Information for offer holders

If you're an international student, the best way to reach us is by contacting [email protected], or calling +44 (0)20 7590 4537. We are also reachable by Whatsapp: +44 07789 562 134

If you are a UK Home/ EU student, email [email protected]

If you receive an offer of a place, you will be required to accept your offer within five weeks from the date of your offer. Your offer letter will include an offer pack which contains full details about how to accept your offer and what documentation is required from you.

To accept your place you must also pay a deposit. Payment of this amount forms part of the acceptance process and must be made within the same five weeks. Deposits paid count towards payment of your tuition fees for 2024/25.

This is not applicable to applicants with a fee status of Home who are applying to study MA Architecture Part 2 and who intend to take out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance.

Congratulations on accepting your offer!

This enrolment process will begin in August.

The key information and documentation you will need to provide is:

1. Proof of identity
2. Confirmation of payment of fees (if applicable*)
3. Confirmation of compliance with visa regulations (if applicable)
4. Emergency contact
5. Term time address

Once you have met the fee payment conditions of your invoice*, uploaded evidence of your Student Visa (if applicable), and accepted the College's Terms and Conditions, the Registry Team will check that everything is in order.

If we have everything we need, we will update your enrolment status and confirm to you by email that you have successfully enrolled on your programme.

For more information about enrolment, visit Accepting an offer and enrolling.

*If you are a Home student studying a Master's (Level 7) programme or a PhD and you have an approved UK Postgraduate Loan or Doctoral Loan then you will be able to pay your fees in 3 instalments in line with your Postgraduate/Doctoral Loan payments. This means you can be enrolled (subject to the other enrolment conditions being met) and then pay your first instalment in September.

Home students studying MA Architecture (Part 2) may be eligible to apply for a fee loan to cover their fees. If you have an approved fee loan in place at the point of enrolment which covers your full fees, you will be enrolled and you will not be required to make any fee payments.

Students can pay their fees via the portal, using the same user account that you made your RCA application.

Alternatively you can pay via bank transfer. The RCA bank details can also be found on page 2 of your invoice, which will be emailed to you in the summer. Your name & student ID should be quoted in the reference section of your payment.

Once you have made your payment and it has been cleared, this will show in your portal. Please allow up to 48 hours for your payment to be reflected on your account.

If you have any queries regarding your payment please email [email protected]

In addition to your programme fees, please be aware that you may incur other additional costs associated with your study during your time at RCA. Additional costs can include purchases and services (without limitation): costs related to the purchase of books, paints, textiles, wood, metal, plastics and/or other materials in connection with your programme, services related to the use of printing and photocopying, lasercutting, 3D printing and CNC. Costs related to attending compulsory field trips, joining student and sport societies and your Convocation (graduation) ceremony. 

If you wish to find out more about what type of additional costs you may incur while studying on your programme, please contact the Head of your Programme to discuss or ask at an online or in person Open Day.   

We provide the RCASHOP online, and at our Kensington and Battersea Campuses – this is open to students and staff of the Royal College of Art only to provide paid for materials to support your studies. 

We also provide support to our students who require financial assistance whilst studying, including a dedicated Materials Fund.

If you are in receipt of Student Finance from the Student Loans Company, we will confirm your registration to Student Finance once you are fully enrolled at the RCA. You will receive an email from Registry once you are enrolled. You must be enrolled before the end of Friday 30 August to ensure you will receive your first instalment on 9 September. If you enrol after 30 August you will receive your first instalment approximately five to ten working days after you receive the email from Registry confirming you have successfully enrolled.

If you are receiving a Postgraduate Loan or Doctoral Loan, you can pay your fee in 3 instalments in line with your Postgraduate/Doctoral Loan payments (i.e. September 2024, January 2025 and May 2025). Please be aware your Postgraduate/Doctoral Loan may not cover the full cost of your fees.

Home students studying MA Architecture (Part 2) may be eligible to apply for a fee loan to cover their fees. If you have an approved fee loan in place at the point of enrolment which covers your full fees, you will be enrolled and you will not be required to make any fee payments.

