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!

Huge congratulations. What a difficult decision for her. But ultimately, having had a child go through a toxic dance college environment I's say to go with where she feels happiest.

Come from - great list! Where does Rose Bruford fit on? Drama schools?

I can only assume that Rose Bruford have chosen not to join any organisation as they are certainly a very well respected drama school. They used to be a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.

@Redbookworm Excellent to hear from someone whose child is going to do the same course. Good luck with the next steps. In fact, good luck everyone on this thread wherever your children end up. May they all thrive and be happy.

Is everyone sorted now? Are all offers out?

We’re visiting Rose B today, to make the final decision.

Rose B or GSA?

Then we’re done. be glad to have it sorted, I need a holiday, goodness knows how our young people feel!

Ah good luck deciding! Can’t go wrong with either

We’re all done too. DD has turned down her other offers including a fully funded place at Laine, and Mountview, in favour of Bird. 🤷🏻‍♀️
I’m slightly sore at the turning down of £66k of free tuition(!!) but ultimately I’m proud of her for following her heart. She knows the other offers are arguably more prestigious, but says Bird just felt right to her every time she was there, and whilst she was excited about going to all the others, she kept feeling sad about turning down Bird.

It does, however, mean those offers have been released, including some funded spaces, and I hope that someone is getting a really exciting email today that makes their day! 🫣🙂

Ouch! But, she has to go with her gut. Three years is a long time to be thinking you made the wrong decision.

Ah so exciting to go to Bird and follow her dreams 😀

Congratulations to all the DCs on their offers!! Exciting times ahead :-)

Thanks @Comefromawayfor the list this has been so helpful. I’ve started a spreadsheet so that we can cover all basis and my DD can decide what applications to do first.

Am I right that she can do 5 ucas, 6 conservatoire and then any others not through ucas? And then there is extras through ucas if no offers?

Just bear in mind that there is a fee associated with most self tapes/auditions, plus travel costs to get there. And you'll find every college wants something a bit different, which can be very very time-consuming and stressful while juggling the final year of school. You might be better off choosing a range of about 7 - 8 places, from 'aspirational' to 'insurance' applications, rather than spreading yourself too thin and not having time to do anything as well as you might wish.

Thanks @Biscuitsneeded good advice. This is just the sort of info we need.

I agree dont do too many. All the self tapes is a lot of work. Think of it as a 2 year process. You can visit a few places anyway to get a feel for them - at least look at the building or see a show if possible to get a feel for the area.

I agree with that. We did far too many last year. Very expensive and stressful. This year we only did a few.

Congratulations to everyone with offers just catching up.
Welcome @chaperonemumit can all be a little over whelming if you are not in the performing arts world. @Comefromawayhas provided a brilliant list. DD was at performing arts Sixth form which was very well respected and received so other very good advice - first certain colleges are known for certain things for example Italia Conti has a reputation for fresh face grads and that was where DD ended up and she fitted that mould. MV is more mature looking grads everyone we know who went there fitted this.
Also the more traditional ‘drama’ schools as opposed to dance/triple threat work by first really paring back the student before rebuilding them and if DD had got in I was warned that I needed to be prepared to pick up the pieces/support during the paring back.
DD has now completed all the performance elements of the Conti MT degree, first of two big written assignments is due next week and she is now working on her dissertation. She has amassed a collection of part time SE jobs teaching dance, MT and acting to pay the rent whilst she auditions for jobs - a couple of very exciting irons in the fire at this point.
One thing she has done whilst doing her degree is learn to play the piano to a high level to enable her to teaching singing/MT which has been a really useful addition.

@Needanadultgapyearand from what you know what kind of student does ArtsEd like? I think they don’t even take a lot of their own sixth form

We only know one person who got into the Arts Ed degree recently. He is a very unusual casting type as well as being very talented. Great voice, dance school training from year 8, able to do acro, fab actor and really tall which is always a huge plus!
He had offers from Arts Ed, Urdang, Bird, Laine, Conti and MV.

When you think about it, a performing arts college that doesn’t take on the students it has trained can’t be doing a great job!!

@Operagirl1ArtsEd school is a complete separate entity from the sixthform
and day school apparently
@Needanadultgapyearsounds like an exceptional talent

I was thinking of the foundation people that don’t make it on the degree course. They obs saw something in them to take them on and have a year to work with them so what is going wrong if they don’t get it? Not a great advertisement for their school. I’m speaking as a professional performer myself working at international level. I’m shocked at what I hear occurring

I completely agree @Operagirl1. I don’t think ArtsEd is alone on this and I feel it is a money making scheme. I know others feel differently

I believe they are quite open about the fact there are no guarantees of progression from Foundation to degree. This is the same at Arts Ed, GSA, MV, and even Conti, even though they have far more students in a year group so you would think might take more of their own foundation students. A friend's daughter is just finishing Conti foundation. She DOES have a place for the degree, but a lot of her coursemates auditioned and didn't get a place.
The jury is out for me on Foundations. Yes I am sure they are a money spinner for the colleges, and maybe they are in fact what keeps them afloat! But I do think they add value, especially for MT where for example you might be a strong singer and actor but need to work on your dance to be at the standard to get into a good school for the degree. My DS is at GSA doing an Acting degree and he enjoys watching the MT Foundies' shows and thinks they make loads of progress - and from GSA they are usually successful in getting onto a degree course somewhere they are happy with even if they don't get one of the very sought-after places at GSA!

I think they should be a lot more honest with the students on the foundation courses. They have a year to work with them and should speak to them about their weaknesses and what they might do to get to the required standard to be successful in their auditions for BA courses. From what I have observed, they are left in the dark and they are quite brutal when they turn the student down with no explanation at all. It shouldn't be like that, it's terrible for their mental health.

As a PS, I have students at ArtsEd, Laine, RWCMD, PPA and others. I'm also an agent now I am retired from my own career which spanned 30 years, so I am speaking from a lot experience. There is no need to be so brutal with young artists, I think it is unforgiveable.