Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD) is celebrating a strong start to the New Year with an increase in student recruitment to its university-level campus in Hartlepool.

The leading higher education provider of specialist creative art and design degrees in the north has not only exceeded its own targets for applicants on its September 2017-degree programme, but the number of applications have increased by more than 10 percent on last year.

Following the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) deadline on January 15, CCAD reported the excellent results, which see the specialist art and design school bucking the national trend for student applications across the UK despite a very challenging and competitive market.

Pat Chapman, Head of Employability and External Relations at CCAD, said: “We are very pleased to see so many students wanting to come to CCAD. We know that our students value the high quality experience and education they get here, as recognised by the National Student Survey (NSS) in 2016 which ranked CCAD alongside the top 20 universities in the country, and the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education) which awarded the college its Quality Mark in 2016.

“In addition, potential students recognise that CCAD can support their endeavours into the creative sector and help them build a career in their chosen industry, for which we have the best record for art design graduate employability in the UK, as demonstrated in the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey last year.

The college offers a varied and specialist range of subjects and areas of study across its 12 honours degree courses in 2017, including Body Contour Fashion, Design for Digital Industries, Creative Film and Moving Image and Creative Photographic Practice.

Pat added: “Students coming to CCAD see a place that is growing, full of confidence and developing in a way that is unusual for the sector as a whole. With the new £11m studios opening shortly, a film and TV sound stage launching shortly and our collaborative development of graduate work space for 100 creatives with Hartlepool Borough Council opening in 2018, it is a very exciting time here at CCAD.”