About Us
Creative Education For A Changing World
Arts University Plymouth is the UKs newest specialist Arts University. Our vision is for a new kind of arts university for the 21st century, preparing graduates who are uniquely placed to provide creative solutions to the complex global challenges of our times.
<p dir="ltr">We have set a confident trajectory towards 2030 based upon sustainable growth, solution focussed teaching and research, and a commitment to impactful social justice and ecological change through its people, culture and place. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Our strategy<em> Creative Education for a Changing World</em> will ensure that our work is energised and designed to meet the ambitions of its students and staff while acknowledging the shifting realm of creativity through new technologies and the workplaces of tomorrow. <br /></p>
Tavistock Place, Undergraduate Campus. Photo credit: Tim Gundry
<p>Founded in 1856 as the Plymouth Drawing School, the University offers a comprehensive spectrum of specialist undergraduate, postgraduate and pre-degree study in Arts, Design and Media – combining over 165 years of creativity with contemporary thinking and cutting-edge, industry standard resources.</p>
The Arts University Plymouth main campus building on Tavistock Place, under construction in the 1970s.
<p>Arts University Plymouth is an independent, specialist arts university run by artists and designers for artists and designers. </p>
<p>Our university is widely regarded as a catalyst for individual, societal and ecological transformation, delivering innovative and distinctive learning, teaching and research through its interdisciplinary ecosystem of materials, processes, technologies and knowledge exchange.<br /></p>
<p>Our 13,000 square metres of studios and workshops across four city-centre sites are filled with professional workspaces, studios and state-of-the-art facilities. Currently home to over 1500 students but with ambitions to grow, our vibrant community is a thriving creative hub of collaboration and innovation, thinking and making. <br /></p>
<p>Our LABS provide open access to workshops for all students across the range of disciplines, breaking down barriers and providing unique opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/plymouth-college-of-art-achieves-university-status-becoming-arts-university-plymouth">Awarded University title in 2022</a>, Arts University Plymouth was voted by students as the<a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/nss-2022-big-increase-in-student-satisfaction-levels-at-arts-university-plymouth"> top arts university in the UK for overall student satisfaction</a> in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2022 and <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/arts-university-plymouth-excels-again-in-the-national-student-survey-2023">excelled again in the NSS 2023</a>. </p>
<p>The University was voted by students as <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/arts-university-plymouth-wins-at-the-whatuni-student-choice-awards">best Small or Specialist Institution</a> at the annual Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2022, voted <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/second-place-best-small-or-specialist-uni-2023">second-place in the same category</a> in 2023, and has been <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/arts-university-plymouth-shortlisted-for-university-of-the-year">shortlisted for University of the Year</a> in 2024. </p>
<p>Arts University Plymouth was awarded a <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/aup-awarded-tef-silver-2023">TEF Silver</a> rating by the Office for Students in 2023 (an academic quality mark that lasts four years), was ranked as a Top 10 university for Arts, Drama & Music League Table 2024 in the <a href="https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/arts-music-institutions">Complete University Guide</a>, and as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2022/sep/24/best-uk-universities-for-interior-design-league-table">sixth top university in the UK for studying Interior Design</a> in the Guardian University Guide 2024. </p>
<p>In 2023 Arts University Plymouth’s Pre-Degree provision was rated <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/arts-university-plymouths-pre-degree-sixth-form-campus-rated-ofsted-good">Ofsted ‘Good’</a>.</p>
<p>Our Tavistock Place campus is also home to <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/resources/fab-lab">Fab Lab Plymouth</a>, <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/visit/plymouth-arts-cinema">Plymouth Arts Cinema</a>, and <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/visit/the-gallery">MIRROR</a>, our public gallery for the visual arts that recently co-hosted <em>British Art Show</em> 9 in 2022. And we host the University’s flagship research conference <em><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/research/supported-projects/making-futures">Making Futures</a></em>, widely celebrated as an international community of practice concerned primarily with craft and material practices.<br /></p>
