The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp offers a broad spectrum of courses in applied and fine arts and design. The Academy offers undergraduate and postgraduate fashion design courses, but was only ranked in our MA ranking. Its fashion programme entered the international spotlight following the breakthrough of the Antwerp Six designers in the 1980s. Admissions are competitive and applicants must prove a basic proficiency in spoken and written Dutch to be accepted on the course. Fashion students mix with peers in other programmes and are required to take weekly classes in life drawing, art history, art philosophy and research methods. Students ranked the school’s facilities and resources below average in our survey and expressed concerns regarding their business, marketing and sustainability education. Other noted areas for improvement included the provision and use of technology and careers services. However, students are very satisfied with the academy’s teachers and the quality of the student body.
3rd
Graduate, Fashion Ranking 2015
Full-time fashion students
17
International students
71%
Student : Teacher ratio
8:1
Tuition: Domestic/intl
$1k/$8k
Acceptance rate
36%
Graduation Rate
99%
Courses Offered
Graduate:
Jewellery Design & Gold- and Silversmithing, Fashion Design, Costume Design
Notable Alumni
Student & Alumni Comments
"A true microcosm of the industry: mentally, physically and organisationally challenging."
"My experience was tough. I got closer to establishing my own handwriting and my own personal voice within the creative field. This could also be a negative aspect when looking for jobs within the industry, if you are "too strong" it's difficult to fit within a team and assist another vision."
"The school is definitively in the middle ages as far as infrastructure and technology goes, which is something that probably stimulates many of the students including myself to find solutions to materialise their visions (that is if they have the budget to travel all over the world to find those solutions). The most negative experience was related to the lack of network and interest on the part of the faculty to facilitate work placements after they graduate. As far as work placements during studies — forget it! Students are highly discouraged to do so."
"Very happy with my experience even though it was hard, the major problem is the lack of time to do internships and gain experience and contacts during the studies."
"A creative platform built to allow you to push the highest standard of work and innovation possible. Extremely open, visionary and exciting."
Full Graduate, Fashion Ranking
The Business of Fashion's global fashion school rankings aim to provide an objective assessment of the top undergraduate and graduate fashion programmes around the world.