Cotswold Perfumery Courses

This entry covers the Cotswold Perfumery's formal course curriculum, run through its dedicated perfumery-school.co.uk site, as distinct from the one-off gift experiences the same business also sells (covered separately in this directory's Workshop category). The distinction matters: these are CPD-accredited, multi-day, laboratory-based courses with real progression, not a single blend-and-bottle afternoon.

Courses are taught by John Stephen, Chief Perfumer and owner of the Cotswold Perfumery, a family business manufacturing fragrances in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire since 1966. Stephen is a Chartered Chemist with over 50 years' experience as a creative perfumer and is described by the business as one of only six independent perfumers working in the UK. Teaching happens in a dedicated teaching room and fully equipped fragrance laboratory, capped at eight students per session.

The curriculum has genuine structure: a one-day Level One course (£325) covering the art and science of scent for beginners or as a refresher; an Advanced Five Day course (£1,625) aimed at those wanting to create perfumes commercially or start a perfumery business; a Refresher Three Day course (£950) reserved for past Level Two attendees; and drop-in Lab Days for graduates to practise. As of this review, the site publishes live 2026 dates for the Level One course running monthly from August through December, and Advanced Five Day sessions in September and November - a genuinely active, currently bookable programme rather than a stale listing.

All courses are marketed as CPD Accredited, which signals structured professional development, though it is not an externally regulated academic qualification in the way a university diploma would be.