QS 2023 ranking Art Degrees

Hi everyone, I am really surprised to see UCL ranks #42 for Art given the reputation and selectivity of the Slade School. Any view on why? Views on UAL Camberwell vs Slade (for painting)?

As for my opinion on which institution has a better painting department, I would definitely vouch for Slade. They have a very strong painting cohort and some of the most interesting practicing artists also teach there; for example one of the tutors Onya McCausland who happen to generate her own pigments sourced from the mining fields in and around uk. But it is also important to consider the pedagogy principles of these schools: Slade has a non-modular method of teaching and as far as I am aware, Camberwell has a modular approach (CSM does too), meaning, the latter has project briefs laid out for you and has an educational structure while the former doesn’t. Camberwell’s tuition fee is also cheaper (for international students, I am not sure about home students).

Thanks interesting. Re your point on non modular teaching my understanding is that you pick your speciality (painting, sculpture,..)by end of first term. If you chose painting, wouldn’t that be the equivalent of doing painting from the start at Camberwell with a BA Painting?
When you say briefs are laid out for students, what’s the balance of self initiated work (self directed?) and working to more specific briefs? The course description is actually quite vague…
Are you talking from experience of the course or your own research? Either way, thanks for sharing your views!

Does anyone have an opinion which one is better: RCA or Slade?

I think it depends on what you're looking for, but for me Slade was never in the running. I've not left any of their shows over the past 5 or 6 years feeling particularly wowed or engaged (bar a few individual exceptions), plus various friends who've graduated from there seem to have either stagnated a bit or moved to other fields (and/or been unhappy while there). There are some notable recent(ish) Slade grads who are doing great things though, but I feel they'd have smashed it wherever they'd have gone.

I think it's ultimately what you want from a place yourself, as each institution has its own unique culture (for lack of a better term) and different strengths. There's plenty of issues with the RCA as well (I think MA Fashion just had protest, for example), although I find their graduation shows to be in a different class entirely.

What do you think about slade in comparison to csm for undergrad.

I think it depends on what you're looking for, but for me Slade was never in the running. I've not left any of their shows over the past 5 or 6 years feeling particularly wowed or engaged (bar a few individual exceptions), plus various friends who've graduated from there seem to have either stagnated a bit or moved to other fields (and/or been unhappy while there). There are some notable recent(ish) Slade grads who are doing great things though, but I feel they'd have smashed it wherever they'd have gone.

I think it's ultimately what you want from a place yourself, as each institution has its own unique culture (for lack of a better term) and different strengths. There's plenty of issues with the RCA as well (I think MA Fashion just had protest, for example), although I find their graduation shows to be in a different class entirely.

I'd pick Slade over UAL any day. From a fine art perspective, UAL has its own share of incredible tutors across each College, but the wider UAL organisation is just cramming as many students in as possible, leaving staff over-stretched (and very stressed) and studio spaces are getting smaller and smaller. Slade still has great studio space last I heard, and this is absolutely vital imo.

I'm honestly surprised to see UAL holding onto its place in these rankings tbh; it's become a conveyor belt degree factory, and it's a crying shame as the individual Colleges were all great in their own right.

QS rankings, lol.