Ravensbourne University London

Established in 1962, Ravensbourne University is an innovative, industry-oriented institution located in the heart of London's newest creative community Greenwich Peninsula. The university is known for delivering a fantastic range of specialist courses in the fields of digital media and design, and is a creative and future-focused hub of talent and enterprise.

Ravensbourne is dedicated to providing its students with a repertoire of specialist skills and industry-related knowledge needed for successful careers spanning digital media and the creative arts. With a community of approximately 2,500 students, Ravensbourne offers a range of practice-based postgraduate degree courses and professional short-course qualifications.

The university ranks highly for graduate salaries in design and creative arts and design. Students benefit from highly qualified tutors and teaching staff, many of whom have extensive industry experience.

Courses are designed in collaboration with leading industry professionals and are supported by the latest high-performance technology. A degree from Ravensbourne is a globally recognised qualification which provides significant added value as well as enhanced graduate outcomes.

Ravensbourne University has built its reputation from its connections with the digital media and design industries, and currently hosts more than one hundred creative technology business, through the Incubation+ collective, the university’s commercial support unit founded on collaboration and networking.

The university’s Incubation+ organises business mentorship, accelerator programmes, branding expertise and hosts events and visits throughout the year, from award-winning production companies, digital agencies and internationally recognised fashion labels.

A dedicated careers service is also available to all students at the university. Ravensbourne has a very high graduate employment rate, with 90% of students in employment or further study within six months of graduating.

Ravensbourne was recognised for the standard of its teaching in the latest Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment with a ‘Silver Award’ for excellence in the quality of its course delivery and learning outcomes.

The faculty staff bring years of industry work and professional experience into their teaching roles, having worked at some of the major companies in their respective fields, from Vogue to Walt Disney Studios, the BBC, Sky, Adidas and much more.

Many of the university team have taught and worked internationally and are praised for their enthusiasm and communication.

Despite a relatively small population of around 2,500 enrolled students, Ravensbourne has an active Students' Union which runs a lively timetable of event and activities throughout the academic year.

The SU also acts as the representational organisation for its membership, and establishes a healthy discourse between the student body and the university staff, allowing issues from either side to be fairly and constructively addressed.

Membership is automatic upon enrolment, and there is a busy program of events at the start of the year that cater to postgraduates and are aimed at helping students settle into their new lives in London.

Greenwich peninsula has a small but limited amount of housing, and demand for these rooms is expectably high. It’s recommended that prospective students apply early for these coveted places.

Although the university itself does not have its own halls of residence, Ravensbourne works closely with housing providers in the local area to ensure convenient and affordable accommodation options for all. There are postgraduate-specific buildings available to join, and for students who wish to source their accommodation from the private sector, there is no shortage of rooms for let.

Ravensbourne prides itself on its world-class digital media facilities and offer some of the most up-to-date TV equipment and sound facilities of any university in the UK. Students have the equipment needed to shoot a film, edit files or record high-fidelity audio, with advanced motion graphic software and live streaming capabilities.

The university Kit Store is a multimedia tools and technology library, with an archive of high-end digital equipment and associated training resources needed for learning new skills.

Besides technical equipment, the university has a fully equipped library with individual and group study spaces, as well as hundreds of thousands of books, journals, audio and video documents and additional digital resources to support the work of its many postgraduate students.

Any of the online resources available from the library can be accessed 24 hours a day, through the university’s digital learning platform.

London is regularly ranked as the best city in the world, and Ravensbourne is located in one of the most interesting and well-connected areas of the city.

A truly cosmopolitan capital, there are innumerable opportunities to experience the best of British and world culture side-by-side with thousands of bars, clubs and restaurants to enjoy, world-class shopping experiences, huge sporting venues, incredible live music and theatre, some of the world’s finest museums, art galleries, and so much more.

Ravensbourne is closely connected to most areas of London via the Jubilee line, and students wishing to explore further afield will find that Europe is easily accessible by rail or by one of London’s five international airports.

Ravensbourne has many clubs and societies, offering students a wide variety of options for extending their university experience beyond the classroom.

There is everything from sports teams to language groups and special interest societies, and prospective student can find more detailed information about the clubs available via the Ravensbourne Students’ Union website.

Enterprising students are encouraged to approach the SU with ideas for new societies, if they are not already established. The student-run team can help set up new initiatives and may also be able to organise funding opportunities to get things off the ground.

There is plenty of support available for students at Ravensbourne.

The university appreciates that moving to a new place to undertake a course of study can be daunting and is well set up to ease the transition into degree level study and life in London.

Students benefit from access to free and confidential counselling, from the university’s welfare and wellbeing service, which is delivered by qualified and experienced professionals. The team is on hand to offer emotional support, financial advice and academic guidance and can also assist with any practical issues which might arise while living and studying at Ravensbourne.

The university has a dedicated careers service which offers a programme of workshops, networking events and one-on-one tutorials to help students get into excellent starting positions for competitive careers.

Postgraduate course fees for the commencing 2021/22 academic year:

Home/EU students

Full time per year: GBP 10,400

Part time per year: GBP 5,200

MA Craft Editing course: GBP 9,750

International tuition fees

MA/MDes: GBP 17,000

MArch: GBP 16,500

MFA: GBP 9,750

Ravensbourne University offers several bursaries and scholarship options available to postgraduate students. Information on eligibility criteria can be found on the postgraduate fees and funding information pages, and prospective students are encouraged to check any key dates or deadlines for application.

The university offers a 5% discount incentive for full payment of yearly tuition fee by 1st August across the student’s year of entry. They also offer a 20% alumni discount for Ravensbourne graduates from the past five years.

As a specialist digital media and design institution, Ravensbourne has consistently been ranked highly for its Art and Design output across the UK, Europe and the world. The university has particular strengths in fashion design and visual communications, with an impressive list of creative alumni, whose work continues to make impressions globally.

The university’s postgraduate department is one of its greatest strengths, and was recently named the 2nd best postgraduate institution in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), a UK wide survey which considers teaching and learning, assessments and skills development.

Postgraduate course applicant are typically expected to hold a relevant undergraduate degree with a classification of 2:1 or higher.

International students will require the equivalent certificate in an accredited assessment system, in a relevant subject area.

Ravensbourne University will also consider alternative pathway to entry and may admit students who can demonstrate significant practical experience, in spite of not having a relevant academic qualification. Each application is considered on a case-by-case basis.

There are no PhD course options at Ravensbourne University.

All the postgraduate degree programs at Ravensbourne University take the form of an MA, MArch, MDes, MFA or MSc. There is a significant amount of variation in their content, delivery, and duration.

Full details for specific courses are available to view on the course listing section of the university website, and it is recommended that prospective students familiarise themselves with this information before completing an application.

Ravensbourne’s MFA course is delivered online, and more information can be found on the university’s website.

Since achieving university status in 2018, Ravensbourne’s postgraduate department has enjoyed exceptional results in the UK’s 2020 PTES survey. With a rank of 2nd for overall postgraduate satisfaction, and a satisfaction rate of 93%, the university provides its postgraduate student community with a fantastic learning environment and all the right tools needed for success.

In the Design and Creative subject category, Ravensbourne scored highly with 91% rate postgraduate satisfaction rating, outperforming the national benchmark by 14%. In addition to this, the university achieved a perfect 100% overall satisfaction rate in the Learning and Teaching category and were ranked 1st out of 41 institutions in the Education and Teaching sector.