The Courtauld Institute of Art is the major centre for the study of the history and conservation of art and architecture in the United Kingdom. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to around 400 students each year. More recently, in The Guardian’s 2024 league table for History of Art the Institute was ranked eighth, while the Complete University Guide 2025 subject table placed it 11th for History of Art, Architecture and Design. Internationally, the Institute has continued to appear in global subject rankings, including a top-five placement worldwide for art and design in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025.
Research According to the 2014
Research Excellence Framework, the Courtauld hosts the highest proportion of the UK's world-leading and internationally excellent research among all higher education institutions with 95% of research rated in the top two categories (4*/3*), 56% of which was rated in the 4* category, tied for highest in the UK with
London Business School.
Admissions In the academic year, the student body consisted of students, composed of undergraduates and postgraduate students. The only undergraduate course offered by the Courtauld is a BA in the History of Art and applications are made through UCAS. This is a full-time course designed to introduce students to all aspects of the study of art history. The university is generally designated as a 'high-tariff' institution by the
Department for Education, with the average undergraduate entrant to the university in recent years amassing between 139–144
UCAS Tariff points in their top three pre-university qualifications – the equivalent of AAB to AAA at
A-Level. and focuses on the intersection of contemporary art and moving image practice. Students on the History of Art MA choose a specialisation – ranging from antiquity and early modern to global contemporary – and engage in “Special Options” seminars, taught in intimate groups of 8–10 on topics spanning Byzantium, Black British art, early modern China. The Courtauld’s PhD programme is three-years full-time, or can be taken over six-years part-time.
Study resources Castle), Syria, photographed by
Anthony F. Kersting. Photograph held at the Conway Library. The Courtauld has two photographic libraries which originated as the private collections of two benefactors: the Conway Library, covering
architecture, architectural drawings, sculpture and
illuminated manuscripts, named after
Lord Conway of Allington, and the Witt Library, after
Sir Robert Witt, covering paintings, drawings and
engravings, and containing over two million reproductions of works by over 70,000 artists. In 2009, it was decided that the Witt Library would not continue to add new material to the collection, Images are viewable and downloadable in high-resolution, allowing users unprecedented access to nearly 3 million items that were previously not catalogued and only accessible in person. The book library is one of the UK's largest holdings of art history books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues. There is a slide library which also covers films, and an IT suite. An online image collection provides access to more than 40,000 images, including paintings and drawings from the Courtauld Gallery, and over 35,000 photographs of architecture and sculpture from the Conway Library. Additionally, together with the
Warburg Institute, the institute publishes
The Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, an annual publication of about 300 pages (). ==The Courtauld Gallery==