Source: Courtesy Image

Global Fashion School Rankings 2017

London College of Fashion

London, United Kingdom

LCF provides one of the widest ranges of courses in fashion education, with over 70 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and 165 short courses. As a result, it has one of the largest student bodies with about 5,000 students across the BA and MA programmes. The college continues to expand its course offering with highly specialised courses and is a leader in fashion research covering areas such as sustainable fashion practice. In January 2017, the school opened the Digital Learning Lab (DLL) at its Mare Street site, a space where students and staff can experiment with new technologies and ask advice from technical staff. In 2020, the college will move to a new state-of-the-art facility in East London, situated in the former Olympic Park. These developments relate to a broader commitment by LCF to use innovative technologies to the benefit of its students and staff. The college's BA course offering has risen three places in the rankings this year, thanks to a strong score in the employability of its students post graduation. The school did however move down three places in the fashion graduate ranking, but comes in second for the business graduate ranking, indicating it is one of the few successful hybrid educators, capable of teaching both creative and commercial disciplines. Student and alumni comments reflected conflicting opinions toward the school's mode of teaching. While some students felt they did not receive enough support from tutors through their studies, others enjoyed the freedom and felt challenged to grow.

Select Year

4th

Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking 2017

Full-time fashion students

4,044

International students

55%

Student : Teacher ratio

21:1

Tuition: Domestic/intl

$12k/$23k

Acceptance rate

35%

Graduation Rate

80%

Courses Offered

Undergraduate:
BA (Hons) Cordwainers Fashion Bags & Accessories: Product Design & Innovation; BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design & Innovation; BA (Hons) Fashion Jewellery; BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring; BA (Hons) Fashion Contour; BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Development; BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear; BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear; BA (Hons) Fashion Pattern Cutting; BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear; BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Embroidery; BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Knit; BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print; BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration; BA (Hons) Fashion Photography; BA (Hons) Creative Direction for Fashion; BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism; BA (Hons) Fashion Public Relations & Communication; BA (Hons) Fashion Styling & Production; BA (Hons) Hair & Make-up for Fashion; BA (Hons) Hair, Make-up & Prosthetics for Performance; BA (Hons) 3D Effects for Performance & Fashion; BA (Hons) Costume for Performance; BA (Hons) Hair, Make-up & Prosthetics for Performance; BA (Hons) Hair & Make-up for Fashion

8th

Graduate, Fashion Ranking 2017

Full-time fashion students

177

International students

59%

Student : Teacher ratio

7:1

Tuition: Domestic/intl

$11k/$23k

Acceptance rate

32%

Graduation Rate

89%

Courses Offered

Graduate:
MA Fashion Artefact; MA Footwear; MA Fashion Design Technology Menswear; MA Fashion Design Technology Womenswear; MA Pattern & Garment Technology; MA Fashion Futures; MA Fashion Cultures; MA Fashion Curation; MA Fashion Journalism; MA Fashion Media Production; MA Fashion Photography; MA Costume Design for Performance

2nd

Graduate, Business Ranking 2017

Full-time fashion students

127

International students

89%

Student : Teacher ratio

21:1

Tuition: Domestic/intl

$11k/$23k

Acceptance rate

32%

Graduation Rate

92%

Courses Offered

Graduate:
Executive MBA (Fashion); MBA (Commenced in 2017); MA Fashion Design Management; MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation; MA Fashion Retail Management; MA Strategic Fashion Marketing; MA Psychology for Fashion Professionals; MSc Applied Psychology in Fashion; MSc Strategic Fashion Management (Integrated Masters); MSc Cosmetic Science (Integrated Masters)

Student & Alumni Comments

"Great course and university facilities. Reputation and location are very beneficial as alumni have come into amazing jobs and careers."

Alumni

"The teaching staff is very nice and helpful, but you have to ask for the help if you need it. On another note, having five buildings all over London makes for excessive commuting."

Student

"Overall, the experience at LCF was generally positive. However, at times it did feel that the staff and teaching body were heavily focused on the reputation of the university rather than aiming to improve the overall quality of teaching. "

Student

"The libraries are one of the best features of this school and the teachers are really passionate about their specialties. However, it can be quite difficult to network and meet fellow UAL students as we are usually isolated in our classes and have very little units with people from other courses. Would be nice to have more "university" activities!"

Student

"LCF provided me with an immersive experience within the fashion industry. We had the opportunity to network and meet members of the industry. It was a somewhat of a self-taught course, but provided me with the tools to critically think about the business of fashion with a strong focus on research."

Alumni

"Satisfied with the course I did. I just wished more technical skills would have been added to the course as well as to create a better network between students across different courses. "

Alumni

Full Undergraduate, 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.

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.

Full Graduate, Business 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.

What's your opinion?