For any questions about enrolment, please email [email protected]

For any questions about Student Finance, please email [email protected]

For any questions about fee payments, please email [email protected]

If you have already accepted an offer of an RCA scholarship but do not see this reflected in your fees invoice please be reassured that your account will be automatically updated with any fee amounts covered once the formal scholarship agreements have been issued and returned throughout August.

Once you have enrolled, we will prepare your card in advance to save you queuing. You must upload your photo in advance here and collect your card on campus. Your programme has an allocated card collection slot which you can view online by clicking here.

It’s important that you upload a passport-style photograph of yourself which should be:

• a portrait headshot
• a current true likeness
• showing your full face
• facing forward without a hat or a head covering (unless it’s for religious or medical reasons)
• against a plain and light-coloured background

We won’t be able to use a photograph that doesn’t meet these requirements so to avoid delays, please make sure it’s a suitable image.

Complete the RCA cancellation form and email it to [email protected]

The final stage to becoming a student at the RCA is enrolling through a process called Enrolment.

Once you have met the fee payment conditions of your invoice*, you have uploaded evidence of your Student Visa (if applicable), and you have accepted the Terms and Conditions that will be sent to you in August, the Registry Team will check that everything is in order.

If we have everything we need, we will update your enrolment status and confirm to you by email that you have successfully enrolled on your programme.

If we still need some information from you or your fee payment has not been arranged (if applicable), you may not be able to be enrolled and may only be temporarily enrolled until further notice. The Registry team will advise you accordingly.

* If you are a Home student studying a Master's (Level 7) programme or a PhD and you have an approved UK Postgraduate Loan or Doctoral Loan then you will be able to pay your fees in 3 instalments in line with your Postgraduate/Docotoral Loan payments. This means you can be enrolled (subject to the other enrolment conditions being met) and then pay your first instalment in September.

Home students studying MA Architecture (Part 2) may be eligible to apply for a fee loan to cover their fees. If you have an approved fee loan in place at the point of enrolment which covers your full fees, you will be enrolled and you will not be required to make any further fee payments.

Our admissions team will be in touch to let you know about how to access to Moodle – our centralised platform for everything you’ll need during your time at the RCA. It will help you with college-wide information, such as accessing Student Support and RCA services. As you wait to begin your studies, you will be able to access our Orientation Course – a ‘one-stop shop’ for the information you will need to get going at the RCA.

Programme staff will be in touch during the summer to let you know more about any pre-arrival tasks and reading lists.

Further communication will be sent to you ahead of the start of term to confirm how to access your timetable including dates, times and locations for introduction sessions. The start of term will be from Monday 9 September 2024.

As soon as you are fully enrolled. Your programme will email you details of any programme welcome activities around starting your course. Admissions are not involved in programme planning or organisation. Your programme can be contacted via email if you have any questions, which can be found on the relevant programme page.

Our Student Support and Students’ Union teams will host a series of Welcome events in the week before and during your first couple of weeks with us. Keep an eye on your inbox for emails from our Recruitment team during August. Once you are enrolled – the RCA intranet will be the place to go to find out more about our Welcome Week events for new students.

You can find the locations of our programmes in 2023/24 below. Please note these may change in 2024/25.

Animation MA – White City Campus: Garden House

Architecture – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Arts & Humanities MPhil/PhD – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Arts & Humanities MRes – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Art & Humanities MFA - Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Ceramics & Glass – Battersea Campus: Woo Building

City Design MA – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Communication MPhil/PhD – White City Campus: Garden House

Communication MRes – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Computer Science MPhil/PhD – Battersea Campus: Rausing Building

Contemporary Art Practice MA – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Curating Contemporary Art MA – Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

Design MPhil/PhD – Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

Design MRes – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Design Products MA – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Digital Direction MA – White City Campus: Garden House

Environmental Architecture MA – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Fashion MA – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Global Innovation Design MA/MSc – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Graduate Diploma Art & Design – White City Campus: Media Works

Healthcare & Design MA – Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

History of Design MA - Kensington Campus: Stevens Building and the V&A

History of Design MPhil/PhD - Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

Information Experience Design MA – White City Campus: Garden House

Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Intelligent Mobility MA: Battersea Campus: Rausing Building

