The economic rise of the creative industries in the UK has been explosive. It accounts for the employment of more than one in 20 UK workers and boasts an 8% growth rate (more than double their nearest industry rival). In London alone, over half a million people are employed in the creative industries, contributing over £21 billion to the city – it all adds up to creativity being an essential part of the success of the capital’s very modern economy.
At the heart of this success lies the Royal College of Art. It’s well known that many of our graduates are leaders in their field. James Dyson, Ridley Scott, David Adjaye, Zandra Rhodes, Philip Treacy, Tracey Emin, Thomas Heatherwick and David Hockney are all former RCA students whose ideas – from designing the clothes we wear to the household items we buy – have influenced and affected our everyday lives. Designing the 21st Century (published in 2001) featured the work of one hundred of the most important contemporary designers from all over the world. Nearly half of the designers included were graduates of the College.
Our students’ success reaches far beyond headlines and household names however. According to a 2002 survey, over 90 percent of RCA graduates are employed at a level appropriate to their qualification in an area directly related to the discipline they studied at the College. Aside from the obvious talent that our highly sought-after graduates possess, one of the reasons for their consistent success is the business training and mentoring they receive during and after their time at the College.
Our most recent surveys of business links reveal the astonishing depth and variety of collaborations between the College and the business sector. With around 850 students studying at any one time, the RCA is a small college – but it punches well above its weight.
We are dedicated to discovering new ways of working with businesses, constantly seeking new avenues to explore. Collaborations with industry partners through College-led research initiatives such as InnovationRCA and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, continue to pair RCA graduates to an astonishingly wide range of partners, from the British Heart Foundation and the Design Council to Audi and MFI. A major new initiative, Design London, is a strategic partnership with Imperial College that is intended to create an ‘innovative triangle’ between design, engineering and technology, pushing the scope of the creative industries further than ever.
At a time when the creative industries are high on the public agenda, our record for creative innovation and collaboration reveals the RCA to be one of the key channels through which talented young professionals are prepared for the commercial world, and through which they continue to stimulate the businesses which are crucial to all our futures.