Escape Studios ranked as a top UK creative school for four years running

The 2025 Rookies rankings are in and we’re proud to be recognised once again as one of the top creative higher education providers in the UK and worldwide.

According to The Rookies, the “top 50 Schools ranking represent the absolute best in creative education and excellence across all categories. This premier list showcases the most distinguished educational institutions that stand out as leaders in nurturing and shaping the next generation of artists, designers, animators, and creative professionals.”

Professor Ian Palmer, Principal of Escape Studios, comments: “We’re proud to be ranked again as a top UK Creative School for four years running by The Rookies. The competition is fierce, with many other schools being much larger than us. For our students’ work to be so highly regarded shows that the industry focus that we have really pays off. We’re also delighted to have been recognised across a wider range of categories this year, which is representative of our growing course portfolio and the remarkable studio-ready quality of our students’ work.”

Other highlights from the 2025 Rookies rankings include: 

• Production Excellence - Immersive Media - 1^st in the UK, 2^nd in the world 

• Production Excellence - Console Games - 2^nd in the UK, 5^th in the world 

• Production Excellence - 2D Animation - 4^th in the UK, 12^th in the world 

• Game Design & Development - 10^th in the UK, 28^th in the world.

The Rookies have been ranking creative media and entertainment schools since 2009 with the goal of helping aspiring artists find trusted schools to help them forge successful careers in creative fields. This year, over 6,577 entries from 132 countries and 486 schools competed in the Rookies Awards, with an esteemed panel of 132 industry pros reviewing their work. The Rookies don't rely on school size or internal grading - their rankings are based on student performance and industry readiness. They describe this as “without a doubt, the most extensive dataset on creative education available anywhere”.