New Cross
London
SE14 6NW
Tel 020 7078 5300
admissions@gold.ac.uk
www.goldsmiths.ac.uk
Open day: November 4

PERFORMANCE

Sunday Times ranking 44 (45=)

Student satisfaction 73.4%
Head teacher ranking 33 (24=)
Peer ranking 33 (48)
Research quality 64.5%
A-level/Higher points 315
Unemployment 8.4%
Firsts and 2:1s 65.2%
Student/staff ratio 12.7:1
Dropout rate 14.7% (17.5%)
World ranking 394=

Multimedia

• The Times University Guide table

VITAL STATISTICS

Undergraduates 4,519 (763)
Postgraduates 1,429 (784)
Teaching staff 275
Applications/places 9,672/2,005; 4.8:1 (+11.7%)
Clearing entry 20%
Live in 20% (100%) £85-£114
Bursaries 62%: £310-£1,000
Scholarships 18: £500-£5,000

SOCIAL MIX

EU/overseas 6.3%/7.4%
Mature 30.7%
State school 92.2%
Lowest social classes 25.9%
Low-participation areas 6.4%

Being too cool for school might make you just about cool enough for university if Goldsmiths is the institution heading your Ucas form. Proudly citing alumni including Mary Quant, Malcolm McClaren and two members of Blur helps Goldsmiths explain the kind of individuals it likes to take in and the sort of graduates it hopes to turn out. A veritable hotbed of YBAs (young British artists), Goldsmiths not only counts six Turner Prize winners among its past pupils but its graduates account for almost a quarter of those shortlisted for the award since it began.

While Goldsmiths is more than rooted in the arts, it offers degrees in a range of disciplines and can count economics and politics among the subjects for which its teaching is rated excellent. It aims to bring the same critical and unconventional thinking to bear on all subjects, but balances its avant-garde intellectual perspective with being nestled in the stable of University of London institutions.

Being located almost entirely on a single southeast London campus gives Goldsmiths a sense of community not always common among the capital city’s universities, which are often widely spread out. The area’s fashionably urban feel adds to the university’s edge, too, while links to central London are quick and easy.

As with most London universities, student accommodation is at a premium but last year Goldsmiths managed — by the start of the second term — to house all of its students who wanted to live in halls. Priority is given to first-years from outside London’s travelcard zones.

Goldsmiths bursaries are available to all students whose household income is less than £40,000 and are awarded on a sliding scale, with £1,000 for those from homes where the income is less than £19,000.

STUDENT VIEW

Jesse Fajemisin, students’ union president:

First impressions It’s a university that encourages self-expression inside and outside the classroom.
Worst feature The array of extracurricular activities might prove distracting.
Facilities Are accessible and relevant to career needs.
Deal clincher Students willing to participate in debate and activities.

Rated excellent (7)
Art and design; communication and media studies; drama, dance and cinematics; economics; music; politics; psychology.

Student satisfaction
Education studies 85.1; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 77.8; Social Work 76.7; History and Archaeology 76.2; English-based studies 76; Psychology 74.8; Computer Science 73.1; Media studies 70.4; Performing Arts 69.4; Art and Design 68.6; Economics 66.7; Initial Teacher Training 65.8; Politics 65.1

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