The Norther School of Art
The Northern School of Art has provided students with specialist art and design education in the North East for over 100 years. Dating back to 1870 when The Middlesbrough School of Art was opened shortly followed by The Government School of Art in Hartlepool in 1874. The School, formerly the Cleveland College of Art & Design (CCAD) was formed in 1979 by the merger of Teesside College of Art, Middlesbrough, and the Hartlepool College of Art.
Being the only educational institute dedicated to art and design in the North East over this course of time has given our school immeasurable experience and expertise in creative education. We have had the opportunity to work with outstandingly talented students that have graduated to become some of the best in their respective industries.
Our Alumni include Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner, car designer Keith Patterson and artist Mackenzie Thorpe. The School is one of only two remaining specialist art and design institutions in the further education (FE) sector in the UK.
It is unique in the Northern East of England as the only specialist further and higher education provider of art and design education. The School was one of the first institutions to be awarded ‘Gold’ in the Teaching excellence Framework (TEF) for full time higher education (HE) provision in 2017. It has held its Outstanding Ofsted rating since 2009, having most recently been inspected and graded as Outstanding in April 2022. The Northern School of Art is a statutory charity as set out in the ‘Further and Higher Education Act 1992’; as an organisation we are regulated by the Education & Skills Funding Agency, Department for Education.