Central Saint Martins tops global fashion school ranking

For the second year in a row, Central Saint Martins in London has been named the top global fashion school by the Business of Fashion’s annual ranking that includes 54 institutions from 17 countries.

The ranking is based on 60 key data points gathered from surveys completed by more than 10,000 current students and alumni, as well as feedback from over 130 HR professionals, global fashion influencers, fashion school academics, who participated in the annual fashion education survey.

The three key major indicators of quality that the ranking is based on is global influence, learning experience and long-term value, of which Central Saint Martins came top with a score of 95.0, as both its BA and MA Fashion course topped the charts.

They were followed by Kingston University, which climbed one spot to second place in the BA ranking, while new entrant, Finland’s Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture came third.

Other UK institutions in the BA top 25 includes London College of Fashion, which came 7th, while the University of Westminster was ranked 12th, closely followed by University of Brighton in 13th place, and Manchester Metropolitan University was listed at 16, while the University of Edinburgh was down in 21st.

In the MA ranking, Central Saint Martins knocked the Royal College of Art from the number one spot, who this year could only manage second place, while the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris came third, improving four places from last year’s ranking. Rounding off the UK institutions listed in the top 25 was London College of Fashion, which took fifth place.