Engaging with our external partners
We collaborate with many external partners in our Knowledge Exchange (KE) activity, from well-known global brands to local communities and smaller organisations. We are committed to providing a high-quality experience for all our external partners, from the point of enquiry through to completing our co-delivered activities.
Our process for managing business enquiries
We value all potential partnering enquiries and we want to make the process of getting in touch with us as straightforward as possible.
Once you contact us via our dedicated inbox (business@arts.ac.uk), we'll triage your enquiry internally and pass it on to the relevant team. A member of our professionally trained KE staff will contact you directly to advise on the potential ways you can work with us, in a way that best addresses your particular challenge or opportunity.
Our approach to gaining partners’ feedback
We appreciate the feedback our partners provide about the quality of their experience of working with us, and on the results of these collaborations.
For this reason, we ask all our partners to complete our client feedback form when they work with us, in addition to keeping an open conversation throughout our collaboration.
This process helps us to identify the lessons we can learn and how we can improve our KE activities.
Employer engagement
In addition to working closely with external partners on our KE activity, we are also committed to engage with relevant employers in the development and validation of all UAL’s teaching and learning provision. This ensures the content in our curriculum represents the latest thinking and practices in the sectors that our graduates will get into.
Engaging our students in KE
Following UAL’s commitment to continuously support our students in their creative journey and their professional development, our KE activities give them the opportunity to work closely with our external partners and gain real-life experience across different sectors and industries. Find out more about how to work with our students and graduates.
Our KE initiatives are also mutually beneficial for our partners. As a University, we attract some of the world’s most talented young creatives, who can provide valuable insights across different areas and industries. By working with our students, our partners can help to shape the future leaders of their industries.
If you are interested in providing career support to our students and graduates, then please review our partner pack (PDF 2,9MB).
Managing intellectual property
Our IP Policy (PDF 646KB) governs all aspects of UAL’s approach to managing the intellectual property of the University and its students. We also provide guidance and resources to support our students to effectively manage their own intellectual property.
Processing of third party data
During a collaboration we might collect data from third parties. If this is the case, check our policy for general data processing information to understand how we collect, create and store this data.
Our legal status
UAL has 6 constituent Colleges and 3 Institutes, but they do not have separate legal status. UAL is an exempt charity and not a charitable company.
Find out more about UAL’s legal and charitable status.
Supporting our staff
The Knowledge Exchange Academic Career Pathway
We have 3 distinct Academic Career Pathways at UAL: Teaching and Learning, Research and Knowledge Exchange.
The KE academic career pathway recognises, rewards and encourages the contributions of our academics to continue developing links between their work at UAL and their external networks.
For more information about the differences and benefits of each pathway, download the Academic Career Pathways Role Descriptors (PDF 98.58KB).
KE staff development opportunities
In addition to the KE Academic Career Pathway, we also provide staff development opportunities that are specific to Knowledge Exchange. Visit the KE page on Canvas to find out more – for UAL staff only.