Royal College of Art

Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s largest community of postgraduate art and design students. It is the oldest art and design university in continuous operation and has been ranked number one in the world for a remarkable ten consecutive years (QS World Subject Rankings 2015-2024). Its President and Vice-Chancellor is Professor Christoph Lindner; Sir Jony Ive is its Chancellor; and its Pro-Chancellor is Sir Peter Bazalgette. 

The RCA is research-led, and recognised in the UK-wide REF (Research Excellence Framework) as a world-leading research-intensive institution – with an increased proportion of the College’s outputs classed as ‘internationally excellent’ and ‘world-leading’ in the most recent REF assessment.

Studying at the RCA is the starting point for the world’s creative leaders. With more than 25,000 RCA alumni across the globe, the RCA’s graduates form a unique international network of artists, designers, creators and innovators. Every year, RCA alumni are recognised as leaders in their discipline, making national and international headlines for their work, which shapes the world we live in. Its graduate start-up incubator, InnovationRCA, is one of the most successful in the country, and has a global reach having delivered consulting and training across the world, including South Korea, the Middle East and Japan. 

Over 2,800 students are spread across four schools, four research centres and two Directorates – Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Communication and Design - studying at Graduate Diploma, MA, MPhil, MRes and PhD level. Commencing September 2023, the RCA has launched a new suite of MFA, MDes, MArch, MRes and MEd programmes focussed on professional development. The College’s mix of professionalism and creative freedom, together with its renowned academic community and rigorous academic framework provides the ecosystem in which students flourish and achieve their highest potential.

The RCA combines support for, and training in, the ‘traditional’ craft and professional skills of art and design, with the belief that art, design, creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today’s global challenges. The RCA champions the value of interdisciplinary learning, and was the first art and design university in the world to implement a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Design and Mathematics) academic vision, with investment in new faculty posts in Materials Science; Computer Science and Robotics alongside art and design disciplines. By applying creative insights to evidence-based science, its staff, students, researchers and start-ups are addressing major global challenges such as rapid urbanisation and transport; loss of biodiversity; ageing populations; unsustainable consumption and production; and the rise of AI.