The origin of the university lies in the Victorian era when our founding independent, public art and design colleges opened their doors. Located in Canterbury, Epsom, Guildford, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester, each college made it their mission to serve people in the local community and offer arts education regardless of social class.
At UCA, you can choose from hundreds of courses, covering every kind of creative specialism. Follow the links below to find out more about the subject areas which interest you the most.
Our purpose is to nurture extraordinary graduates, practitioners and projects across the creative arts. This is underpinned by our vision to be a powerhouse of learning and discovery, whose research excellence is recognised nationally and globally.
We believe that research is fundamental to the pursuit of academic excellence within a specialist arts university. Growing an international research culture is central to the development of the courses that we offer, and every piece of research we embark on authenticates our core values of freedom, experimentation, collaboration, criticism and rigour.
Research is one of our major strengths, and we have a vibrant and progressive research base.
We aim to help you feel confident about managing your own career and make every effort to help you prepare successfully for your next step.
All campuses have a professional Careers and Employability Adviser on site. You can discuss your career development with them, and get practical help with CVs and applications.
We provide impartial and confidential guidance and you can benefit from our services while you are studying and for three years following graduation.
The Global Student Satisfaction Awards empower students across the globe to determine the best universities of 2019. By rating institutions on a scale from 1 to 5, on multiple studies-related questions, we found the top educators in the world.
Learn more about the Global Student Satisfaction AwardsWe have a specialist adviser at each campus who can advise you on finance and welfare issues, such as:
It's really important that you find the right accommodation for you, so that it suits your needs in every way. Choose from campus halls of residence, privately rented flats and houses or lodgings with local families.
Our libraries, supported by the Gateway, offer a hub of learning as well as extensive resources, archives, special collections and access to all student learning services.
Based at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham and Rochester, our campus communities are the lifeblood of UCA. Whichever campus you study at, you'll be surrounded by people with the same creative passions and interests as you.
Representing your views, campaigning on issues and a hotbed of cultural and recreational activities, social groups and events.
It's very small university and that's how I like it! The tutors make the subjects interesting and I enjoy the learning techniques. One improvement could be cheaper food, we are students after all!
I just started studying but at the moment I find the teachers interesting and helpful, the program whole, and the Uni quite far away from everything but comfortable and pleasant.
I loved my university experience, being surrounded by like minded people and creating ideas and concepts that grow over your time at university whilst being taught by people from within the industry is one of the reasons why I would like to continue my studies
