Drama school auditions 2024- Acting/MT

[Mcmumager]

Is anyone starting the journey of drama school auditions and starting to feel the stress? Maybe sending them to drama group was a big mistake lol.

@Operagirl1 Hi, we have experience of OSD, if that helps.

Was it good?

Dd enjoyed it. Found it Shakespeare-heavy so depends if you're a fan of classical theatre or not! But even if you're not, there's lots more to OSD than the classical element. It's quite a different vibe to other schools as it's so small, which means lots of individual attention. Setting is very rural and beautiful.
Dd came out with a top agent and is getting work. It's a tough and challenging course, but they all are.
Long hours, high expectations, detailed emotional work.
Good, realistic advice re the industry.
Good if you're musical too.

Does anyone know of an ArtsEd group chat for the Foundation year students? My dd is keen to connect to other students that are going there. Thanks in advance

I have just been enquiring about finance for the ArtsEd CertHE in Acting. It is awarded by City, University of London and initially I believed it would be fully funded. However, on applying I have discovered my dd will only receive just over £6,000. I contacted ArtsEd and they said this is all student finance will pay as it is a private institution. I just wondered if other places get the same support such as Emil Dale. I was under the impression these courses were fully funded.

I think this is a real issue with the private institutions - the ones you apply for under ucas don’t have this issue. The arts ed BA is £17k a year which must impact who can take the course. Sorry I don’t know the answer but you won’t be alone - parental private loan might be the way?

Someone will know more but I think with EDA you still get the full £9250 as they have any other costs as extras. It’s arts Ed and mountview that only receive the £6000. It puts those schools out of reach for many. And seems unfair to me that the students have the extra costs but also don’t receive the full £9250 that everyone else is entitled to.

Is to do with something called Designation & it’s how degrees are validated.

Basically if a university has its own degree awarding powers then you get full finance.

if a university such as Surrey (GSA) or Greenwich (Bird) franchise thier degree out to a private college you get full finance.

if a private college such as Arts Ed writes their own degree they have to get another uni (City) to validate it but it remains Arts Ed’s degree, they can charge as much as they like/need in fees and you only get partial finance.

OSD is DaDa and no maintenance funding too. It's really tough.

Hello! New to this thread, but thought worth asking if anyone else has someone joining the Oxford School of Drama One Year course in Sept 2024?
DS has just been offered a place and is thrilled!

He only found out on Friday via a phone call, so has yet to receive all the details, but is already wondering about finding accommodation etc.
Do these schools tend to put the students on the same course in touch with one another over summer?

Hi there, my dd did the 3 year there, and they put them in touch with each other pretty quickly so they could sort accommodation. Congratulations to your ds!

Thanks!
Where did your daughter live? DS says the students get a bus into the school and most don’t live in Oxford?

Congratulations to your DS. My DD has been on the waiting list for Oxford School of Drama for months and still waiting. She's now accepted ArtsEd as they offered her two days after viewing her self-tape. I also worried about funding for OSD as they don't get student loans and bursaries seem to be limited. I hope he gets on great there. It has a fab reputation.

@LlamaDrama20 She lived in Kidlington, and yes, they need to get accommodation near the school bus pick ups if they don't drive. The school will give them a map of the route. Lots lived in Summertown too.

@Operagirl1 yes that's the downside of OSD. We are a fairly low income family and dd was only able to attend because she was a child actor and had saved for her training since early teens. There are bursaries as you note, but not sure how many.
Congratulations on Arts Ed - fantastic school.

Thanks for this! Sorry, but a final question - how does it work with accommodation when they switch to the final term as the ‘London season’ - do they have to keep paying for their house in Oxford AND pay for London accommodation??

@LlamaDrama20 It's fine, ask away!
No they don't pay for both accommodations but are responsible for sorting their own rentals. So they need to make sure that their Oxford one ends in time for London season. It was a bit stressful I won't lie, but London season is so worth it.

@LlamaDrama20 Another thing for your ds to consider is that the school is very rural (and beautiful) and no nearby shops, so they take their own food in and have a kitchen with microwaves etc. So dd would batch cook and take lunches in to heat up there. Also, strictly black clothing only, aside from outerwear.

If anyone is still looking for a BA Musical Theatre degree Leeds Conservatoire have a few places in clearing.

how can such a popular course have clearing places? I guess people move around or take gap years?

People may have held on to offers but then finally accepted places elsewhere. Or pulled out after the UCAS deadline? It's a relatively new course, so not as wildly competitive as some, but they already have grads doing well in the industry.

It's a new course and numbers are capped for the first few years of a new degree at any institution. They are allowed to increase numbers after going through a certain process/proving their success. The website says they have some extra places but those rejected already this year cannot re-apply.

I also think (this is my opinion only and based on what I saw people say on wiwikau) that they cocked up by not having an MT open day until right on the application deadline. It put some people off applying.

Someone my ds knows who is about to graduate this year has just been confirmed in the cast of a London show and lots of their graduates seem to be doing well in the industry.

Ah so you can’t reapply if rejected? I wonder if there is any flexibility in that. there must have been good candidates who would have loved an offer.

Presumably if there were applicants they really liked but couldn't offer to, they may have gone back to them already, and otherwise if people were rejected it was because they were not right for Leeds so there's not much point reapplying. I wonder if they had a waiting list that they have already mined?

You’d think so wouldn’t you. That’s why I’m amazed there are clearing places. They might take a different approach next year!