The College of Arts at the University of Derby is a strong creative community of staff and students. Dynamic, energetic and contributing to a flourishing creative economy, we are a place where talent thrives and ambitions are realised.

Our disciplines cover a range of art, design, media and performing arts subjects.
The University of Derby is a public university which provides over 300 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, covering a range of academic disciplines including; Arts, Business, Education, Engineering, Health Humanities and Science. It gained University status in 1992, but has its roots in a number of earlier education institutions operating since the mid 1800’s, including the Derby Municipal Colleges of Arts and Technology. As well as Derby itself, the University also has campuses in Buxton and Chesterfield and further education provision in Leek.

The College of Arts is a dynamic creative community developing the very best in creative talent and innovation. With over 1600 students, studying in the areas of Art, Design, Media and Performing Arts, we work in partnership with the creative and cultural industries, regionally, nationally and internationally contributing to a flourishing creative economy. Our teaching is underpinned by research, which is pushing the frontiers: in the latest Research Excellence Framework over 80% of our research output was ranked as being internationally significant. Our vision as a College, embeds the notion of a ‘Cultural Campus’, which extends the resources of the University, by developing relationships with all the main arts and cultural organisations in the City of Derby and beyond. In the Performing Arts areas this includes the delivery of our Theatre Arts provision at Derby Theatre and our new BA Dance degree in collaboration with Deda.