How Music Reignites Learning: David Court on Building SupaJam

Monday, 13 July 2026

In 2013, David Court and Nick Stillwell opened a college in a flooded basement in Tunbridge Wells with seven students and no teaching qualifications between them. Thirteen years on, SupaJam runs five colleges across London and the South East, helping neurodiverse 16 to 25 year olds rediscover learning through music. In this month’s Entrepreneur Series, David tells us about being scammed in the early days and refusing to quit, the non-verbal student who took the stage and sang, and why he believes the music industry needs to open its doors to his students.

1. SupaJam started in 2013 with seven students in a flooded basement in Tunbridge Wells. What made you and Nick look at that early chaos and think ‘this is worth building’?

Both Nick and myself have a passion for always learning, and education was a real challenge to us as we hadn’t succeeded at school and neither of us has a qualification to our name! When we first started we were helped and then scammed by an “educational consultant” who advised us, stole a considerable amount of money from us and left us without funding. We looked at the students we had and said “we can’t let them down”, and so we taught ourselves to teach and run every aspect of the business. That ethos has never left us. The joy of seeing young adults succeed in what they want is genuinely life changing for us. Hopefully we are changing a few of theirs in the process.

2. Both of you came from backgrounds in film and TV. What did that world teach you that you have carried into running an education business?

Great communication is key. To build a successful business you need a team around you who believe and feel as passionate in what you are doing as you do. That, and learn your limits and what you are good at, then pick a team filled with people who are better than you at what they do. Patience also really helps, as well as having a business partner and friend who is good through the ups and (several) downs of setting up a business. I have that with Nick.

3. For anyone who hasn’t come across SupaJam, how would you describe what you do and who you do it for?

SupaJam is a specialist organisation with five colleges in London and the South East. We are for 16 to 25 year olds who are neurodiverse and have an EHCP. We help them reignite their passion for learning through the power of music. We also teach them English and Maths, but in a way that is relevant to music, and we have an amazing Preparation for Adulthood syllabus where we teach them about life beyond education.

4. Mainstream education had failed your students before they arrived at SupaJam. Why does music work where other approaches haven’t?

Music has often been the one consistent thing in these young people’s lives, through the good times and the bad. I had a horrendous time in my own mainstream education and music literally saved my life when times were tough. I carry that passion for music with me now. It is the same for these young people.

5. You now have campuses across Kent, Brighton, and London, with more opening soon. How do you scale something so rooted in personal relationships without losing what makes it work?

It is all down to the team we put in each college. They are some of the most amazing, passionate people I have ever had the pleasure to work with in my life. Nick and I will set the vision and make sure we visit all of the colleges throughout the term, but it is the team that makes SupaJam so special. Every visitor notices it the second they walk into one of our colleges.

6. What is a moment, a student, a performance, a breakthrough, that reminded you exactly why you started this?

I think for me it was when we had a non-verbal student take the stage in one of our concerts. The staff hadn’t told me that they had been working with him on singing over the year, and when he took to the stage and, with the support of the staff, sang, it was one of the most emotive moments of my life.

Another is when we had our first stage at Black Deer Festival. To see our students working behind the scenes to help pull the festival together, and then to see them all sing to a packed out tent, was magical. So many of them came up to myself or Nick after that festival to say “I know what I want to do for the rest of my life.” That is special!

7. What is the hardest decision you have had to make as a co-founder?

Around five years ago we expanded too quickly and hired more senior staff than we needed. We had to let three staff go, and that was a sobering lesson that has stayed with me.

8. Where does SupaJam go from here, and what would success look like in ten years’ time?

I want to continue to expand and set up colleges in new areas, and I want to continue to break down the doors of the music industry. We work with a lot of amazing people from the industry but can still do more. I want the industry to see just how amazing and talented our young people are. Just because they are neurodiverse, all that actually means is they are hyper focused on the one thing that drives them. Music.

Quick-fire Round

1. Vinyl or Spotify?

Vinyl! Every college has a record player and vinyl, and we greet the students with it every morning!

2. The gig that changed your life?

There are three. Live Aid when I was 17, because it made me feel like anything was possible and instilled a need to give back. Prince at Hop Farm in 2012, because he was beyond amazing and I was still buzzing three days later. Finally, Fred Again at Ally Pally, because he played for five and a half hours and I proved to my 24 year old son I could still mosh for that length of time without putting my hip out!

3. Best piece of advice you have been given?

From my father: always trust your gut, work hard and be passionate about your career.

4. What do you wish you had known before starting SupaJam?

I’d love to go back to my 13 year old self and just say “you’re gonna do OK. Trust the process and ignore the bad people out there.”

5. If not this, what?

Nothing. This runs deep in my blood and I love it with every fibre of my body.

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