Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1856 2005 (as the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester) [1] |
Chancellor | Magdalene Odundo |
Vice-Chancellor | Professor Jane Roscoe |
Students | 9,430 (2021–22) |
Undergraduates | 7,685 (2021–22) |
Postgraduates | 1,745 (2021–22) |
Other students | 1,129 FE (2015–16) [2] |
Location | , |
Affiliations | GuildHE |
Website | uca |
The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in Southern England.
It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Institute of Art and Design was merged into the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, which already had degree-awarding status; [3] both constituent schools had been formed by merging the local art schools, in Kent and Surrey respectively. It was granted university status in 2008, and the name changed to the present one. [4]
The origin of the University for the Creative Arts lies in the establishment of various small art schools in the English counties of Kent and Surrey in the nineteenth century. In Kent the first of these was Maidstone College of Art, founded in 1867, and in Surrey the Guildford School of Art, founded in 1856. During the second half of the twentieth century many of these small art schools merged, eventually forming Kent Institute of Art & Design in 1987, and Surrey Institute of Art & Design in 1995. These two organisations joined forces in 2005 to become the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester. In May 2008, the University College for the Creative Arts was granted full university status by the Privy Council, and adopted its current name, the University for the Creative Arts, officially in September 2008. [5] In 2016, it merged with the Open College of the Arts. [4]
UCA has campuses in Canterbury, Epsom and Farnham, plus a teaching base at The Maidstone Studios, [23] and a project and exhibition space in Folkestone Creative Quarter. [24]
It previously had a campus in Maidstone (closed in 2014) and another in Rochester (closed in 2023). [25] [26]
The university also validates provision at, or co-delivers courses with, a number of other educational institutions and arts organisations in the UK: Farnham Maltings, London College of Contemporary Arts, London College of Creative Media, London School of Design & Marketing, and London Studio Centre. [27]
UCA works in partnership with several institutions globally, validating courses for: Berlin School Business & Innovation (Germany), Cyprus Academy of Arts (Cyprus), Hong Kong Management Associations (Hong Kong), The Millennium Universal College (Pakistan), and UK Creative Art and Design Centre (South Korea). [27]
In 2019, UCA and Xiamen University partnered to establish the Institute of Creativity and Innovation, with the Institute opening its doors in September 2020. [28]
UCA Canterbury is home to architecture, interior design, automotive design, industrial and product design, fine art and visual communications courses. Students have on-campus halls of residence in Ian Dury House and off-campus accommodation in the Riverside Student Quarter. [29]
The UCA Doctoral College for creative PhD study is located close to UCA Canterbury at Rochester House. [30]
Creative business, fashion and textiles courses are run from the UCA Epsom campus. Four different accommodation blocks – Bradford House, Wilberforce Court, Crossways House and Worple Road – are located either next to campus or a ten-minute walk away. [31]
Farnham is the largest of UCA's campuses. Film, media, visual effects, performing arts, music, fine art, photography, animation, crafts, graphic design, illustration, creative technology, and games courses are taught there. It has two large on-campus halls of residence housing 600 students, called University Walk and Student Village. [32]
In June 2022, UCA Farnham became the headquarters for ISEA International. [33]
UCA is the third largest provider of design, and creative and performing arts higher education in the UK, with around 5,845 students. [34] It offers courses in a very wide range of architecture, art, crafts, design, fashion, media and performing arts subjects. [35]
Courses are offered at pre-degree further education, undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral levels. [36]
The university is organised into ten academic schools: Business School for the Creative Industries, Canterbury School of Architecture & Design, School of Communications, School of Fashion & Textiles, School of Film, Media & Performing Arts, School of Fine Art, Crafts & Photography, School of Games & Creative Technology, UCA Doctoral College, UCA International College (UCAIC), and Institute of Creativity and Innovation (ICI). [37]
It has eight research centres: Centre for Sustainable Design, Crafts Study Centre, Animation Research Centre, International Textile Research Centre, Audio Research Cluster, Cluster for Cinema/Affect/Place (CCAP), Conflict and the Creative Arts Research Centre, and UCA Innovation Hub. [38]
The UK's first Business School for the Creative Industries is based at UCA Epsom. [39]
National rankings | |
---|---|
Complete (2025) [40] | 85 |
Guardian (2025) [41] | 89 |
Times / Sunday Times (2025) [42] | 87 |
UCA submitted 115 research outputs to be considered by the expert panel for Art and Design in REF 2021, as well as four impact case studies. REF 2021 ranked 78% of UCA's research as world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*) for its originality, significance and rigour. [53]
The Students' Union at the University of the Creative Arts (UCASU) is open to all students, and has over 20 clubs and societies. [56]
UCASU offers student advice and support, and runs identity communities for those who self-define one or more of the following groups: BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities), LGBTQ+, Disabled and Women. [57]
UCASU runs events at Glasshouse on the Farnham campus.
Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe. It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone.
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties and is one of the largest universities in the UK, measured by the size of its student population in 2020/21.
Surrey is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking.
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The University of Kent is a semi-collegiate public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its royal charter on 4 January 1965 and the following year Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, was formally installed as the first Chancellor.
The Kent Institute of Art & Design was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone College of Art and Medway (Rochester) College of Design. In turn KIAD merged with the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College on 1 August 2005 to form the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester. In 2008, this gained full university status and became the University for the Creative Arts.
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Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893–1995). It merged with the Kent Institute of Art & Design on 1 August 2005 to form the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham and Rochester, now the University for the Creative Arts.
Guildford School of Art was formed in 1856 as Guildford Working Men's Institution and was one of several schools of art run by Surrey County Council. After several mergers with tertiary art institutions it became part of the University for the Creative Arts in 2008.
UCCA may stand for:
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