Welcome

I am pleased to introduce to you the School of Art. Year on year Aberystwyth University and our School of Art continues to perform splendidly in the annual student surveys. In the Guardian University Guide 2012, the School of Art appeared 8th out of 82 institutions across the UK that offer Art & Design courses. We were by far the highest scoring art department in Wales. For ‘student satisfaction with the course,’ our School was  3rd in the UK; for ‘student satisfaction with teaching,’ we were 2nd in the UK; and for ‘student satisfaction with feedback,’ we came 6th in the UK.  In the Times Good University Guide 2012 we scored 84% for Student Satisfaction. This placed us 2nd in the UK. Once again, we were the highest scoring art and design provider in Wales.

And good news spreads quickly. Overall, Aberystwyth enjoyed another record year for student recruitment with applications up 37% since 2007. In September 2011, the University welcomed 2,900 first year students, its largest intake since we opened in 1872. This year also saw another increase in the number of students entering the School of Art. In addition to those who have joined us from various parts of Wales (amounting to some 25% of our first-year intake), we have large numbers of students once again from the Midlands, Cheshire, London and Home Counties. With international students from as far afield as Norway, Germany, Brunei, Greece, Canada, Lithuania and the USA, the School of Art is a truly cosmopolitan place to be.

We have seen a similar increase in the number of postgraduate students in both fine art and art history. In August 2010, Miles Brignall considered the ‘future stars from the modern art landscape’ for his article on ‘The Fine Art of Investing’ in The Guardian. He concluded that the twice-yearly MA Fine Art Exhibitions at Aberystwyth are among the top four ‘pick of the shows’ UK-wide. Aberystwyth was the only institution he selected from outside London.

If you would like to discover what makes the School of Art at Aberystwyth such a special place to study, please arrange a visit to see for yourself. A warm welcome awaits.

Robert Meyrick
Head of School of Art and Keeper of Art
Aberystwyth University

October 2011