Secure your place

Date

28 October 2024

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.

Date

28 October 2024

Read time

2 minutes

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

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

Applications for the September 2026 intake are open.

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. MRes studying at the RCA

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.

On-campus Open Events

School of Architecture: Tuesday 4 November
School of Design (Kensington): Tuesday 4 November
School of Communication: Thursday 6 November

Online Open Events

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

Upcoming events Group of architecture students in the studio

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 RCA2025

RCA2025 - Graduate Show

Discover the world’s newest talent and latest innovations from our art, design, architecture, communication and design students.

RCA2025 was a series of exhibitions and events and activities, showcasing the work of graduating RCA students.

Showcase

Why choose the RCA?

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 28,000 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
Bridget Riley
Sir Ridley Scott
Philip Treacy OBE
Dame Zandra Rhodes

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.

“I found the resources so accessible, technicians approachable and the overall experience was really positive.”
Yasmeen Thantrey Contemporary Art Practice MA, 2023
“During my time on the Ceramics & Glass MA, my ways of thinking have been challenged and pushed into new avenues, which have fed into my making processes.”
Serena Dicks Ceramics & Glass MA, 2024
“The RCA is a world-class institution, and somewhere you can really make things happen if you take the initiative.”
Shawn Adams Architecture MA, 2020
“As an independent filmmaker what I acquired from RCA has given me confidence and confirmation in what I can achieve in my career going forward.”
Duncan Senkumba Animation MA, 2020, Animator & Director
“It was a place where curiosity was absolutely encouraged, without limit and without borders, that was a very appealing place to be… With the RCA you’ve got a badge that opens doors.”
Judah Armani Service Design MA, 2018, Founder at InHouse Records
“The staff made me realise that I could be more ambitious, more sure of myself and to grab the next dream project (in my case, a book) and make it happen. The RCA has most definitely opened doors for me – and showed me where the doors are.”
Laura Robertson Writing MA, 2020, Author and freelance writer
“I came to the RCA because I was at a point where I felt like I needed to establish a visual identity for myself… It has completely reshaped my process and helped me to think much more conceptually than I ever have before.”
Sosa Yande Graduate Diploma Art & Design, 2019, Artist

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How Arts & Humanities MFA helps our students bring their art to real audiences

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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

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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

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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.