About UCA

About
us

At UCA, we believe that creativity makes global communities more vibrant, more innovative, more human.

Which is why, for 160 years, our university has been a passionate advocate for creative education and research. 

We offer courses in Architecture, Crafts, Fashion, Graphic Design, Illustration, Fine Art, Photography, Film, Media, the Performing Arts and Creative Business. Our programmes are acclaimed for their top teaching quality, and highly respected by creative sector employers.

But we’re a lot more than that, too.

Our goal

We want to inspire people to use their creativity to drive change, overcome challenges and improve the lives of others.

So we’ve designed our university to be an inclusive, dynamic environment.​ Our campuses across Surrey and Kent, our Institute for Creative Innovation in Xiamen, China, and our homes within partner organisations such as the Maidstone Television Studios all have one thing in common:

They are places to forge inspiring partnerships, make work with purpose and build real solutions to human problems across the globe – whether that’s as part of our vibrant teaching and research community, or as a student on one of our courses.

Our strategy

Our ten-year strategy sets out how we're working to make UCA an even better place to work and study.

View our strategy and vision

UCA
Chancellor

Chancellor - Professor Dame Magdalene Odundo DBE

Professor Dame Magdalene Odundo is an internationally renowned ceramicist whose work can be found in public and private collections worldwide. She became UCA’s second Chancellor in June 2018, succeeding Dame Zandra Rhodes, who became Chancellor Emerita.

After graduating from UCA’s Farnham campus, which was then known as West Surrey College of Art & Design, Dame Magdalene developed her unique creative technique, drawing on traditional Ugandan practice and other sources, such as Mexican pottery and Greek Cycladic sculpture, to build her pieces.

Dame Magdalene was Professor of Ceramics at UCA Farnham from 2001 to 2016, and then became Professor Emerita. She has received honours from cultural and educational institutions across the world.

Chancellor
Emerita

Chancellor Emerita - Dame Zandra Rhodes DBE RDI

Dame Zandra Rhodes is UCA’s Chancellor Emerita - a role she took up after serving as our first Chancellor from 2010 to 2018.

Dame Zandra is one of the world's most recognisable, distinguished and exciting fashion designers. She has built her career on the foundations of hard work and determination – the same values that inspire and motivate our students to succeed in their chosen careers.

Discover more about Zandra Rhodes

Dame Zandra is also a graduate of one of our founder institutions, The Medway College of Design, where her mother was also a lecturer.

Our access and participation plan

Our access and participation plan sets out what we are doing to improve equality of opportunity for under-represented groups to access and succeed in higher education.

• UCA Access & Participation Plan 2023-24
• UCA Access & Participation Plan 2022-23
• UCA Access & Participation Plan 2021-22
• UCA Access & Participation Plan 2020-21
• UCA Access & Participation Plan 2019-20
• UCA Fee Information 2024-25
• UCA Impact Report 2019-20