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!

Chichester let my daughter defer, she just needed some time after a gruelling performance period and auditions, however she then let that place go to re audition, so some will defer and I’m sure for something like an injury, more likely.

That being said, when she was offered a BA at Rose B and a Foundation MT at GSA, they wouldn’t defer for her to do the Foundation, which is understandable in those circumstances and she had to re audition. Rose B did say they don’t defer any places anymore.

Good luck, it must be heartbreaking having got the place.

I’m not talking about a Drama degree either…
Dance certainly has its own routes into the industry, but for BA Musical Theatre and/or BA Acting top drama schools like CSSD, Royal Welsh, LAMDA, GSA, Rose Bruford all use UCAS to manage their applications and entry is on the basis of auditions, not A levels or UCAS points.

We know, we’ve been through the process (and DC is graduating from top 10 drama school this summer).

I think some ucas places do require a minimum two A levels C and above - or btec. Plus auditions. I was interested to learn that the average grades for drama students is AAB (told by a course teacher)

Yes, I think if there is an accreditation with a university there has to be a minimum attainment for entry, but it’s pretty low.

Drama as an academic degree from good universities (Warwick, Bristol, Exeter etc) is a highly regarded humanities degree - it encompasses a broad range of subjects such as literature, history, politics etc.

We know too. My DD graduated from her top 4 dance school several years ago.

I have said all along that prospective students apply to audition directly to the school and go nowhere near UCAS during the application process.

They are accepted onto those courses on the basis of a successful audition. Once you have been offered a place, the UCAS thing is only a box-ticking formality as part of the student loan application. In our case, the school gave us some codes and told us which boxes to tick, and that was that.

Not sure this debate is helpful. Facts: some schools are via UCAS (GSA, Rose Bruford and Leeds con for starters). Some are direct application (e.g Mountview, ArtsEd) and others are via UCAS conservatoire (I think RWCMD and Trinity are examples). The important thing is to know which applies to your choices and what the respective deadlines and audition requirements are.

It’s complicated and confusing. Spreadsheets will be your friend!

Good luck to everyone embarking on the process for next year - A levels felt like a breeze after audition season!!

I agree with this the HEFC review of performing arts courses massively shock this up 3 years ago so application experience prior to this is not the same as now.
To maintain and in some cases increase their funding many places had to tighten up their application process to make it more accountable.
DD did UCAS, UCAS conservatoire and direct applications for MT.
As we travel out the end of drama school what I can say is that DC being organised through the application process stands them in good stead when they come out the end. DD emailed over 70 agents her showreels as well as them coming to Showcases, her agent saw her at showcase and liked her, but took her on as she showed she was committed by contacting them directly. Of course that was only the start since Feb she has submitted loads of self tapes, queued at 5am in London for multiple open auditions. Currently she is teaching at 4 different performing schools and babysitting to support herself whilst attending auditions.
Organisation, determination and grit are necessary long term in this industry.

It is both complicated and confusing. And things change all the time, so what may have been the case for DC applying even a couple of years ago may have changed.

In the unfortunate case of an injury occurring after a place is accepted, my only advice would be to talk to the provider, as every school will be different.

Couldn't agree more. It's competitive enough getting a place at drama school, but in my experience of DS and friends, the securing of agent is even more challenging, and getting work even more competitive than that (which does suggest that too many are being trained for the work available, but you can't predict who will succeed and who won't, and you also can't deny young people a chance to go for their dream career!). And what @Needanadultgapyear is definitely true. Talent is one thing, but being organised and proactive is essential. Not the mums - the students themselves! Working hard on their training isn't enough; they need to be seeing as much theatre as possible, becoming familiar with CDs, directors, producers, MDs, choreographers etc, researching agents, making contacts wherever they can.
@Needanadultgapyear sounds like your DD is on a good trajectory. Has she had lots of auditions? What sort of work is she after?

Yes, lots of changes in the last few years, and the process has clearly changed since some MNers DC went through it, hence the out of date knowledge!

For BA Acting or MT going through UCAS/ UCAS Conservatoires the process is to apply through there and then follow up with a tape or audition, as requested.

And yes, and a spreadsheet is a necessity! There are all sorts of complications with student funding models and whether courses qualify graduating students for Spotlight membership for example.

