What is going on with Central Saint Martins?

[TenaciousDeeds]

My DD18 did very well in her A Levels and is now looking to go to art college in London in September 2026, to study either graphic design or photography.

We’ve booked open days at Central Saint Martins, Camberwell and the London College of Communication. However, a friend of mine who lives round the corner from Saint Martins says that it seems to now be almost exclusively wealthy students from China and Japan that attend, and that she’s heard their applications are very streamlined to succeed, as they pay almost three times as much as British students.

I thought she was being dramatic, but on their Instragram account there is a recent video of graduation and it is almost exclusively Chinese and Japanese students.

Am I right to think it’s probably not worth us going to the open day and to book somewhere else, or are all London universities like this now? I wouldn’t want her going to an art college where she has very little in common with the other students and that their studying is maybe prioritised over hers.

DS has been looking at Games art degrees - we did an open day at Hertfordshire and it did seem fab. Falmouth is meant to be good - but so far away. He’s also looking at Bournemouth. I thought the course in Canterbury seemed good (and the campus grounds had a lovely planting scheme but he wasn’t impressed by that).

We also looked at this the year before last and thry had a presentation on gaming animation (although that wasnt what we specifically went for)

Dropping of dd at LCF today 🤞

Ds1 friend graduated from Staffs this year for games art and has been beating off employers with a stick.

it’s always had a lot of foreign students. In the mid 90s, it was rich students from Greece who wanted to play act poor

How about the National Film and Television School? The have an MFA in Game Design and Development (but deadline for 2026 entry is Sept 25th, so may be too late for her). I mention it because the students there worked on, for eg The Crown props and models, so it is very industry-targeted, if that is important to her.

did they have a thirst for knowledge, by any chance?

I hope he stays at Claredale, I’ve a soft spot for those halls.

Really interesting to hear you’re an art professional, and are impressed by London Met. When you mention UAL are you thinking CSM courses? Do you have any concerns that London Met on a CV will be a detriment where as a UAL course may potentially be a bonus, or is that an assumption that people outside the art world make?

sorry to have so many questions-my DD loves art and fashion but I know LCF and CSM wouldn’t be for her and I’d not thought of London Met-it fell off my radar.

@RavenPie , you’ll have to let us know how she gets on too!

🤣🤣 haha same thought

Watching roaches climb the wall, but if they called their dad he could stop it all? 😉

Haha you both got there before me!

I'll tell you when he's started ;-), but there is so much art wise in that area and having looked at the facilities and course content as well as chatted to the tutor it looks great.
Tracy Emin went there way back. It was very well known and respected when it was called Cass School of Art (until 2021) - but that name is from a slave trader and rightly removed. The name UAL on a CV isn't really worth much. I'd visit them

Heard great things about this too - Campus designed for collaboration with other disciplines

Yes its almost exclusively chinese students. Its favoured international students for a very long time. Try hereford beautiful town. I saw the Pottery by a member of the faculty. It was stunning 😍.

But they don't do degree level, do they? My son did an MA there - it's a fantastic place.

I'm really surprised that nobody has mentioned NUA in Norwich. It is a gorgeous city and NUA has an excellent reputation.

Two of my friends' DCs have just graduated from UAL. They liked it. I would see having lots of foreign students as a positive - it's good for students to get to know people from other countries plus the university will have far more cash to spare.

Ha ha, Common People

My DD looked here and was really tempted, I think was her second choice, she didnt choose it in the end. Agree it looked great

What are you basing your comment on? It's been prevalent in most of the top unis for many years. I studied architecture at a well known London uni and about 70% were from abroad then. It was also well known that while British students were able to resit only in the summer those from outside of the UK were able to resist any one year 2 times. That was directly due to fees.

My husband studied medicine at the same time and can vouch for the same, he guest lectures at his old uni now and the demographic is mainly outside of the EU.

I wonder if any of these Chinese students arrive with any relevant background or preparation?

I had a friend at CSM who told me the wealthy foreign students outsourced a lot. Anyone who has struggled with the complexities of pattern making and garment construction can see the temptation of doing so, but I always thought it was cheating.

@BreezySwan. DD went to LCF. London is the best place to be. Yes, the courses have msny international students. Students should get over their prejudices really. Dont accept second best due to this.