With the support of Henry Cole Director of the South Kensington Museum, who supplied Gregory with teachers, the school flourished and became a leader in the provision of instruction in applied art and design to working artisans, many of whom were employed by local manufacturing firms, including Doulton's and Farmer and Brindley.

The rapid expansion of the school led to the need for new premises, and in 1860 Albert, Prince of Wales (Edward VII) laid the foundation stone for new premises in Millers Lane, built on the site of the Vauxhall Gardens as part of a redevelopment that included St Peter's church.

This allowed for some elements of drawing to be taught, but within a broader curriculum that stressed the teaching of techniques to aid workers in artisan manufacturing industries rather than the training of artists.

This collaboration provided Doulton's with a supply of higher-quality artwork for its trade, and gave students at Lambeth School of Art employment opportunities, and many noted English modellers and sculptors of the late nineteenth century owe their careers to this partnership.

[16] As with Doulton's, a number of apprentices at Farmer and Brindley augmented their training with study at the Art School.

[13] The new backing secured the financial future of the art school without the strings attached to government funding.

[19] Graduates of the Art School were involved in some of the leading social and political movements of the early twentieth century, including Clemence Housman and Laurence Housman, who co-founded, in 1909, a society for artists who supported the Suffragette Movement, called the Suffrage Atelier.

[20] Laurence Housman later went on to found the radical bookshop, which still bears his name, located in Caledonian Road, near London's King's Cross railway station.

In 1971 the Art School became an independent charitable trust, with the new Deed of Incorporation signed by Geoffrey Agnew (chairman of the art gallery Thomas Agnew & Sons), Sir Colin Skelton Anderson (Provost of the Royal College of Art), Sir John Betjeman (poet), Adrian Maurice Daintrey (artist), Gilbert Samuel (Lord Mayor of London), Charles Wheeler (sculptor and Former President of the Royal Academy), and Carel Weight (artist), amongst others.

In 1997 and 1998 the Fine Art Painting, Sculpture and Conservation courses were validated at undergraduate BA (Hons) level.

[23] In 2009 Booker Prize shortlisted writer Tibor Fischer became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the City and Guilds of London Art School.

Other tutors include Kim Amis, Andrea Barber, Niamh Clancy, Gary Colclough, Alex Hough, Lucy Le Feuvre, Nicholas Middleton, Daniel Mifsud, Emma Montague, Jacky Oliver and Sage Townsend.

A range of contemporary artists teach at the Art School including Kiera Bennett, Kate Dunn, Andrew Grassie, Jane Hayes Greenwood, James Jessop, Reece Jones, Hugh Mendes, Alex Gene Morrison, Kate Palmer, Charley Peters, Candida Powell-Williams, Frances Richardson, Jack Southern, Amikam Toren, and Tom Worsford.