This research paper explores the impact of stress on teaching and learning among first-year BA and foundation degree international students in the creative arts at the University of the Arts, London. It is based on the findings of a project on ‘The Experience of First-Year International Students at UAL’, commissioned by the Creative Learning in Practice Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CLIP CETL). The aims of the project were:
To assess the extent to which international students integrate and adapt to a different teaching and learning environment
To identify the causes of obstacles to such integration and adaptation
To propose ways in which these can be remedied.
141 students from six geographical areas were interviewed in their native languages, along with a benchmark group of 21 home students. The participants ranged across the whole spectrum of creative arts disciplines taught at the six constituent colleges of the University
