UAL receives Queen's Anniversary Prize at Buckingham Palace ceremony

University of the Arts London (UAL) was formally presented with the highest national honour in Higher Education at a special ceremony held at Buckingham Palace today (Thursday 22 February).

James Purnell, President and Vice-Chancellor of UAL, and Dilys Williams, Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion and Chair of UAL Social Purpose Advisory Group, collected the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education from Her Majesty The Queen on behalf of UAL.

The honour recognises the outstanding role UAL has played in shaping the fashion industry of the future, enabling everyone from designers to manufacturers and suppliers to thrive amidst the challenges of the twenty-first century through new thinking and transformation.

The prize marks over two decades of work across various colleges and research centres at UAL, including the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, based at London College of Fashion, which has shaped the discourse in fashion and sustainability for over 15 years; London College of Fashion, UAL’s Portal Centre for Social Impact’s sector leading work in community engagement and social impact initiatives, such as the Making for Change programme; and the industry-led Business of Fashion, Textiles & Technology project which provided the strong foundation to launch the Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute in 2021.

You can find out more about the breadth of this pioneering work here.

The Queen’s Anniversary Prize

The Prizes are managed by The Royal Anniversary Trust, which is an independent charity. The Trust was established in 1990 to create a national programme of educational activities and other events marking the 40th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession in 1992. This is the fifth time that UAL has been awarded the prize, and the certificate presented to recipients is the result of a 2009 competition by graphic design students at Central Saint Martins, UAL.