The University for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone & Rochester provides inspiring courses in art, design, architecture, media and communication.

Formed through the union of The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College and the Kent Institute of Art & Design, we have an outstanding heritage spanning 150 years.

With around 6,500 students enrolled on more than 80 different courses, the University is one of the UK's leading providers of specialist art and design education, offering strengths in art, design, architecture, media and communication.

A thriving and vibrant community of students, staff and researchers, the University plays a significant role in the creative, economic and cultural life of the UK. It is home to several public art galleries, to the Crafts Study Centre and to research centres that include the Centre for Sustainable Design, the Animation Research Centre and the Public Art and Architecture (PARC) research centre.

As a specialist organisation, the University's purpose-built facilities, its expanding programme of research and development, and its growing range of business and professional links are all focused on the promotion of the creative arts. The recent award of university will enhance the reputation of further and higher education in the creative arts, drive forward research, and provide a gateway to the cultural industries in the UK and worldwide.

Specialist art and design

The University's key strength lies in the breadth of specialist, academic disciplines that it offers. Providing students with a ladder of opportunity, the University enables talented individuals to progress from further education through to undergraduate and postgraduate study and on to employment or creative practice.

Many staff are creative practitioners as well as academics, and are actively involved in the cultural industries. In this way, they bring the workplace into the learning environment, enabling the University to drive forward research and to prepare its students for the real world of work.

High quality education and research

The University is established on a strong foundation of high quality academic provision. The Kent Institute, for example, received an outstanding rating for its further education (FE) provision in its Ofsted inspection report released in March 2005. The official report placed the Kent Institute as the highest rated institution or university offering further education in art and design in England.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) gave its highest judgement of confidence to The Surrey Institute on completion of an institutional audit in May 2003. The judgement of 'broad confidence' indicated that the quality of the Institute's courses and the standard of its awards were extremely well managed, and confirmed an ability to secure and maintain this level of quality in the future. In the 2001 RAE (Research Assessment Exercise), the Kent Institute entered 22 research-active staff achieving an overall grade of 3a. The Surrey Institute was also awarded 3a for Art and Design in the same exercise, having raised its quality rating by three grades - the most significant improvement of all submissions in Art and Design.

Nurturing success

The University counts many of the UK's most successful designers, artists and communicators among its alumni, including such distinguished individuals as the Turner Prize nominee, Tracey Emin; TV personality, Tony Hart; fashion designers, Owen Gaster, Karen Millen, Zandra Rhodes and Nargess Gharani and Vanja Strok of Gharani Strok; graphic designer, Martin Lambie Nairn; artists, Humphrey Ocean and Tacita Dean; Oscar-winning animators, Daniel Greaves, Michael Dudok de Wit and Suzie Templeton; and textile designer, Roger Oates. Together these alumni demonstrate an ability to generate success, both nationally and internationally, and provide the University with a track record that speaks for itself.