Our strategy
Last updated:
24 September 2026
The world needs creativity
Our mission is to empower individuals to shape culture, society, and the economy through creativity. We nurture talent, challenge convention and support our students to thrive in a complex, interconnected world.
By 2032, we'll be a world-leading university for creative education:
- We'll celebrate our heritage and make a major societal impact through excellent teaching, lifelong learning, and research and knowledge exchange.
- We'll be a gateway to opportunity in the creative sector and beyond.
- While globally minded, we'll have extensive national reach and deep links to our local communities.
Our 5 strategic pillars
To achieve where we want to be by 2032, we'll focus on 5 strategic pillars.
1. The student journey
We're focusing on delivering a transformative creative education, in person and online. It starts when someone first interacts with UAL, through to applying, studying, and being part of our alumni community.
We aim to deliver a consistently excellent student experience and will:
- harness the individual strengths of our Colleges
- ensure an equitable experience that allows students to build on their individual strengths
- work to close outcome gaps and help all learners thrive and progress.
The world of work and creative practice is evolving, so we'll make our education future-proof. It will:
- be responsive to emerging technologies
- support students to navigate and shape the rapidly changing landscape
- include opportunities to engage with digital tools, data, and AI, so students can use them confidently, ethically, and in ways that amplify their creative ambition.
A UAL education will improve students’ creative skills, critical thinking, technological fluency, and professional readiness. Our graduates will be able to secure good jobs, enjoy creative lives, and contribute positively to society.
2. Access and lifelong learning
This priority focuses on widening participation in creative education.
We'll attract, admit, and support students:
- at different life stages
- from diverse backgrounds
- at every point in their learning journey.
As learners’ needs and career pathways evolve, we'll respond by offering flexible routes into and through creative education.
By embracing new opportunities in online, hybrid, and technology-enabled learning, we'll allow students to:
- learn at their own pace
- build on prior experience
- return to education as their interests and lives change.
We want UAL to become the destination of choice for learners who want to reskill, upskill, pivot careers, or re-enter creative education.
3. Impact and innovation
We aim to advance innovation in creative education and be globally recognised as a leader in creative research.
Our research, knowledge exchange, innovation and enterprise will:
- focus on AI and emerging technologies
- contribute to sustainable futures and create a positive social impact
- be rooted in our local communities through our Colleges
- extend nationally and globally through collaborations that amplify our expertise and influence.
We'll ally with organisations that share our commitment to creativity, inclusion, and innovation. This means we can experiment, co-create, and lead in the future of creative education and practice.
4. Global affairs
We'll focus on our role in global creative education. It's shaped by our international student community, worldwide partnerships, academic collaborations, and thought leadership.
Our aim is to strengthen and express a distinctive global identity. We seek to attract students from a range of countries and ensure that what, how, and where we teach reflects the needs of our international community.
We'll build global collaborations that:
- enhance opportunities for students and staff
- support knowledge exchange
- position UAL as a trusted partner in addressing shared global challenges.
Our global network of alumni, partners, and collaborators will amplify our reach and ensure our creative education remains relevant, impactful, and connected in an increasingly interdependent world.
5. Our operating model
How we deliver our activity is important. Our aim is to build a sustainable, student-centred and high-performing institution.
We'll be flexible, so we can adapt to change and deliver outstanding creative education now and in the future.
Our operating model will support:
- financial sustainability
- environmental responsibility
- organisational resilience.
We'll enable our diverse staff to do their best work and our students to thrive by strengthening our operations, digital capacity, and physical and virtual learning environments.
Supporting strategies
Our supporting strategies set out our approach in more detail:
Education strategy
We want all UAL students to experience a distinctive creative education that is:
- student-centred
- practice-led
- engaged with the challenges facing our societies and planet.
Through our Education strategy, we aim to build on our strengths and improve how we work, so that our students can live creative lives, do good work and make a positive impact in the world.
Learn more about our Education strategy
Research and Knowledge Exchange strategy
Research and knowledge exchange (RKE) is integral to our ambition for our students and colleagues, our places and our partners. With our RKE strategy, we aim to evidence the value of creativity, creating impact through creating knowledge.
Learn more about our Research and Knowledge Exchange strategy
Download our strategy
