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Royal Academy Schools

The RA Schools has been a key part of the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1769. We offer a full-time, three-year programme to 17 early career artists each year. We charge no fees.

Lectures, group critiques, tutorials and artist talks support the production of studio work. Given the high student to tutor ratio, each student’s individual art practice is subject to in-depth and sustained discussion.

This programme is free and we offer financial support through bursaries, contributions to the cost of some materials, alongside a student support fund. This support does not fully cover the cost of living and studying in London, and most students work part time including those who take on paid work within the RA.

Our next open day will be in Autumn 2022

Find out more

- RA Schools Show 2022
  
  Fri 17 June - Sun 3 July 2022
  
  Having completed their postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools, 15 artists transform their studios to present new work across a range of media.
  
  This year’s RA Schools Show includes paintings that layer tradition with augmented reality, a landscape of sculptural wishing wells, a performance where slow bodies melt into screens and machines, and photographs that capture people and places with a directness that frequently summon the mythological and quietly psychological.
  
  Find out more

A taste of life at the RA Schools

The RA Schools provides a shared space for exchange and discussion in the development of the student’s practice across fine art media. Our school is equipped with specialist facilities for artists working in a wide variety of processes, including casting, ceramics, woodwork, 2D and 3D printmaking, photography, and time based media.

Studios

All of our students are allocated an individual studio space, whatever the nature of their practice.

Lectures

A mixture of lectures and artist talks form the structure of the working week.

Photo by Cat Garcia

Exhibitions

Students exhibit their work at the RA in their second year at Premiums, and at the end of the programme at the RA Schools Show.

Photo by Cat Garcia

Teaching

Our high tutor-to-student ratio ensures that each artist’s individual practice is subject to in-depth discussion.

Funding

The course is free, and we offer financial support through bursaries and contributions to the cost of some materials.

Specialist facilities

The RA Schools is equipped with specialist facilities and staffed with experienced tutors.

Photo by Cat Garcia

Community

Students join an established community of artists and art professionals including graduate peers, visiting artists, lecturers and Royal Academicians.

- The Starr Fellowship
  
  A fellowship at the RA Schools for a US artist
  
  The Royal Academy Schools is seeking applications for The Starr Fellowship, a year-long residency for a visual artist who is a U.S. national.
  
  The Fellowship provides a bursary of £26,000.
  
  The ideal candidate will have an independently established contemporary studio practice, and will have taken part in exhibitions and other projects. Teaching experience and an MFA or similar is desirable.
  
  The artist will have access to the resources at the RA Schools to further their practice. The postgraduate programme of academic lectures and talks, technical facilities and expertise are all available to the Starr Fellow including the RA’s extensive Collection, Library and Archive. The fellow is invited to present their work at the RA Schools at the end of the Fellowship in the form of a studio show.
  
  For more information about the Royal Academy Schools and our facilities please see our Prospectus.
  
  There are opportunities for the Starr Fellow to extend their teaching experience, contributing to the RA Schools programme which supports a cohort of postgraduate students. The Starr Fellow delivers an artist’s talk at the beginning of the year and in addition they contribute to the critique of work of first year students through attendance at group crits.
  
  Applications for the October 2022 - July 2023 Starr Fellowship are now closed

- Graduates of the RA Schools
  
  Our graduates have influenced art and culture in the UK and abroad through art practice, education, research, curatorial practice and collaboration. Stretching back to 1769, our graduates include William Blake and JMW Turner to living artists: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Michael Armitage, Eddie Peake, Prem Sahib and Rebecca Ackroyd who exemplify the range of recent graduates.
  
  If you are a graduate or you want to learn more about our graduates, see our graduates page.
  
  Find out more about our graduates

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