Goldsmith's Fine Art BA – effect of funding crisis?

[FactyFrances]

Anyone know how the student experience is being affected? Also is Goldsmith's focus on independent work a convenient excuse for little contact time with tutors? Any experiences or impressions welcome!

Big article about Goldsmiths and others in the Guardian today:

How cuts and culture wars sent universities into a death spiral
www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/11/the-goldsmiths-crisis-how-cuts-and-culture-wars-sent-universities-into-a-death-spiral

I’m a Goldsmiths student (not Art) but I have some insight into the situation at the moment. 11 out of 19 departments are facing redundancies and the Art Department is not one of them. I’m assuming this is because Fine Art is very popular at Goldsmiths.

However, the general atmosphere of the institution is not great, the impact of the transformation programme is likely to be catastrophic. Tutors are overworked and underpaid.

On the 19th of April there is going to be a university wide Marking and Assessment Boycott as well as other Actions Short of A Strike. There has been a lot of strike action in recent years.

Goldsmiths is a very special place with great tutors, a strong ethos and community. But the overall student experience isn’t great mainly due to other problems (e.g administrative).

I wouldn’t say that Goldsmiths should be ruled out completely, but I think the current problems should be a factor when making the decisions. Also, they’re doing something called the Portfolio Simplification Exercise, which means they’re getting rid of a lot of optional modules so that’s something to bear in mind.

For Fine Art, it might be better to go for UAL or Kingston if those are options.

@vanillaalmondlatte Thank you for giving such a balanced view. Yes, my DC does have offers from a UAL college and Kingston for Fine Art BA but neither have the reputational pull of Goldsmith's. May I ask why you chose to study there and if it's been worth it?

@RytonTarget Thank you for the interesting link. There's a lot to take in there, some very relevant, most of it bigger than any one institution

No problem. Personally, I was limited by location (had to be London), academic requirements (couldn’t be UCL) and degree choice (my degree is Education Studies). I preferred Goldsmiths over LSBU and London Met so I just went for it.

Has it been worth it? I think so. I’ve learned some interesting things and met some great people which is all I could have asked for. But it has been difficult and frustrating with all the stress and marking boycotts - I don’t feel like I’m getting value for money. Also, I live at home so can’t really comment on university halls etc.

I would have thought Kingston and UAL had an equally good reputation for art, but I’m not an expert. Also another point is location - Kingston is definitely nicer and safer than New Cross, and I suppose it depends which UAL college she got the offer from.

If you want to know more, I’d check out @ goldsmiths_stories on Instagram. It’s a student led account (not by me) that shows the good, bad and the ugly of the current situation at Goldsmiths.

All the best to your DC, whatever they decide.