CONAHEC Member Institution

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) is one of the top creative arts universities in the UK offering courses in Architecture, Art, Design, Fashion, Film, Performing Arts and Creative Business across the counties of Surrey and Kent. It is ranked top for student satisfaction in music and communication and media courses by the Complete University Guide 2023 and The Guardian has ranked it the second specialist creative university in the UK for 2023. Creativity makes communities more vibrant, innovative, human – so the university supports each of its students to forge their own path and use their creativity to make a difference!

About UCA

At UCA, we believe that creativity makes global communities more vibrant, more innovative, more human. Which is why, for 160 years, our university has been a passionate advocate for creative education and research. We offer courses in Architecture, Crafts, Fashion, Graphic Design, Illustration, Fine Art, Photography, Film, Media, the Performing Arts and Creative Business. Our programmes are acclaimed for their top teaching quality, and highly respected by creative sector employers. But we’re a lot more than that, too.

Our goal

We want to inspire people to use their creativity to drive change, overcome challenges and improve the lives of others. So we’ve designed our university to be an inclusive, dynamic environment.​ Our campuses across Surrey and Kent, our Institute for Creative Innovation in Xiamen, China, and our homes within partner organisations such as the Maidstone Television Studios all have one thing in common: They are places to forge inspiring partnerships, make work with purpose and build real solutions to human problems across the globe – whether that’s as part of our vibrant teaching and research community, or as a student on one of our courses.

The Guardian has ranked UCA the second specialist university in the UK for 2023. The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 has ranked UCA the third placed specialist creative university in the UK. The 2023 Complete University Guide has ranked UCA top for student satisfaction across music and communication and media courses, second for student satisfaction across business and management courses, and third for student satisfaction across architecture courses. The Journalism courses have been ranked fourth in the UK by The Guardian for 2023 and the School of Fashion & Textiles is ranked 12th in the UK by The Guardian for 2023.

Notable Alumni

UCA is proud of the incredible things their graduates achieve, and is delighted to count big names such as Tracey Emin CBE, Karen Millen OBE, Arnold Schwartzman OBE, Stephen Webster MBE, Mark Baker, Chris Butler, Gareth Edwards and Grant Orchard among them.