UCA invests in its students’ futures
according to University Guides 2025

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) has maintained its position as the UK’s second-ranked creative specialist university according to The Guardian University Guide 2025.

09 Sep 2024

The Guardian ranked UCA sixth for “spend per student”, and eighth for student-to-staff ratio, confirming UCA’s investment in its students’ futures. In subject areas, UCA leapt 18 places in dance and drama and climbed the tables in Architecture, Art, Animation and Game Design, and Graphic Design, and maintained its top 20 status in Interior Design. 

The Daily Mail, which also released its University Guide for 2025, positioned UCA in the top 50 for social mobility – UCA is a popular choice for first-generation students with 49% of the cohort first generation – and confirmed UCA as an institution with a strong research profile. Our reputation as an institution that delivers strong employability was confirmed by our 5% improvement in the number of graduates with high-skilled jobs.  

Lastly, The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, ranked us highly for social inclusion, placing us in 12th position, and ranked UCA's Architecture course second for student experience, joint-third for teaching quality, and 26th place overall.

UCA’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane Roscoe said: “During what is a very challenging time for universities and students, the results from the Daily Mail and Guardian University Guides confirm that we are continuing to deliver an excellent student experience, improving outcomes for our graduates, and supporting high-quality research. 

Our new strategy is ambitious, both for us as a university, and for our staff and students. I am confident that together with our fantastic academic, technical, and professional staff we will continue to build on these good results.”    

These rankings are the latest set of results to measure universities in the UK, with the Complete University Guide 2025 released earlier in the year. In it, UCA climbed two places in the overall table and ranked eighth for academic spend – how much a university invests in the students’ educational journey, such as libraries or IT equipment.