The Student Room Group

good universities for art?

i'm currently in y12 and ik its late but i have only just figured out a clearer idea of what i want to do. i'm thinking of doing either animation/illustration/graphic design but i still want to go to a university that's still reputable. ik that it's hard to find good art courses in russell group/red brick universities but i still want a potential employer to look at the uni i went to and think "yeah thats pretty good/yeah ive heard good stuff about it". i see good universities on league tables but i dont know how regular people would think of it. so far the graphic communication & illustration course in loughborough looks promising but i have never heard of it before even though its ranked one of the top ten on multiple university league tables.

tldr: good university for art but still make my asian parents be proud of showing off that i went to that university.


Original post by mochipochi
i'm currently in y12 and ik its late but i have only just figured out a clearer idea of what i want to do. i'm thinking of doing either animation/illustration/graphic design but i still want to go to a university that's still reputable. ik that it's hard to find good art courses in russell group/red brick universities but i still want a potential employer to look at the uni i went to and think "yeah thats pretty good/yeah ive heard good stuff about it". i see good universities on league tables but i dont know how regular people would think of it. so far the graphic communication & illustration course in loughborough looks promising but i have never heard of it before even though its ranked one of the top ten on multiple university league tables.

tldr: good university for art but still make my asian parents be proud of showing off that i went to that university.

Hey! I hope i can offer you some help, I’m planning on doing film at uni and during my research I’ve found some great arts based unis along the way. University of Arts London (UAL) looks really appealing, it’s only arts based meaning a focus on that side of education plus it’s seem as quite prestigious in terms of arts, or so I believe I could be wrong, Goldsmiths, University college London and Edinburgh College of arts all are in the same vein. In the end I think it just lands where you want to live as London is where it’s at in an industry sense, plus I think a specific arts uni would be amazing to distinguish you from the rest! Give you the best of luck.
Reply 2
Original post by Bea.McHealy



Hey! I hope i can offer you some help, I’m planning on doing film at uni and during my research I’ve found some great arts based unis along the way. University of Arts London (UAL) looks really appealing, it’s only arts based meaning a focus on that side of education plus it’s seem as quite prestigious in terms of arts, or so I believe I could be wrong, Goldsmiths, University college London and Edinburgh College of arts all are in the same vein. In the end I think it just lands where you want to live as London is where it’s at in an industry sense, plus I think a specific arts uni would be amazing to distinguish you from the rest! Give you the best of luck.

thanks so much! honestly i'm still unsure if i totally want into go to the arts, so do you know any "regular" unis that would still be good in terms of employment? if not thats okay, i'll be sure to check out the unis you mentioned rn!
Original post by mochipochi
thanks so much! honestly i'm still unsure if i totally want into go to the arts, so do you know any "regular" unis that would still be good in terms of employment? if not thats okay, i'll be sure to check out the unis you mentioned rn!

Sure, off the top of my head Newcastle is a amazing uni all round, plus Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh.
A good uni is one where you would be the most happiest not necessarily the highest in the league tables. However, if reputation means that much to you look into universities such as Durham, Imperial, Glasgow, UCL, Leeds (great uni in my opinion but I am biased) Edinburgh. Lancaster is also a nice uni but it does not have the same reputation as the others I mentioned even though it is always placed quite highly on the league tables.
Original post by mochipochi
i'm currently in y12 and ik its late but i have only just figured out a clearer idea of what i want to do. i'm thinking of doing either animation/illustration/graphic design but i still want to go to a university that's still reputable. ik that it's hard to find good art courses in russell group/red brick universities but i still want a potential employer to look at the uni i went to and think "yeah thats pretty good/yeah ive heard good stuff about it". i see good universities on league tables but i dont know how regular people would think of it. so far the graphic communication & illustration course in loughborough looks promising but i have never heard of it before even though its ranked one of the top ten on multiple university league tables.

tldr: good university for art but still make my asian parents be proud of showing off that i went to that university.

Unfortunately most traditional/russell group universities have very limited/old fashioned art and design courses. UCL, Oxford, Newcastle, Leeds etc only really offer fine art.

Edinburgh and Southampton are a bit better as they took over existing art schools. Edinburgh in particular offers a really good range of art and design courses (but is horribly competitive).

Art universities (UAL, UCA, AUB (Bournemouth), LAU (Leeds), NUA (Norwich), Rave, Falmouth) and some art faculties/schools in more modern universities (Nottingham Trent, Hert, Anglia Ruskin, UWE etc) are generally the best place to study subjects like animation/illustration/graphics. I would suggest that you go to some open days with your parents to see the sort of facilities and environment offered at different types of universities. Art universities/schools normally have courses that are far more focused on employment and practical work opportunities (as well as better studios and facilities like print rooms). Seeing that in person could well be something that convinces your parents about the best choices.

If you’re interested in animation then there’s industry accreditation from screenskills to watch out for too.