Intelligent Mobility MPhil/PhD - Battersea Campus: Rausing Building

Interior Design MA – Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

Jewellery & Metal MA – Battersea Campus: Woo Building

Materials Science MPhil/PhD - Battersea Campus: Rausing Building

Painting MA – Battersea Campus: Painting and Radstock Building

Photography MA – Battersea Campus: Dyson Building

Print MA – Battersea Campus: Dyson Building

Sculpture MA – Battersea Campus: Studio Building

Service Design MA – Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

Textiles MA – Kensington Campus: Darwin Building

Visual Communication MA – White City Campus: Garden House

Writing MA - Kensington Campus: Stevens Building

The RCA has three campuses in central London based in Kensington, White City and Battersea. You will be based in one campus alongside your programme but you are welcome to travel between campuses and enjoy the shared spaces and cafes. A free shuttle bus service connects our campuses.

The RCA is home to a number of state-of-the-art specialised workshops which you will be able to access during your programme. Please note, you will have priority access to programme specific facilities and guided access to others should that be required. This is different for each programme.

When you join the RCA, you gain access to all our online resources, including Technical Services and our online Library. RCA Library Search is an excellent starting point and includes a large proportion of what we have access to. It covers a wide range of disciplines, hence why you will have subject-specific resources (ie databases and platforms that focus on a particular subject).

The intranet will be your go to site for the latest up to date information about the College and its students, staff and alumni. You will also find news and events here including opportunities to get involved with prizes, exhibitions, and community projects.

Moodle is where you will go to find out information specific to your programme and School as well as resources and technical services. You can see your calendar, book into workshops and courses and access staff from departments such as Student Support, the Library and IT.

Where the intranet provides information at a College wide level, Moodle is specific to your particular needs. Here you can see what your calendar looks like for the next week, book into do some screen printing or speak to Student Support regarding access needs.

Technical Services comprises staff, equipment and resources college-wide.

We provide specialist technical expertise and equipment to help all students realise their potential at the RCA. These resources are accessed through a virtual learning platform which enables technical orientations, inductions, bookings and consultations, allowing students full autonomy so they can guide their own learning process.

A selection of our dedicated resources includes; Digital Making, Printmaking, XR & Creative Coding, Fashion & Textiles, Future Materials, Robotics, Applied Arts and Media Studios

Technical services also offers a selection of core open access services which include Digital Print Labs, Computer and Technology zones, Media resource stores and College shops.

Once you are fully enrolled you will automatically become a member of the RCA Library and can borrow books and access our online resources. You will receive an induction to Library services as part of the welcome events in your first week.

The Library is located in the Frayling building at the Kensington campus and is open

Monday - Friday 09:00 - 21:00, Saturday 10:00 - 17:00 during term time.

In addition, we have the Monday Charity Library reading room space in the Studio Building at the Battersea campus.

RCA Library Search is an excellent starting point to find information resources for your research. You will be able to access and borrow items when you are fully enrolled.

Our Student Support team offers advice, information, and support to all RCA students and offer-holders. You can find out about the range of confidential support available here.

At the RCA we are committed to building a sense of belonging, pride and community within our student body by putting students at the heart of everything we do. Our Student Centre is located on the ground floor of the Stevens Building, Kensington.

The Student Centre is your first point of contact for help and questions relating to course enquiries, student support, fees, financial support, health/wellbeing, student/bank letters, IT, and ID cards The Student Centre can help you with a range of administrative tasks, as well as providing you with advice and guidance to support your studies.

If we can't solve your query, we can get you to the team or colleague who can. The Student Centre brings together student facing services including student support, registry enquiries, student letters, student finance enquiries, international student support, mental health and wellbeing support, IT enquiries, estates issues, and wayfinding to help you navigate RCA.

The Student Centre will be open from 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday in Kensington. There are also weekly pop-ups run by the Student Support team in Battersea and White City.

International students have access to support from the College which covers everything from immigration advice and pre-arrival information. You can find this information here.

If you have received a refusal after a student visa application, you must inform the Student Support team and the Admissions team as soon as possible. Please send a scan of your entire refusal notice paperwork to Admissions and Student Support Office, and individuals in the teams will help you through the next steps.

