Performing Arts 2025

[doesanybodyhaveamap]

Starting a thread re: performing arts applicants for 2025. If one already exists, happy to be redirected!!

Anyone pressed 'send' on their applications yet? Curious as to timelines for initial responses and to submit self tapes....

Buckling in for a long and nervous journey!

Have you checked his UCAS hub?

Yes he’s checked but nothing on there either

A couple of years ago dd2 found GSA very slow to even look at the tapes. She got the offer she wanted, and thought she's good on a couple more weeks, but as they hadn't looked at them at that point, pulled out from them. I think that was over 6 weeks.

Thought I'd pop on after being on previous threads when DD was auditioning. I remember a few names from last year - good luck everyone!

Last year GSA were quite quick to reply so might be worth an email? Tho if it’s on ucas it does mean they have the application. They do get a lot so maybe it’s simply busy time for the admissions team (there are shows coming up at the moment)

DD had her GSA MT audition today, didn’t get called for an interview, so disappointing, but she does have other options snd is being quite pragmatic about it.

I think 5 of them currently on Foundation there auditioned, none got through to interview.

it tough.

Oh sorry to hear that, but glad she has other options. It is so tough - they have to be so resilient. Any chance she might get an offer without being interviewed?

Have any of the MT foundies there been offered MT degree?

Only one so far and that’s waitlist.

One of them today is particularly an excellent triple threat and was wait listed last year, but as there was no place, offered Foundation. They didn’t get an interview this year either.

Its pretty well known that l if you don’t get asked to stay behind for interview it’s a no.

My daughter submitted her tapes to conti on 27th Jan, i called after 3 weeks of hearing nothing. I was told to give it another week or 2 but i phoned in again and spoke to admissions and apparently conti had tech issues with emails going to outlook/hotmail accounts and my daughter had actually been given a recall email on 22nd feb. We never got it. They eventually had to send it to my work address. I would give them a call if you havent heard by next week.

That’s really helpful, thanks so much. I think I’ll give them a call next week.

The Conti technical problems with emails have been a total pain and driven my daughter to distraction over the past few weeks. She has given them two different email addresses for herself, mine (gmail) and her dad's (hotmail). None of them are getting through. She finally got an email giving her tomorrow morning as a deadline for uploading self tapes, but that email said she would receive instructions on how to do that in a separate email and that never arrived. It's too late now, she is heading off to a different audition tomorrow. It's infuriating.

That is dire. I must admit I was getting frustrated as they kept sending it to hotmail & outlook email addresses and neither were received. My work email address worked perfect though. Can you call up tomorrow and maybe try something like that?

@Mrsg26 Well, I'm driving her to tomorrow's audition and we'll be out and about all day, so it'll have to be Tuesday. But if they're anything like Leeds Conservatoire, they won't answer their phones (see my earlier posts!)

They did answer the phones each time i tried. Just ask for admissions. Or you can email admissions. I did that and got a response too. Best of luck

When I read posts like these, saying you can’t get hold of colleges, when you have genuine queries or concerns, or the length of time people are waiting, I really think there should be a better process.

Some places don’t even send an email, just update UCAS, which when you pay £35 or more to audition, is shocking.

Last year LIPA didn’t even get back in touch with DD. She had decided to accept somewhere anyway, so didn’t bother to chase, but if our young people behaved in this way, it would be disgraceful.

I honesdont know what to do about Leeds. Really worried their emails are not getting to DC, as they've not responded to an email from DC, a voicemail, an email from me and lastly a phone message via switchboard and their internal messaging system!!!!

This is my DD's third year of auditioning and the process definitely feels bumpier this year. For us its been LAMDA: three times she has sent an email querying why they are offering her a Foundation place when she didn't apply for that and does that mean she's been rejected for the BA. Not an unreasonable question for a confusing email from them. And they haven't replied once. All that "if you're on time you're late" stuff they are all so proud of seems a bit empty when they are so flakey in admissions. I suspect it's more to do with staff being cut than any intrinsic rudeness but still annoying.

@BlumminNora
DS graduated from Bird last summer. It's VERY "dancey"

Yes, absolutely.
This is my daughter's first time of applying, so I don't know if it's always this bad. I do know (because I've worked in the sector for many years) that Higher Education in the UK is currently in a terrible place. Most universities are in financial trouble, some worse than others. And this means cuts in both academic staff and professional services. You would think, given how important student numbers are to the future of universities, that they wouldn't cut back on admissions staff, but it looks like they might have.

Will your DD carry on auditioning or decide 3 years is enough? It's very tricky isn't it?

I think she'll decide three years is enough. As well as applying to drama schools she has applied and been accepted into several universities. Her alternative plan (and I think it's a good one) is to read English, study plays and books and films, throw herself into the drama society and take plays to Edinburgh, then attempt to do an MA at a good drama school when she comes out. She'd still much rather go to drama school but - as a parent - at least I know she's going somewhere in October! No matter how resilient you are, this drama school process involves a lot of rejection at an early age and batters their mental health. I remember some years ago the drama schools had a three-strikes-and-out rule but that seems to have gone now. Probably need the audition fees!

I think that's a good decision. My DD got an offer to study drama at Exeter university last year but decided on a foundation at ArtsEd. She's now in the position of auditioning again everywhere. It's a nightmare! Extremely stressful. She's had a great year but sometimes I think, if only she'd gone to Exeter.

Hi all, new to posting on this thread but have been following with interest. DS has been through the audition process for the first time this year. He has an offer from LMA (which is bottom of his list) but I don't know anything about it and I have only found one bit of information on Reddit which doesn't paint it in good light. Does anybody know anything about it? Also, has anybody heard back from Trinity Laban yet? - he auditioned there on 12 Feb and hasn't heard anything yet. Another offer from Performers College Brighton but he doesn't want to go there as it's local to us and he'd rather move away.

My daughter was offered LMA in Liverpool and IC Theatre, now performers, last year and decided to take a Foundation MT at GSA and has auditioned again this year, but also looking at more theatre based BAs too

LMA was the bottom of her list too, but she has a friend who is graduating this summer from London who advised her to not apply this year as he had been very disappointed in the tuition. She had a few friends go to IC Theatre, who are now going into their third year, who are thrilled that it is now Performers and have enjoyed what they’ve done so far, although one changed course to songwriting from MT.

This is her third year auditioning, as she accepted Chichester MT leaving college, deferred it, took a gap year working in entertainments hosting, dropped Chichester to re audition, got offered a few BAs, but went for Foundation MT GSA.

She has not got any MT offers this time, but only applied to three through UCAS, although waiting for Mountview to see if recalled and has Arts Ed coming up, she thinks GSA is a rejection as didn’t get an interview. I’m hoping she takes one of her acting offers, because as a previous poster said, how long do you keep going?

Yes I think that Performers sounds better than LMA by quite some margin, and if he did go there we would save money on accommodation! But it's only his first year trying so depending on what happens with his outstanding applications (Trinity and Mountview), I might encourage him to take a year and try again. We are at the start of what could easily be a very long journey!