There’s lots of threads in the art and design forum from previous applicants.
Original post by mochipochi
i'm currently in y12 and ik its late but i have only just figured out a clearer idea of what i want to do. i'm thinking of doing either animation/illustration/graphic design but i still want to go to a university that's still reputable. ik that it's hard to find good art courses in russell group/red brick universities but i still want a potential employer to look at the uni i went to and think "yeah thats pretty good/yeah ive heard good stuff about it". i see good universities on league tables but i dont know how regular people would think of it. so far the graphic communication & illustration course in loughborough looks promising but i have never heard of it before even though its ranked one of the top ten on multiple university league tables.

tldr: good university for art but still make my asian parents be proud of showing off that i went to that university.


Hello,
It's great that you've figured out what subject you want to study already! Maybe have a look at Lancaster?
There's a few different options including placement years which can help increase your employability after university: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lica/undergraduate/fine-art/
If you have any questions and would like to find out more, I'd be happy to help
Charlotte :smile:
3rd year Biological Sciences with Biomedicine
Original post by Lancaster Student Ambassador
Hello,
It's great that you've figured out what subject you want to study already! Maybe have a look at Lancaster?
There's a few different options including placement years which can help increase your employability after university: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lica/undergraduate/fine-art/
If you have any questions and would like to find out more, I'd be happy to help
Charlotte :smile:
3rd year Biological Sciences with Biomedicine

OP wants to study Graphic design, Illustration or Animation - why have you linked them to information about Fine Art degrees?
Reply 8
Original post by PQ
Unfortunately most traditional/russell group universities have very limited/old fashioned art and design courses. UCL, Oxford, Newcastle, Leeds etc only really offer fine art.

Edinburgh and Southampton are a bit better as they took over existing art schools. Edinburgh in particular offers a really good range of art and design courses (but is horribly competitive).

Art universities (UAL, UCA, AUB (Bournemouth), LAU (Leeds), NUA (Norwich), Rave, Falmouth) and some art faculties/schools in more modern universities (Nottingham Trent, Hert, Anglia Ruskin, UWE etc) are generally the best place to study subjects like animation/illustration/graphics. I would suggest that you go to some open days with your parents to see the sort of facilities and environment offered at different types of universities. Art universities/schools normally have courses that are far more focused on employment and practical work opportunities (as well as better studios and facilities like print rooms). Seeing that in person could well be something that convinces your parents about the best choices.

If you’re interested in animation then there’s industry accreditation from screenskills to watch out for too.

There’s lots of threads in the art and design forum from previous applicants.

thanks so much! ive procrastinated looking into unis for a while so i only know from league tables, not from public reputation, this has helped a lot!
Heyyyyy !! I want to do the same thing too XD I want to go into graphic/illustration :smile: . The UAL colleges are really good AND they are Very respected . UAL is in the top 3 ( from what i remember ) in the league table if top universities in the world . I would definitely consider this place .(I am too) . Its a specialist university so you will get all the professional Guidance and facilities which other universities can't provide to that extent ( as they aren't a specialist in arts university)
Plus under the UAL university they are many places to go eg college of communication (GREAT FOR GRAPHIC !!)
Winchester (part of Southampton Uni) are Leeds are the only Russell Group unis in England that have those kind of courses within an art school environment. Brunel do a couple of digital design BSc courses which might be of interest.

They're all good options but as others have said, they're not perceived by anyone in the creative sector as being better than non-Russell alternatives, just a slightly different experience.
Original post by PQ
OP wants to study Graphic design, Illustration or Animation - why have you linked them to information about Fine Art degrees?


That's the page for the main art degrees but there are also design programmes available - sorry if this isn't clear, I was only trying to be helpful!
Charlotte :smile:
Original post by mochipochi
i'm currently in y12 and ik its late but i have only just figured out a clearer idea of what i want to do. i'm thinking of doing either animation/illustration/graphic design but i still want to go to a university that's still reputable. ik that it's hard to find good art courses in russell group/red brick universities but i still want a potential employer to look at the uni i went to and think "yeah thats pretty good/yeah ive heard good stuff about it". i see good universities on league tables but i dont know how regular people would think of it. so far the graphic communication & illustration course in loughborough looks promising but i have never heard of it before even though its ranked one of the top ten on multiple university league tables.

tldr: good university for art but still make my asian parents be proud of showing off that i went to that university.

Hi @mochipochi

Choosing what you want to do now/ having clearer idea is pretty good. I myself did not know what I wanted to do properly until my second year of university.

I myself did not study graphic communication and illustration at Loughborough but I have friends who did and loved it. Some of whom have now gone on to pretty amazing graduate roles through what they have done at Loughborough. You also have the option to do a year in industry or not after your second year, which may be helpful to figuring out what industry works for you etc.

We do rank highly on league tables, which is something I find carries more merit with parents and teachers than students, but we also rank highly with our student experience. If you can I'd say come along to an open day, especially if you hadn't heard of us before and bring your parents with you as they will most likely have questions that you might not have thought of. That's probably the best way to see what we are all about, and despite popular belief it's not all sport as there is so much you can get involved in.

Hope this helps and any more questions about Loughborough Design courses ask away.

Emily :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest