The Royal College of Art started life in 1837 as the Government School of Design. Granted a Royal Charter and university status in 1967, today the RCA remains the world’s most influential postgraduate institution of art and design.
1900s
The Royal College of Art started life in 1837 as the Government School of Design, located in Somerset House in the Strand. Following the Great Exhibition of 1851, this relatively small-scale operation was radically transformed to accommodate art as well as design, leading the institution to be rechristened the National Art Training School at its new home in South Kensington. In 1896 it became the Royal College of Art.
2000 – present
Not that the story ends there. As we progress through the 21st century, RCA graduates continue to influence the culture surrounding all of us. At the forefront of contemporary art and design today are, to name but a few, graduates such as painter Chris Ofili, designer Thomas Heatherwick, architect David Adjaye, fashion designer Christopher Bailey, photographer Tom Hunter, and product designer Sam Buxton.
Home to the world’s most diverse community of artists and designers, the Royal College of Art offers transformational experiences to students who go on to transform the world. We are committed to providing an outstanding education to talented individuals – regardless of background or financial circumstances.
It’s astonishing to think that – in a global population of seven billion – the RCA trains just 2,000 people every year. And yet this unique and specialist postgraduate university, its students and alumni, continually deliver an eye-opening number of the inspired design solutions and cultural contributions that shape our society.
We believe that creative invention and innovation spring from individual imagination. We nurture creative leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to break moulds, push boundaries, and bend traditions and rules.
We are immensely proud of our students. Our alumni include creative giants from Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth to David Hockney, Bridget Riley and Chris Ofili, from James Dyson and Zandra Rhodes to Clare Waight Keller, Christopher Bailey and David Adjaye.
Without the RCA, these luminaries would not have been able to make their mark. Financial circumstances should not be a barrier to world-class education. Funding vital scholarships will enable us to offer more places to the most gifted individuals.
In 2021, the RCA was placed first in the art and design subject area in the QS World University Rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds for the seventh year in a row, with an overall score of 98.9/100.
In August 2015 it was ranked first on a list of master's courses in fashion by Business of Fashion, a fashion website.
In April 2011 the RCA was ranked first on a list of UK graduate art schools compiled by Modern Painters magazine from a survey of professionals in the art world
n the Research Assessment Exercise of December 2008, 40% of the research output of the school received the highest (4* or "world-leading") assessment, the third-highest rating in the art and design subject area; over all subject areas only about fifty institutions received a higher rating
