Future creatives take centre stage at UCA Grad Shows 2026

UCA’s next generation of artists, makers, fashion designers, architects, filmmakers, gamers, and photographers shared their end-of-year work with friends, family, industry, professionals, and local cultural and arts figures.

Also attending were local civic dignitaries, including His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, the Mayor and Mayoress of Farnham, the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell, and the Sheriff of Canterbury.

Across the Grad Show Opening Nights, over 30 industry awards were presented to ‘Best in Show’, sponsored by organisations that included Sony, BFI, the Azzuri Group, Flying Eye Books, the Association of Contemporary Jewellery, Studio AKA, Forestry England, Uniqlo, WGSN, CAA, Purcell UK, RIBA, and TASMK (The Arts Society Mid Kent).

Caroline Wright and Verity Lavender attended from Forestry England and presented the Forestry England Prize for Art Director, which went to third-year BA (Hons) Design for Theatre and Screen student, Sam Watson.

While a third-year BA (Hons) Illustration student, Chloe Ing, whose work pays homage to the beauty found in acrobatics and circus arts, won the Azzuri Group Award – one of the UK’s largest hospitality investment platforms, whose portfolio includes Zizzi and ASK Italian.

Chloe said: “It feels very rewarding to win the award, I’m very grateful.”

Elsewhere, the BFI-sponsored Best Student Film Award went to Mr. Fritz, a film directed by Ruben Mangatal-Francis and produced by Josh Isted and Tyler Rameau.

Leigh Singer, a film journalist who works for BFI, explained why this film was named the winner: “It’s a surreal and original look at exploitation in the entertainment industry. Highlighting racial discrimination made the story even more telling, and there was striking imagery from the director of photography, atmospheric work on the score by Zoe Krammer and a strong central performance from Jayden Tetty”

And Sony, with its long history of supporting early adopters and disruptors, gave an honourable mention to the film, No Running in the Halls, written and directed by Jack Froggatt-Cooper, but named Background Story its overall winner.

Alfie Harris-Jones, the director of photography, was awarded the Sony Camera Award, winning a Sony camera worth £1k, while Haotian Yu, director of the film, won the Sony Director Award and a day of filming at Pinewood Studios, where he will have access to the latest Sony cameras and lenses.

Zoe Duffy, BA (Hons) Acting and Performance third year student, rounded off the evening by winning the Actor of the Year Award. It was sponsored by UCA alum and actor, Gabin Kongolo, who made history as the first black person to perform in Welsh on the stage at Shakespeare’s Globe.

“Throughout my life, I’ve struggled to enjoy something I’m passionate about,” Zoe said. “So, coming to UCA really opened my eyes and made me realise this is the right thing for me and it’s what I’m meant to do - it is very fulfilling.”

UCA Epsom’s Grad Show was brought to life with a catwalk show presented by third-year fashion students, while its Business School for the Creative Industries hosted its newly branded Creative Business Awards 2026.

Awards were given to graduates studying across UCA’s range of creative business courses, sponsored by industry experts that included Worth Global Style Network (WGSM), Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Uniqlo. 

The award winners were:

Creative Vision in Fashion Business Award (sponsored by Uniqlo) - Nora Biro BA (Hons) Fashion Business & Management. Hearte Ho was named runner-up.

Most Innovative Concept in Beauty and Fashion Branding (sponsored by Snooze Events) - Grace Ramsey BA/BSc Digital Marketing and Social Media. Sarah Schwaegurl was named runner-up.

Community Changemaker Award  (sponsored by Epsom Picture House) - Viktorija Petunova BA/BSc (Hons) Music Business & Management (PPY). Gabby Watson was named runner-up.

NextGen Entrepreneur Award (sponsored by UCA Careers)- Jamie Belsham BA/BSc Digital Marketing & Social Media. Imogen Gover was named runner-up.

NextGen Print Publishing Award​ (sponsored by UCA Libraries)- Xiao Xuan (Willow) Eer BA/BSc (Hons) Music Business & Management. Rolyn Vergara was named runner-up.

Creative Vision in Brand Experience Award​ (sponsored by Snooze Events) - Joint Winners Carlotta Barletta-Fairhead BA/BSc Digital Marketing & Social Media and Sarah Schwaegerl BA (Hons) Fash Branding & Communication.

NextGen Digital Disruptor Award (sponsored by VML)  - Grace Ramsey BA/BSc Digital Mktg & Social Media. Valentin Breviere was named runner-up.

NextGen Fashion Business Award (sponsored by WGSN)​ - Kashvi Soni BA/BSc (Hons) Fashion Business & Management. Hearte Ho was named runner-up.

The Music Business Futures Award - Dior Anderson BA/BSc (Hons) Music Business & Management. Lucy Ryan was named runner-up.

The industry awards continued in Canterbury, with Madeline Saunders from Purcell UK awarding the Heritage Award for Architecture Part II Project.

She said: “It’s been a really strong collection of work, visually. It was very hard to choose. [But] we chose [the winner] for their research and interpretation of that into the proposed architecture, plus their lovely model.”

She advised graduates to: “Keep exploring your interests in the subject and keep them at the centre of what you do throughout your career.”

And in the Visual Communications studios, Constance Ng was presented with the Outstanding Student Award, for her UCA Grad Show brand identity, which can be seen on banners, posters and signage across campuses.

Fine Arts celebrated Best in Show, which was presented by TASMK, while the John Allwood Award was won by BA (Hons) Fine Art third-year Charlie Neudeck and the John Allwood Award for Environmental Sustainability was won by fellow BA (Hons) Fine Art third-year Aven Dighton-Brown.

And further afield, third-year Acting and Performance students undertook a residency at The Globe and staged performances at the National Theatre, for their London Showcase 2026.

The UCA Grad Shows 2026 are open till 24 June, for more information visit uca.ac.uk/gradshow/

If you cannot attend in person, visit the UCA Online Showcase.

Or visit UCA’s marketplace – #MadeByUCA, where you can buy artworks by our recent graduates.