KU Design School ranks 9th in the world at Red Dot Design Awards 2012

Lisa Moravec 
 
The top UK universities for design studies are the Royal College of Art and Kingston University.
 
Kingston University’s excellent relationships with leading companies and institutions, such as the Institute for Contemporary Art, London, is enabling students to connect with the real world, while being able to concentrate on their studies outside of the centre of the vibrant and fast-moving world capital.
 
Overseas’ ranking
 
In the ranking, the US, Germany and the UK are each represented by two universities; while the two leading universities; the Umeå Institute of Design in Sweden and ENSCI, France, are the only representatives of their country.
 
A closer look at Kingston University’s art and design department 
 
The Art and Design department of KU, located at Knights Park campus, is the second smallest campus with about 3,300 students overall; in comparison to 12,000 students currently studying at Penrhyn Road. 
Notably, 600 of the 2,000 art and design students, studying towards their first degree, are aged between 18 and 21 and are Asian.
Only slightly more than half of the students of the arts and design faculty are female.
 
Is central London the best place for art schools? 
 
The results of the Red Dot Design award shows that excellent education isn’t always dependent on the location of the leading institution, but the management of a school, as well as on individual teaching is.
Kingston University’s art and design school and history department have produced several well-known international artists and high-profile professionals of the arts world. One of them is the Scottish artist Anya Gallaccio who was a nominee for the Turner Prize. Her work was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Tate and in galleries all over in the world.