The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has climbed The Complete University Guide’s 2019 league tables – the first time an arts education institution outside London has made the top five.

Scotland’s national conservatoire has jumped from seven in 2018 to two in the UK-wide rankings for specialist arts, drama and music institutions. The full table is available here.

The recognition comes hot on the heels of the QS World University Rankings 2018 announcement in March which placed the Royal Conservatoire in the world’s top ten performing arts institutions for the third year in a row.

Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “It’s gratifying for the entire community at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to be recognised as one of the UK’s leading specialist institutions in The Complete University Guide 2019.

“Scotland’s national conservatoire is already recognised as one of the most distinctive institutions of our kind in the world. This latest endorsement further cements our status as a national and international centre of excellence for the performing arts and we’re incredibly proud to be putting Scotland’s higher education and passion for the arts on the map in this way.”

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has a global reputation for its groundbreaking work in advancing the performing arts and artists for the 21^st century. It has an excellent graduate employment rate with 97.1% of graduate respondents within employment or further study within six months of graduation, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA 2015-16). It also has the best student retention rates of any higher education institution in Scotland and is among the top five in the UK (HESA 2015-2016).

The Complete University Guide’s independent and unbiased league tables are used by almost a million applicants and their advisers monthly. Visit www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk for more information.