcoming dates and remaining places are listed further up this page, and places are limited because groups are kept small.
Yes. The course is CPD accredited and you finish with a certificate of competence you can show to a studio anywhere, along with a portfolio of the work you produced during the course. We also cover the practical side of getting registered and finding your first shop.
You do not have to pay it all at once. A deposit holds your place - £300 on the 10-day beginner course, £250 on either fine line course - and the balance is due 7 days before your course starts. You can also spread the cost with Klarna at checkout, or pay the full amount up front if you prefer.
Let us know as soon as you can. The course builds day on day, so missing a session makes the rest harder to follow. In most cases your instructor can help you catch up during breaks and by spending extra time with you after the course. Get in touch and we will talk through your options.
We do not place you in a job, and you should be wary of anyone who promises that. What you leave with is a portfolio of supervised work, a certificate of competence, and guidance on the practical side - getting registered with your council, putting a portfolio in front of a studio, and what shops actually look for. Our student support does not stop when the course does, so you can come back to us with questions.
Still weighing it up? Our guide to becoming a tattoo artist in the UK covers what training costs and what studios look for, and we have written an honest comparison of courses and tattoo apprenticeships.
Still deciding
If you are travelling from Canary Wharf and want to check dates, plan your stay, or ask about a course, we are happy to help. Read our FAQs or get in touch and we will reply within one working day. You can also see all the places we welcome students from on our locations page.