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UAL awarded Arts University of the Year
Published date
15 August 2025
University of the Arts London (UAL) is delighted to announce it has been named Arts University of the Year for 2026 by the Daily Mail University Guide.
This accolade recognises UAL’s outstanding dedication to nurturing creative talent, innovation, and industry engagement within the arts and cultural sector.
Alastair McCall, editor of the Daily Mail University Guide, described UAL as “one of the premier destinations in the world for studying arts specialist degrees and is the highest placed specialist arts university in the Daily Mail university rankings.
It has a global reputation forged by the production line of outstanding creatives turned out by the six colleges that make up the University of the Arts London (UAL) federation. UAL graduates account for more than half the winners of the annual Turner Prize.
The annual degree shows across all six colleges are “must see” events – and favourite recruiting grounds for the latest creative talents. Partnerships with fashion industry names are commonplace as the university seeks to smooth the passage of its students from university to the working world.
Judges were impressed by the university’s record of fostering entrepreneurial talent with the largest number of student start-ups at any university in the past year. The success of its outreach efforts to ensure that the brilliant education on offer here is open to the widest possible audience also contributed to the award.
Recent improvements to student scores in the annual National Student Survey for the amount of support they receive provide tangible evidence that once here, they feel supported and able to go on to conquer the world.”
Professor Karen Stanton, President and Vice Chancellor of University of the Arts London, said: “We are proud to be recognised as the Daily Mail’s Arts University of the Year for 2026 – a testament to the creativity, ambition and achievements of our students, graduates and staff.
Arts-specialist universities like ours are deeply committed to nurturing creative talent. In the past year our alumni have, amongst other things, made debuts at the Met Gala, been appointed as Great Britain’s next representative for the Venice Biennale, and directed the award-winning video of Charli XCX’s “360” – to name just a few highlights. We do face unique challenges – from inequalities in access to creative education and work, to the often non-linear nature of careers in the creative industries. This is a sector which creates jobs at 3 times the national average, employing 1.8 million people across the UK, and contributed over £120bn to the economy in 2024.
Funding pressures, while experienced by all universities, are particularly acute for creative subjects which face high costs: delivering courses with specialist equipment, skilled technicians, frequent contact hours and state-of-the-art facilities.
In addressing these challenges, UAL has made industry partnerships a priority, giving students unparalleled opportunities to see how their skills and knowledge transfer to jobs in the creative industries, approaching careers with individuality and discipline outside of a traditional graduate career pathway. Our students go on to be ambitious entrepreneurs, committed freelancers, as well as holding great responsibility in world-renowned creative organisations. This year, UAL had the most student-run start ups of any university in the UK, and we have lots of tailored support on hand for our students who want to start on this journey.
At UAL, we believe the world needs creativity. Being recognised as Daily Mail’s Arts University of the Year tells us that we’re succeeding in reaching a generation of students who share this belief and equipping them to develop ideas to shape a fairer future. We remain committed to delivering a truly inclusive, high-quality creative education that prepares our graduates to thrive and lead in a changing world.”
