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 was merged into the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, 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 county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

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, 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 mo ...

, 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 introduced legislation to increase tuition fees 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. 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 – Guildford School of Art 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 C ...

* 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 * 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 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

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 tri ...

and Rochester, 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 Welb ...

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 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 centre of the town, linking it wi ...

, 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 Farnham Maltings is a creative arts centre in the heart of the market town of Farnham in Surrey, England History Farnham Maltings was bought by the community, currently led by its town council A town council, city council or municipal cou ...

, Laine Theatre Arts, London School of Design & Marketing, Millennium Performing Arts, Turner Contemporary and MIT Institute of Design. 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-le ...

, taught postgraduate and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

levels. The University is organised into seven academic schools: The Business School, Canterbury School of Architecture; 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, prima ...

, 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, or ...

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 * 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'' * PJ Liguori, YouTube filmmaker * Chris Butler, storyboard artist, writer and director, known for his works at Laika, such as '' ParaNorman'' * Lois Michels, Brighton-based visual artist and painter and Kent enthusiast * Edd Gould, animator, artist, writer director, voice actor and creator of Eddsworld

References

External links

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