And the Best Creative Arts School in the UK is… the University of Hertfordshire

The news comes shortly after the University’s animation and game design course was ranked the UK’s best by the Guardian Good University Guide.

Recognised globally as the definitive guide to the world’s best creative schools, The Rookies identifies institutions that consistently produce top-tier talent across disciplines including animation, visual effects, concept art, and games development.

Herts is the UK's Best Creative School say independent rankings

Herts leads a prestigious list that includes the University of the Arts, London listed in second place, to the University of Creative Arts, listed twelfth. Other institutions include the University of Staffordshire and Escape Studio in South London as well as a second East of England institution, Norwich University.

The Rookies is an independent global ranking system. The University of Hertfordshire’s Creative Arts School is the only UK institution to make the list of the world’s top 30 creative arts schools. Almost 500 institutions worldwide were evaluated, with only four UK universities making the top 50.

According to The Rookies, 751 Herts students participated across competition categories, with an employment rate of over 93% among graduates from the University’s creative arts programmes.

The Rookies co-founder Andrew McDonald said:

“Choosing a creative school in United Kingdom is a major decision.

“There are hundreds of institutions across the region, offering everything from animation and game design to visual effects, architecture, and graphic design. Costs, teaching quality, and industry outcomes vary widely, and reputation alone is not a reliable guide.

“This guide highlights the top creative schools in United Kingdom for 2025, based on results from the Rookies Global School Rankings. These schools are listed because their students consistently produced strong, industry-ready work when evaluated by professionals.

“Traditional school rankings don’t always capture the nuances of creative and technical excellence. Our rankings provide a fair, data-driven way to identify schools producing world-class artists and designers.”

Herts is the only UK Creative Arts School in the World's top 30

The Rookies global rankings place Herts’ School of Creative Arts as Best 2D Animation School in the UK, Best Concept Art School in the UK, and Best VFX School in the UK. Herts was Second in the UK for Games Design and Development.

Dean of the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire, Stephen Partridge, said:

“The next generation of artists, designers, and storytellers are shaping industries worth tens of billions of pounds in the UK alone - from film, TV, and streaming to the booming video games sector, and the animation industry.

“Herts graduates are not only working across gaming, animation, film, and television, but through the use of Unreal Engine and advanced rendering technologies, they are also expanding into automotive, architecture, military, training and simulation, and many entrepreneurial ventures, helping the UK secure its position as a global leader in the entertainment and creative industries.

“Herts’ ranking is not a one-off success, it reflects years of consistent achievement across all our creative disciplines. The University’s School of Creative Arts continues to deliver outstanding results, demonstrating to students in the UK and around the world that Herts is the premier place to study a creative degree and build a successful career.”

The recognition follows a series of major accolades for Hertfordshire. Recently its Graphic Design programme was ranked best in the UK and fifth globally by the World Brand Design Society Awards. It’s Animation and Game Design course was ranked as the best in the UK by this year’s Guardian education rankings. The University’s alumni work for leading studios including Disney, and in later this year it will open Propeller Stage One, a state-of-the-art film studio designed to deliver world-class training for the growing film and TV industries.

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