Goldsmiths, University of London, is a public research university specializing in the arts, design, humanities, and social sciences. It is a constituent college within the University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in New Cross, London. It was acquired by the University of London in 1904 and was renamed Goldsmiths' College. The word College was dropped from its branding in 2006, but "Goldsmiths' College", with the apostrophe, remains the institution's formal legal name.
The university has a distinguished history of contributing to arts and social sciences. Its Department of Art is widely recognised as one of Britain's most prestigious, producing the YBA's art collective and over 20 Turner Prize nominees. Goldsmiths is also known for design, psychology, drama, sociology, music, politics, media and cultural studies, languages and literature, visual cultures, anthropology and educational studies.
Nearly 20% of students come from countries outside the UK, and 52% of all undergraduates are mature students (aged 21 or over at the start of their studies). Around a third of students at Goldsmiths are postgraduate students.
