The London Institute resisted the temptation to apply for university status after it was formed in 1986 because the art, design, fashion and media colleges that had come together for administrative purposes were world-famous in their own right.

But the arrival as rector of Sir Michael Bichard, previously Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education and Skills, prompted a rethink.

The resulting University of the Arts London got in ahead of the recent wave of universities in order to ensure that it had a research remit and is already becoming a powerful “brand”.

The five component colleges became six when Wimbledon College of Art joined in 2006. The founding members, which continue to use their own names and enjoy considerable autonomy, were Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Fashion and London College of Communication (formerly the London College of Printing).

Together, they boast a total of more than 20,000 students spread around 20 sites around central London, representing the biggest concentration of art, design and creative arts in Europe. Teaching and research grades for the Institute barely did justice to the eminence of the colleges.

Although Camberwell and what was then the College of Printing achieved near-perfect scores for teaching quality in art and design, the other colleges’ grades in this category and those for business and management, materials technology and media studies were strong but not spectacular.

Strengths

Chelsea and London College of Fashion were jointly awarded a national teaching centre for the arts, focusing on practice-based teaching and learning.

Wimbledon brings an international reputation for excellence in theatre design, boasting the UK’s largest school of theatre. Teaching quality assessors liked the heavy use of often eminent visiting lecturers, who do about half of the teaching, as well as the close links with industry and the broad range of courses, which stretch from further education to postgraduate.

But the university as a whole has been bottom of rankings in the last two National Student Surveys. Art and design students are among the least satisfied nationally, but the university was also in the bottom ten for those subjects alone.

Popularity

The figures have not affected applications, which have risen every year since the university was established. The 9 per cent rise at the beginning of 2008 was one of the few increases at any university.

A number of two-year Foundation degrees have been introduced, including one in interactive games production and another in fashion styling and photography. Students have access to the largest art and design specialist careers information centre in the country, while the pioneering Emerging Artists Programme continues to support graduates in the early years of their careers.

The projected dropout rate was down to 12 per cent in the latest survey, which is better than average for the subjects on offer. The university has been running weekend classes and summer schools in an attempt to broaden the intake, as well as organising a national event to help students with their portfolios, and the proportion of undergraduates from working-class homes is now a quarter.

Development

Big changes were already under way before the change of title was agreed: a £70-million development programme has produced prestigious new premises for Chelsea College next door to the Tate Gallery, on Millbank, with extensive workshop facilities, studios and an impressive new library.

Another £32 million has been spent on new headquarters for the College of Communication at the Elephant and Castle, south of the Thames, where a newly built Special Archives and Collections Centre will include the archives of the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.

The college now has Film Academy status. The next big project will bring Central St Martins together on one site for the first time, when it moves to the new King’s Cross development in 2011. A £2-million information technology system links all the sites. The colleges vary considerably in character and facilities, although a single students’ union serves them all and a new Student Hub has brought all student services together at the university’s central London headquarters.

Accommodation

The university is not over-provided with residential accommodation, although there are 11 residences spread around the colleges, providing more than 2,200 beds. House-hunting workshops help those who have to rely on what is inevitably an expensive private housing market. Somewhat stereotypically, the university owns no sports facilities, although it has arranged student discounts with a number of providers.

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