Hi @eroica, finally have some time to answer your previous question. Apologies for the long essay ahead!
In the UK there are two main options for music studies at university level, as you know - conservatoire and a music degree at 'normal' uni.
90% of students at conservatoires are on a performance course but there are also composition courses at all the major colleges. Conservatoires are usually much more competitive because of the performance element. Doing a BA at university can give the student a lot more flexibility when choosing the performance / composition / academic balance. So there are people who study a 'purely' academic music degree in the UK, or a mix of all the above.
In Europe there is no such thing as a music degree at a normal university, at least not in the countries I am familiar with. I have lived, studied and/or worked in various countries in Central (German-speaking), Western (NL-BE) and Southern (Spain, Italy, Portugal) Europe and have many colleagues from all over the continent, so these are the countries I know about.
To study music in these countries, you must go to a conservatoire or a specialist music college within a larger university. BUT - this doesn't mean they're all performance-based.
Most, if not all, colleges will offer a composition course. Sometimes this is combined with performance, with conducting, a standalone specialism, or you can study academic courses at a local uni alongside it.
It is worth identifying a few institutions in each country that your DD can look into, and see what courses they offer and whether there is any pathway she'd be interested in. I recommend looking at:
Austria - Mozarteum, MDW Vienna, Kunstuniversität Graz
Germany - there are literally dozens of options. Have a look at the two Berlin schools to compare the difference between a conservatoire (HfM Hanns Eisler) and multi-arts university (UdK Berlin). But you can find these in any small city really - called 'Hochschule' for music/arts - and there will be less competitive ones for students who didn't decide until later on that they wanted to give music a go.
Switzerland - HEMU Geneva or Lausanne, HdK Zürich, FHNW
Some of the above will also offer teaching degrees specialising in composition and/or music theory.
The Netherlands has a great music degree offering and you can study in English instead of Dutch. Have a look at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, Codarts, Amsterdam... Most of the NL schools also offer a double degree in music and another 'normal' course at the local uni.
The son of a friend is currently at The Hague on the pre-college course. You can find these in some schools, it's a one-year course where they get you ready for Bachelor auditions if you're not at that level yet. The Hague have/used to have a Composition, Sonology and Art Science prep course as well for example.
Some UK conservatoires also have 1-year foundation courses which are a good orientation tool to see if she'd like to continue with music for the whole 3/4 years or not. I had many friends on these courses when I was in London.
Colleges like Codarts, UdK Berlin, Zürich or the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London are multi-arts universities which means you are not 'confined' to a classical music institution which offers little else for those who don't want to go down the performance route. There are a multitude of opportunities to collaborate with the other departments (dance, design, drama, sonology, composition...) or take modules in other specialisms.
German-speaking countries require a B2 in German for university, so if she were to study at a 'normal' uni she'd need to be pretty fluent by the time she started her degree. Music unis and conservatoires, however, give you 1 or 2 semesters to get up-to-speed, and you can start with the more practical subjects and catch up on academics once you get your language certificate, it's very flexible.
And as others have said, studying at a UK university and applying for a year abroad is also a good option, if going abroad straight away isn't doable. Some UK conservatoires are still offering a term abroad through the 'Erasmus' scheme. The institution I'm at now, in Europe, still has RAM and Guildhall as partner centers.
If your DD is interested in composition, she should look at those courses in the UK or any other countries she might like to live in. Composition auditions are normally a portfolio submission of her most representative works, so it's something she should already be thinking of during her A levels. Have a look at foundation / pre-bachelor courses as an introduction to music college, and whether they could be a good fit for her.
Music is a daunting but exciting field. It's also super international and there will be students from everywhere at all European conservatoires. It's less encouraged in the UK compared to the continent, but most music kids are used to starting off close to home and then moving half-way through their bachelor to a different conservatoire in another country, doing a year abroad, redoing a course at another college...