Falmouth University, UK

The Guardian University Guide 2017 ranks Falmouth #21 among 119 universities in the UK, and confirms it as the country’s top-ranked creative arts university    Jeswant M.

Sprawled across two campuses on the scenic Cornwall coast of south-west England, Falmouth University has steadily gained reputation as a premier university of the creative arts. Both the Sunday Times 2016 University League Table and Complete University Guide 2017 rank Falmouth #1 in the UK for creative and performing arts education. The Guardian University Guide 2017 ranks it #21 among 119 universities in the UK, and confirms Falmouth as the country’s top- ranked creative arts university.

Moreover, Falmouth enjoys high ratings on student employability with 97 percent of its students engaged in work or enrolled in further study programmes within six months of graduation, according to the Higher Education Survey 2015.

Falmouth University, which describes itself as a “specialist creative multi-arts institution”, hosts ten academic departments — art, music and theatre arts, business school, fashion and textiles institute, games academy, photography institute, architecture, design and interiors, communication design, and writing and journalism. Currently, these schools offer 54 study programmes including a one-year full-time UAL (University of Arts London) foundation diploma programme, 36 undergraduate, 12 postgrad and M.Phil/Ph D research programmes and short-term certificate courses to 4,700 students from over 100 countries worldwide. In 2015, the university launched a new games academy and a Meta-Makers Research Institute.

This varsity traces its origins to the wholly private Falmouth School of Art established in 1902. In 1938, the school was acquired by the local education authority and transformed into the Falmouth College of Art and Design in 1987 and University College of Falmouth in 2009. In 2012, the college was conferred university status.

Falmouth & Penryn. Located on the southern tip of Cornwall county, Falmouth (pop. 26,767) boasts the world’s third largest natural deep-water harbour. Surrounded by areas of outstanding natural beauty including the Helford and Fal Rivers and Roseland Peninsula, Falmouth is a cruise ship stop and popular holiday destination. A major attraction of the port town is its Georgian town houses converted into hotels overlooking five main beaches. Popular as a day sailing destination, Falmouth offers a variety of watersports — surfing, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling, and diving — and fairs and festivals held year round. The town also hosts several art galleries, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs, shops and boutiques.

Sited 1.6 km north-west of Falmouth, Penryn (pop. 9,790) was once an important harbour in its own right, exporting granite and tin to the rest of the world in the medieval period. This heritage town boasts several buildings dating back to Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian times, and is well-connected to Falmouth by cycle paths, bus services and a train line.

Cornwall has the mildest and sunniest climate of the UK. Frost and snow are rare on this coast, even in winter. Temperatures range from 4°-9°C in winter to 15°-19°C in summer.

Campus facilities: A ten-minute walk from the town centre and Gyllyngvase beach, the 70-acre Falmouth campus hosts the schools of art, design and fashion. Set within subtropical gardens, the campus offers cutting-edge facilities for study of the creative arts at its Learning Resource Centre served by dedicated Mac and PC suites. The Falmouth campus library offers an array of digital resources, magazines, specialist material and journals including 30,000+ DVD and Blu-Ray titles. In addition, a specialist art, fashion and graphic design library houses 50,000 print volumes, e-resources, image databases and journals.

A short bus ride from Falmouth is the Penryn campus which the university operates in partnership with the University of Exeter, under a Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative. The Penryn campus also offers outstanding facilities including the Stannary, one of the country’s largest live events venues, seminar and lecture rooms, library (housing over 100,000 print volumes, special collections and online resources), sports centre, multi-use games area, and well-equipped centres for design, photography, media, and performance, department of writing, on-campus residences and Academy of Innovation and Research.

Admission. The minimum eligibility criteria for admission into Falmouth’s undergraduate programmes is successful completion of class XII (CBSE, CISCE, A level, IB diploma), English language proficiency (IELTS (Academic) 6.0 and GCSE Grade C) and portfolio of creative work. However, some study programmes have specific entry requirements. For instance, most of the art and design courses require completion of the one-year UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design offered by Falmouth.

Undergraduate admission applications must be routed through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS, www.ucas.com). The UCAS code for Falmouth University is F33. The application deadline is January 15 for admission into term beginning September. All applications for postgraduate study (eligibility requirements: bachelor’s degree and English language proficiency) should be made directly to the university.

For further information, contact Lee Bryan, International Officer (Norway, Thailand, Singapore, India, UK Partners), Tel: +44 (0)1326 259373, email: lee.bryan@falmouth.ac.uk; website: www.falmouth.ac.uk.

Accommodation. Falmouth University offers a variety of affordable owned and managed accommodation in and around the Falmouth and Penryn campuses. Residential facilities include fully furnished study bedrooms with communal kitchen/living spaces and access to shared bathroom/toilet, internet and laundry facilities.

Degree programmes. Falmouth’s ten academic departments offer a range of bachelors, Masters and doctoral programmes in the arts and creative disciplines (see box).