The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of 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 The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) 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 Col ...

was merged into the

Surrey Institute of Art & Design 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� ...

, which already had degree-awarding status; both constituent schools had been formed by merging the local art schools, in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

respectively. It was granted university status in 2008, and the name changed to the present one. In 2016 it merged with the

Open College of the Arts The Open College of the Arts (OCA) is an open learning arts college, with a Head Office in Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1987 by Michael Young, it is a registered charity and the distance learning partner of the University ...

History

The origin of the University for the Creative Arts lies in the establishment of various small art schools in the English counties of

and

in the nineteenth century. In Kent the first of these was

Maidstone College of Art The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) 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 Col ...

, founded in 1867, and in Surrey the

Guildford School of Art 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 ...

, 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 Creative Arts was granted full university status by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, and adopted its current name, the University for the Creative Arts, officially in September 2008. Following the election of a

Coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

, the

Department for Business Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

introduced legislation to increase

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...

while reducing government spending on Higher Education in real terms and the University for the Creative Arts was revealed to be the fourth most-cut university in England with a cut of 7.8% (10.2% in real terms). The University for the Creative Arts announced in February 2011 that it was discussing designating part of its Maidstone campus for use by

MidKent College MidKent College (formerly Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education) is a further education college in Kent, England. It runs courses from two separate campuses in Maidstone and Medway, including a number of higher education courses. Th ...

. Further to this, MidKent College expressed its willingness to buy the Maidstone campus from 2012 and phase out the UCA presence at the campus by 2014.

Timeline

* 1856 –

is founded as Guildford Working Men's Institution * 1866 – Farnham School of Art is founded * 1867 – Maidstone College of Art is founded as Maidstone School of Art * 1868 – Canterbury College of Art is founded as the Sidney Cooper School of Art * 1886 – Medway College of Design is founded as Rochester School of Art * 1896 – Epsom School of Art & Design is founded as Epsom Technical Institute & School of Art * 1969 – Farnham School of Art and Guildford School of Art merge to form West Surrey College of Art & Design * 1987 – Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone College of Art and Medway College of Design merge to form

Kent Institute of Art & Design The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) 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 Co ...

* 1995 – Epsom School of Art & Design and West Surrey College of Art & Design merge to form Surrey Institute of Art & Design * 1999 – Surrey Institute of Art & Design receives University College Title from the

and is renamed

Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College 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 ...

* 2005 – Kent Institute of Art & Design and Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College merge to form University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone & Rochester * 2008 – University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone & Rochester receives University Title from the Privy Council and is renamed University for the Creative Arts

Campuses

University of the Creative Arts, Epsom Campus (July 2021)

UCA has campuses in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, together with teaching bases at the

Royal School of Needlework The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is a hand embroidery school in the United Kingdom, founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace since 1987. History The RSN began as the School of Art Needlework in 1872, founded by Lady Victoria Welby ...

and

The Maidstone Studios The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre, is the UK's largest independent television studio complex, and is based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent, UK. It has been home to a varied selection of independent British televisi ...

, and a project and exhibition space in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Creative Quarter. It previously had a campus in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, which was closed in 2014. The university also validates provision at, or co-delivers courses with, a number of other educational institutions and arts organisations in the UK and overseas: Farnham Maltings,

Laine Theatre Arts Laine Theatre Arts, sometimes referred to as Laines, is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974 by former professional dancer and dance teacher Betty Laine OBE, and ...

, London School of Design & Marketing, Millennium Performing Arts,

Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading contemporary art galleries. Celebrating Margate’s connection with the painter J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851), an artist who believed that art could be an agent of change, its year-round exhibition ...

and

MIT Institute of Design The MIT Art, Design and Technology University (MIT-ADT) is an autonomous private university in Rajbaug Loni Kalbhor, Pune, Maharashtra, India. It is part of the MIT Group of Institutions. History The MIT Group of Institutions The MIT ...

. On 1 November 2016, the

became part of UCA. This built on a close working relationship established in 2010.

Organisation and academic life

, and offers courses in a very wide range of architecture, art, design, fashion, media and performing arts subjects. Courses are offered at pre-degree further education,

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

, taught postgraduate and doctoral levels. The University is organised into seven academic schools: The Business School,

Canterbury School of Architecture The Canterbury School of Architecture (CSA) which was founded in 1952 is a leading architecture school in the United Kingdom and is a department of the University for the Creative Arts in England. It has been listed within the top five architec ...

; Crafts & Design; Fashion and Textiles; Film, Media & Performing Arts; Fine Art, Photography and Visual Communication; and Further Education. It has five research centres: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Centre for Sustainable Design,

Crafts Study Centre The Crafts Study Centre is a university museum of modern crafts, located next to the entrance of the University for the Creative Arts at Farnham, Surrey. The Crafts Study Centre holds collections of 20th and 21st century British craft, primar ...

, Fine Art & Photography Research Centre, and International Textile Research Centre. The UK's first

Business School A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

for the Creative Industries is based at UCA Epsom.

Rankings and reputation

Chancellor

* 2010 –

Zandra Rhodes Dame Zandra Lindsey Rhodes, (born 19 September 1940), is an English fashion and textile designer. Her early education in fashion set the foundation for a career in the industry creating textile prints. Rhodes has designed garments for Diana, ...

* 2018 – Magdalene Odundo

Pro-Chancellors / Chairs of the Board of Governors

* 2008 –

Loyd Grossman Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is well known for presenting the BBC programme ''MasterChef'' from 1990 to 20 ...

* 2012 – Robert Taylor

Vice-Chancellors

* 2005 – Elaine Thomas * 2011 – Simon Ofield-Kerr * 2017 – Alan Cooke (Acting) * 2017 – Bashir Makhoul

Notable alumni

* William McGregor, film and television director, directed programmes such as ''

Poldark ''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice ...

'' and ''

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

'' * PJ Liguori, YouTube filmmaker * Chris Butler, storyboard artist, writer and director, known for his works at

Laika Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecra ...

, such as ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American stop-motion animated comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, J ...

'' * Lois Michels, Brighton-based visual artist and painter and Kent enthusiast *

Edd Gould Edward Duncan Ernest Gould, (28 October 1988 – 25 March 2012) was a British animator, artist, writer, director, and voice actor. He was best known for creating '' Eddsworld'', a media franchise consisting of flash animations and web comics ...

, animator, artist, writer director, voice actor and creator of

Eddsworld ''Eddsworld'' (capitalized as ''EDDSWORLD'' in the official title design) is a British Flash-animated web series created by Edd Gould. Since premiering on 20 December 2004, the series has been published through Newgrounds, DeviantArt, YouTube ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creative Arts, University for the Education in Canterbury Education in Medway

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Ins ...

Fashion schools in the United Kingdom Design schools in the United Kingdom 2005 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 2005 Universities and colleges formed by merger in the United Kingdom