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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Tess Reidy

Meet the lawyer, the marketing executive and the tech founder who enrolled in art school

James Nepaulsingh, Cassidy Lowe - Planesight / Nighthawk, 2025 Convenience stores receive shipments every week, sometimes daily. This project aims to highlight the unseen labour and costs behind everyday shelf items by taking discarded foriegn shipping boxes and manipulating them into a paper plane. Hosan Lee- complex systems mapping workshop
Clockwise from left: former lawyer James Nepaulsingh (photograph: Nick Ivins); Hosan Lee: Complex systems mapping workshop; Cassidy Lowe: Planesight/Nighthawk, 2025 Composite: collects from case studies - do not use

At the Royal College of Art (RCA) there is no such thing as a typical art and design student. Part of what makes it so special is that it draws students from across the UK and the world, many of whom have made significant life changes to work and study at its world-famous London campus. It is, of course, no surprise that students are choosing it – the RCA has long been a hotbed of talent and a place people come to make a name for themselves. Founded in 1837, it has produced generations of artists and designers who have shaped visual culture, from Dame Barbara Hepworth and Sir Frank Bowling to Dame Tracey Emin and Sir Ridley Scott. We spoke to current students and recent graduates who have pivoted from established careers to reshape their futures at the RCA.

‘It’s like being in an amorphous art gallery and seeing the work from start to finish’

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