Secure your place

Date

5 November 2025

Read time

2 minutes

Welcome to the World’s No.1 University for Art & Design.*

Students come from across the world to the Royal College of Art in London to be part of an internationally renowned postgraduate community. Gain unrivalled opportunities to enhance your practice, build networks, solve global challenges and develop your career.

* QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: Art & Design

Date

5 November 2025

Read time

2 minutes

Discover our programmes

The Royal College of Art offers Graduate Diploma, Master's and MPhil/PhD programmes in the arts, design, communication, architecture and the humanities. Our students also come from a broad range of backgrounds including science, technology, engineering, social sciences, business and healthcare.

Programme finder

January 2026 intake

A number of programmes have an intake in January 2026 including:

Communication MFA
Creative Education MEd
Design Practice MArch
Graduate Diploma Art & Design
MPhil/PhD programmes.

Find out more about the January intake.

September 2026 intake

Applications for our September 2026 intake are open now.

See eligibility and key dates

Online and on-campus open days

Register for online and on-campus open days, portfolio Q&A sessions, campus tours and the chance to meet the RCA globally and in the UK.

Online Open Events

Online Portfolio Q&A Week: 1-5 December 2025

In-person Events

Join us for a campus tour and experience what life at the RCA is really like. Explore our facilities, meet our community, and get a feel for studying here. Visit the link for more information and to see upcoming tour dates.

Open events

Graduate Diploma Art & Design

The Graduate Diploma prepares you for Master’s study at the RCA. Join the January 2026 cohort and graduate in time to commence a Master's programme in September.

Applications are open until 5 December.

30 weeks | On-campus, online or dual-learning modes of study

Graduate Diploma Art & Design

Why choose the RCA?

Group of architecture students in the studio

Teaching and research expertise

The opportunity to learn from world-leading academic staff. We’re the only specialist art and design university where all of our permanent teaching and research staff are also research active and included in the RCA’s submissions to the UK Research Excellence Framework.

Renowned alumni

Our 30,000+ alumni are leaders in their disciplines, making national and international headlines. Alumni include:

Hoor Al Qasimi
Hurvin Anderson RA
Christopher Bailey CBE
Sir Peter Blake
Sir Frank Bowling
Sir James Dyson OM
Dame Tracey Emin RA
Sir Anthony Finkelstein
Thomas Heatherwick RDI, CBE
Dame Barbara Hepworth
Lubaina Himid RA CBE
David Hockney OM
Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq
Asif Kapadia
Julian MacDonald OBE
Henry Moore OM
Erdem Moralioglu MBE
Morag Myerscough
Dame Magdalene Odundo
Chris Ofili CBE
Dame Zandra Rhodes
Bridget Riley
Sir Ridley Scott
Philip Treacy OBE

A diverse creative community

The RCA is the world’s largest postgraduate-only art and design university, representing an exciting talent base and opportunities to build your network and collaborate. An RCA student might be working in industry or the arts, a career-changer, or come straight from an undergraduate course. We typically welcome students from over 70 countries.

Interdisciplinary connections

Our College and School-wide projects, activities and challenges help our students find like-minded creatives to solve major global problems, grow their networks, or find future business partners. Find out more about AcrossRCA.

Build your career

Find out more about how the RCA can help move your career to the next level with our Graduate Careers Report.

Ready to take the next step?

Apply now to start in 2026

“The RCA is a huge place with a lot of different departments. There are no limitations. There are boundaries, but no limitations on how to create your piece.”
Valerie Bernardini Ceramics & Glass MA, 2023
“The Royal College of Art has been a vast source of knowledge, workshops, collaboration and intellectual freedom, which increased my desire to continue studying in a forward-thinking, kind and innovative environment.”
Sabina Petit Balcaityte MRes RCA, 2023, current Architecture MA student
“The RCA fosters a level of independence in directing the research focus of our work that has allowed me to confidently propose projects, knowing what it will take to make it happen.”
Cyan D’Anjou Information Experience Design MA, 2023
“I had amazing support from my tutors. They challenged me with the right questions and pushed me past what I thought were my limits.”
Rosalba Fucci Textiles MA, 2021
“I think the RCA was the place where I found my voice as a filmmaker, and where I became more secure in my role as a filmmaker. I was happy to go there after a few years of working first, that gave me a stronger awareness of what I wanted out of the education.”
Anna Mantzaris Animation MA, 2018

Why an accountant, a scientist and a business consultant enrolled at art school

Read more

Three students reveal why they took a ‘leap of faith’ and left their jobs to pursue their artistic passions in photography, illustration and animation.
How Arts & Humanities MFA helps our students bring their art to real audiences

Read more

Every year our Arts & Humanities MFA students create collectives to work on a live public arts project with public organisations including art charities, local councils and architecture firms.
Meet the RCA alumni harnessing the power of Service Design

Read more

Four graduates of the RCA’s Service Design MA share the impact the programme has had on their careers.
5 RCA artists join Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2024

Read more

Sara Osman, Danilo Zocatelli Cesco, Farzane Ghadyanloo, Tom Fairlamb and Yang Zou joined 35 New Contemporaries artists at KARST, Levinsky Gallery and MIRROR in Plymouth.
Meet our 2023 graduates a year after the RCA

Read more

RCA2024 showcased the work of graduating RCA students and the global impact our graduates have made across art and design.