Email us at [email protected]

Your Student Status Letter is an official document which confirms your enrolment as a student at RCA. The letter will confirm your personal details (full name, date of birth, term time address) as well as your study details (programme of study, level of study, programme start and end date)

This letter can be used for purposes such as -

• To apply for council tax exemption
• GP (Doctor) registration
• Opening a UK bank account

You will receive your Student Status Letter as a PDF attachment which can be printed as required. This will be sent directly to your RCA email account. In order to receive your letter you will need to have completed the following -

• Fully completed your enrolment
• Arranged fee payment
• Updated your contact details including your home and term time address that you will be living at whilst studying at RCA

Please note that we are unable to provide proof of your student status before the commencement of your studies with RCA. Letters will therefore be issued from the week commencing 9 September 2024. It will not be possible to issue Student Status Letters before this date.

If you have completed enrolment, arranged fee payment and updated your term address before 9 September 2024 you can expect to receive your Student Status Letter to your RCA email in 24 hours.

If you are yet to fully complete your enrolment you can expect to receive your Student Status Letter 24 hours after full completion of this process.

If you do not have a copy of your Student Status Letter, please check that you have fully completed your enrolment, arranged fee payment and updated your term time address. We will be unable to issue a letter until you have fully completed these tasks

If you have completed these tasks but have still not received your letter by the second week of term, please contact [email protected]

If you move to a new term time address during your studies with RCA, you will need to obtain an updated Student Status Letter. Please be sure to update your address details as soon as possible. Once this has been completed you can expect to receive a new Student Status Letter as a PDF attachment to your RCA email in 24 hours.

In most cases you will be able to open a UK bank account with your Student Status Letter as this provides confirmation of your student status and term time address. However, if the bank you choose to open an account with asks you for more information, Registry can provide you with a separate Bank Account Letter.

You can request this letter by completing and submitting the online form in the portal by clicking here.

Once your request has been received, the Bank Account letter will be sent as a PDF attachment to your RCA email address 48 hours later.

We offer two intensive online pre-sessional courses before the main RCA programmes begin, to support you in getting ready to communicate at the appropriate level and with effective skills for your degree. Please find the dates and further information here.

As an organisation, the College contributes to global challenges of sustainability and climate change through our behaviour and activities and via the work of our staff, students, researchers, alumni and innovation start ups. The RCA’s Environmental Policy highlights its approach to sustainability and net zero ambitions on an operational level. Read more about sustainability at the RCA here.
You can also read about our Environmental Policy here.

How can I get involved in sustainability in the RCA?

There are several ways you can get involved in, and learn more about, sustainability at the RCA:

• Participating in AcrossRCA
• Joining SustainLab
• Reading more on the RCA’s approach to sustainability
• Considering the environmental impact of your work throughout your programme, from conception and design to making and display.

The RCA stands firmly against unlawful discrimination in all its forms against staff, students and visitors with protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (age, sex (gender), sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity). In addition, we will not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of any other characteristics or circumstances including, but not limited to: ethnic or national origin, socio-economic background and trade union membership status.

The College is committed to fostering a positive culture where all staff, students, and visitors can flourish and where no-one will feel compelled to conceal or play down elements of their identity for fear of being stigmatised. Our staff have the right to work and our students the right to study in an environment which is free from bullying and harassment and gives them the dignity and respect to which they are entitled.

The College is committed to eradicating unlawful discrimination, will promote equality, diversity and respect for all and create an environment where individual differences and contributions are recognised and valued, in our policies and procedures as well as in the way that we communicate and engage with each other.

More details can be found on our Equality and Diversity page.

Some areas that you may like to look at which are close to our campuses include: White City, Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith, Chiswick, Clapham, Stockwell. There's a special Google Map that we've created here.

Yes - please visit our live chat group to get started on your search.

Please email [email protected]

Your offer letter should be fine for the application.

That is a good option that lots of students choose to take. It means you can view properties in person and get to know areas before signing a longer-term contract.

The University of London Housing Service has a contract checking service that RCA students are able to use. We advise students to book an appointment with them to go through your contract. Visit University of London Housing Contract Checking for more information.