Our friends in the industry say the ones that make a success of it after graduating are the ones with excellent organisational, networking and self-marketing skills. Basically the ones who understand the need to constantly hustle for auditions, roles, and being seen. Talent isn't the main differentiator.

If anyone is looking for accommodation for Arts Ed (Chiswick area) a friends son whose just graduated and working in London has a space. PM me.

Hi everyone! So …. If you are applying for MT BA, which discipline do you think you need to excel in? From what I have seen from productions and casting - it is the acting followed by singing followed by dance.
If you are just good at all three, you are more likely ro be in the ensemble whereas if you excell in acting and singing you are more likely to get a main role.

interested in other’s thoughts

I think it really depends on the school and where their priorities lie. You can see from the different audition processes how certain things are prioritised. Eg some of the more acting focused MT courses like central/royal Welsh don’t have any dancing in their first rounds whereas other schools include things like dance solos , dance exercises in the first round.

I have also seen things change year to year on where schools focus eg Urdang used to see everyone in person and I’ve known people be accepted as amazing dancers but unconfident singers whereas last year their first round was by video and I saw people who are amazing singers but very little dance training being accepted straight from video.

Who knows what they will all be looking for the 2026 entry! I’m getting ready to go through it with my dd . Her brother did it all last year so I’m ready for the stress and rollercoaster!

Maybe we need a thread for entry for 2026 if anyone else is in the same boat!

Yes please

Yes, we are about to head into it also.

I think as discussed above, it depends on the school and ultimate aim. For most MT courses I would say the singing is paramount. In the smaller, prestigious schools such as GSA, Arts Ed, Mountview etc there's no way you're getting in if you're anything other than a very good singer. In the larger schools that were historically more dance-focused, it may be there are still some excellent dancers doing MT degrees whose singing (or lack thereof) means they probably won't work in professional MT, let alone be a lead. The acting is the intangible bit really. It seems to matter more in some places than others. I think being good at all three but not the very best in any is actually quite a strong position to be in, if you're also personable, hard-working, resilient, easy to work with etc. But you might need deep reserves of self-belief and determination. You might not get leads who aren't singers first and foremost, but you do get character roles where the acting is probably most important. But as long as you have talent I think the application process (brutal though it is) helps you to find the right sort of school for you.

I think schools tend to have a presence based on their history, so central and GSA will have a slight bias to acting, Urdang and Bird to dancing etc.

Ultimately I think there has been a move away from schools looking for 40 identical kids with exactly the same look and skill set and a bit more recognition of the need for diversity. Especially as west end casts are so much more varied than they were 15/20 years ago.

Agreed, but I'd also say Urdang and Bird are fighting hard to be seen as triple threat providers. I've seen young people go there who are fantastic singers but not really dancers. I think the trick is to apply to a good range of schools and see what happens. Dont have too many preconceived ideas about where you might fit because you never know what they want, what they might see in you and why a certain school might think you are a good fit. Be open to surprises and also take into account how you feel about the atmosphere, facilities, staff, students etc when attending auditions.

My DD said that when auditioning people they are basically casting people for their year 3 show. Not sure how true that is.
i think being a true triple threat is great but it would help if you are an exceptional singer

I certainly think they want a diverse mix of looks, talents, voice types etc to make it possible to cast a show, but I am pretty sure they don't know 4 years in advance what the final year shows will be! Agreed, being a great singer will give you an edge, and being a good singer is essential unless you're doing the mainly dance kind of 'MT' degree.

They definitely don’t know that far in advance what the shows will be as they don’t know which rights will be available.

Good point!

The schools are looking for diversity in appearance, age, gender etc so perhaps the idea that they are casting is more based on this - getting a variety of people

Yeah we tend to pick shows about a year in advance, and we pick shows to suit the cast (obviously depends what’s available)

We do try to get a range of students so that the agents feel like they can sign multiple students who aren’t competing for the same roles.

This is always the rumour, but for the class of 2025 Conti thought it had four shows and then lost the rights to two as they went on national tour.

Don’t hung up on this DD was ensemble in both final year shows at Conti, but made a fantastic show reel which she sent to 60 agents. She had an agent before most of the people who had lead roles in the shows.
Many of her fellow graduates are on holiday now whereas she is teaching triple threat in holiday camps and going to auditions - the majority of first jobs are on cruises or things like Lapland or theme parks. The lead times for these are long so she has work lined up for next term teaching after school and at weekends to pay the bills.