Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading art and design university. Our postgraduate programmes enable you to tackle complex issues, build your networks, and find your voice as a professional in a changing world.
Committed to creating the next generation of artists, designers, researchers, creators and innovators, the RCA’s world-leading academic and technical services staff will guide and challenge you to push the boundaries of your practice. As the world’s largest community of postgraduate-only art and design students, you will be part of a collective of inspirational creative peers opening up new opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Based around the Schools of Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Communication, Design and Research Office, the broad range of disciplines on offer is based on a strong foundation of practice-based research. Students are encouraged to work in an interdisciplinary way, including integrating STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – subjects.
Our facilities and technical equipment are amongst the best of their kind in the world and support students in their explorations of the creative possibilities of both the new and innovative and traditional craft skills.
In addition to our postgraduate programmes, the RCA also offers a range of Executive Education and Summer School short courses.
International students
With around 2,800 postgraduate students from over 80 countries, the countless backgrounds of culture, practice, perspective and nationality create a diverse and interdisciplinary space.
Studying at the RCA is the starting point for the world’s creative leaders; those who redefine what should come next.
Students come with backgrounds as varied as nuclear science, journalism, medicine, computer engineering, business administration and music. This range of perspectives enriches students, igniting new ways of thinking and sparking innovation as they move between media and materials.
With campuses in Kensington, Battersea and White City, students are well positioned to explore London’s creative and media hubs.
I learnt how to work with people and with communities, just understanding different points of view and bringing that together. Coming to RCA with the idea of: ‘What are the things I could make?’ has completely shifted to: ‘how can we get together and make things?’
Rashmi Bidasaria, Design Products MA
Quick Facts
#1 ranked art and design university in the QS World University Subject Rankings for 10 consecutive years (2015-2024).
83% of graduates rate the RCA ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for at least one element of how the institution prepares students for life after university. (Source: RCA Graduate Careers Report 2024).
At least 4 in 5 RCA graduates in work…
…find their work fulfilling.
…are doing work that they love.
…are passionate about the work they do.
…agree that their work gives them opportunities to grow.
(Source: RCA Graduate Careers Report 2024).
Our teaching is informed by world leading research. In the UK’s 2021 Research Excellence Framework assessment, the vast majority of the RCA’s submission was graded world-leading and internationally excellent across the three main categories of ‘Outputs’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Environment’.
Student
Stories
It’s a pretty magical space, with this energy that you most likely don’t get again in life. You work next to like-minded people, you can talk about things, exchange thoughts and push your practice further. It’s motivating to come back every day and see everyone.
Theresa Weber, Sculpture MA
I’ve been interested in how to bring art and science together, while thinking about what the environment is in terms of perception, philosophy and anthropology. I came to the RCA because the architecture programmes provided lines of research that expanded my core belief about different ways of thinking about ecological systems and how we affect them.
Yussef Agbo-Ola, Environmental Architecture MA