Goldsmiths, University of London guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Goldsmiths is emerging from the financial turmoil of the past two years a leaner, fitter - and still distinctive - institution. 'Different is what we do,' the university proclaims in its prospectus. Many feared that difference and edginess was under attack as the university was forced to make hefty savings by a decline in income and student numbers. Those student numbers remain at their lowest point in the past decade with just 1,635 students admitted via Ucas to courses beginning in September 2024, down from 2,780 as recently as 2017. Applications are at a low ebb, too, but at least the university's Transformation Programme has moved the university on to a sustainable footing. Based on an attractive campus in a happening part of London (New Cross Gate), Goldsmiths has a reputation for turning out some of the country's brightest young creatives. Nine alumni have won the Turner Prize, Britain's premier arts award, since its inception in 1984; Mohammed Sami is the latest to be shortlisted for it. Might Goldsmiths have a 10th winner come December? The 58 degrees offered here don't just span the creative and performing arts. You can study computing, artificial intelligence, politics, economics and marketing, too. A quarter of last year's undergraduate intake came from overseas and a heavy majority of the domestic recruits come from the capital itself. It makes for a socially and ethnically diverse student population - another embodiment of different being what Goldsmiths does.
Paying the bills
The university targets its bursaries and scholarships on many of the minorities that help make its student population so distinctive. Up to 15 Access Programme scholarships worth £1,000 per year are awarded to students who have gained their places via an Access to Higher Education course for learners without traditional qualifications. Equity Awards worth £3,000 a year are made to up to 30 black, mixed race, Asian, Arab or traveller students from homes with less than £35,000 annual income. Priority criteria that include living in Lewisham (Goldsmiths' home borough) for three years prior to coming to the university are also taken into consideration. Further support for students recruited locally is available via the Lewisham Borough fee waivers scheme, which sees up to five students from homes with an income of less than £35,000 get full tuition-fee waivers of £28,605, based on their application form answers. New Cross Fire bursaries are worth £1,500 per year and are open to up to five Lewisham residents from minority ethnic backgrounds with household incomes of less than £35,000. The bursaries, paid by Lewisham council, commemorate the 14 young people who died at a party in a suspected racially motivated arson attack in the borough in 1981. Travel bursaries covering the cost of commuting from students' homes to Goldsmiths are paid to up to 10 students. The 1,300 places in university-owned or Goldsmiths-reserved accommodation are priced from £7,686 for the cheapest rooms in Surrey House on a 42-week contract, rising to £17,157 for a large studio in Town Hall Camberwell, Goldsmiths' ritziest accommodation, over the same period.
What's new?
Just in time for its 120th birthday this autumn, Goldsmiths has reorganised and come up with a new strategic direction under warden Professor Frances Corner. No matter that this was forced on Goldsmiths by an acute financial crisis, Goldsmiths promises that the upshot will be an enhanced student experience. Personal tutoring will now provide a wrap-around approach with staff teams working together to deliver high quality academic and wellbeing support to students throughout their studies. An upgraded virtual learning environment is being rolled out over summer 2025 and the university is creating a single student digital access point to answer student enquiries. A full academic review is being undertaken to ensure Goldsmiths courses reflect key national and global challenges where they intersect with the university's sphere of influence and expertise - encompassing climate justice, mental health, social inequality and the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative and cultural industries. To broaden the university's ability to attract students who might lack the level of qualifications to move straight on to a three-year honours degree programme, it is adding seven integrated degrees to its course portfolio this year - those that include a foundation year and require lower grades for entry - in English, history, journalism, sociology, social work, promotional media, and politics and international relations.
Admissions, teaching and student support
The university is aiming to improve long-standing poor scores in the annual National Student Survey with a revamped student support structure that brings academic and wellbeing support closer together through dedicated personal tutors who both monitor academic progress and provide the first point of contact if a student needs welfare support. Senior tutors in each academic department support personal tutors with more complex situations. Some departments, such as art and visual cultures, run their own neurodiversity and mental health support groups that students in any subject can access. A wellbeing team, mental health advisers and counsellors are available, with students able to access up to six sessions of various therapies, including art therapy. Goldsmiths also offer one-to-one wellbeing mentoring and study skills sessions covering time management, essay planning and writing, and motivation strategies. For the first time this year, Goldsmiths has introduced a contextual offer scheme to help maintain the student diversity for which it is known. Open only to care leavers and students estranged from their parents, offers are lowered by two grades (equivalent to 16 Ucas tariff points) compared to standard entry requirements. However, Goldsmiths stresses that it takes a holistic approach to all admissions decisions looking not just at predicted or attained grades, but also portfolios where relevant; personal statements; and other educational or personal information disclosed on Ucas forms.