A north east art and design college has taken on some of the best education institutions in the country and outperformed them with a stunning graduate success rate.
Employability statistics for Cleveland College of Art & Design (CCAD) have put the north east specialist college not only top in the region but fifth in the UK overall rankings and joint number one in the country for art and design degrees. This follows results from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) national survey of recent graduates, issued today (23 July).
Comparing its HESA submission with employability data from the annual Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) league table, the college’s dedicated university level campus equals the top performing UK art and design institutions, with 96 percent of its 2014 graduates in work or further study six months after graduating, well above the national average of 89 percent.
Not only has the Hartlepool-based college out-performed all the regional universities, including Durham University, Northumbria University, Leeds College of Art, Teesside University and University of Sunderland, it also ranks joint fifth in the UK, beating prestigious names such as Oxford and Cambridge. Compared with other specialist art and design providers, CCAD now ranks number one alongside Ravensbourne in London, and is beating higher profile institutions such as University of the Arts London and the Glasgow School of Art.
HESA’s annual league tables publish the results of all UK Higher Education Institutions (HEI) employability statistics. Results from institutions such as CCAD are not included as they are classed as Further Education institutions, with their degree provision validated externally but colleges are required to provide an official submission.
Martin Raby, Principal for Cleveland College of Art & Design, said: “It is clear from the results that smaller, specialist institutions such as Cleveland College of Art & Design are producing outstanding graduates and delivering quality results, as demonstrated by our data when compared with the DLHE table. We are now competing with nationally recognised universities and I believe is it because of our size and specialist creative environment and facilities that enables us to match and even beat institutions with larger facilities and more students and staff.