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!

Most people’s first jobs are going to be ensemble or cruise ships, theme parks etc. It is very rare to walk straight into a lead. In your final year you start the grind of finding an agent going to London for 5 am to queue for open auditions and sending of hundreds of self tapes.
My DD attended Conti so a definite triple threat course Singing and Acting fractionally stronger than dancing. From DD’s friends who she was a sixth form the obvious dancers got Bird, she was the real triple threat at got Conti, there was a left field who was a legit singer ( initial training operation) who got Urdang and actors got PPA and performers. But it also depends who else is auditioning at the same time.

That’s very encouraging @Needanadultgapyear. Thanks for sharing!

An update on DD's knee, the cortisone did the trick and she was able to participate in all her dance classes over the 4 weeks, she even took extra dance classes on the weekend, She gets small twinges now and then still, but we are back to the surgeon next week to see what the next steps are.

Good luck to everyone who got their A level results this week and all those starting their journey into the crazy world of Performing Arts.

I have found this thread really helpful over the past few months, so thanks to others for sharing their valuable insights. My daughter did fantastically well in her BTEC Musical Theatre , but has decided to turn down her place at Leeds Conservatoire this year and take a year out. So, once the new round of applications and auditions start again, I will join the 2026 thread. Good luck to everyone else’s DC.

@lamadawonder what the surgeon will say? But U suppose they supported her getting a cortisone injection to numb the pain in order to do her course……

@MimiGCis your DD hoping for other schools?

A quick question, do all UK schools require a Shakespeare monologue ?

@lamadanot all insist on Shakespeare but most ask for something classical which could be Shakespeare. We opted for Shakespeare to minimise the number of pieces we had to prepare as Shakespeare is accepted at all of them but alternatives may not be.

DC did one Shakespeare, one modern, a song from a recent musical and a song from a legit musical. That covered us for everywhere they were applying.

Thank you @doesanybodyhaveamap that is a good strategy, think I will get DD to adopt that one!

For the Shakespeare, try to avoid the really popular ones. And make sure to read the whole play for both monologues she chooses (we bought the ‘side by side’ version of the Shakespeare where there’s a translation page by page, really helped).

What do you think about these schools for applications (in no particular order)

Mountview
Artsed
Urdang
Bird
Guildhall
Rada (maybe)
The Lir Academy, Trinity Dublin (maybe)

DD has an Irish passport.

Thanks for that tip, can you remember the title of the side by side? I did a quick google and nothing came up.

All great schools- most are independents so you apply to them directly rather than via UCAS. And some have higher fees than the standard uk university fees, so definitely look into that if finances are a particular concern. Assume they applying for a mix of acting and MT?

GSA and Rose Bruford also great - RB doesn’t do MT

Here’s an example:

https://amzn.eu/d/1iMlDzm

We found this book really useful:

https://amzn.eu/d/2X2TChv

Is your DC wanting to do Acting or Musical Theatre? Some of these offer both, others just one of them. Those are all good schools. I'd add GSA (both) , Guildhall (acting ), Central (both), Royal Welsh, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Trinity Laban...

Don’t forget to check costs. Some are £9750 a year and others more like £15k a year.

Yes, I think she wants to see if she could get accepted elsewhere. Her MT BTEC results were D star D star D star and she wants a well-respected Acting course. If anyone has any suggestions of where she should/could apply, I’d be grateful- it’s not a world I am familiar with and, frankly, her school has not been very helpful with guidance and advice on next steps, which is disappointing.

@MimiGC see recent list below, @biscuits has them pretty much covered. I’d just add in Rose Bruford for acting.

Leeds is also a good school though, maybe not quite as reputationally established as some of the others but definitely on the ascent… I felt that of all the places we looked at, they were actually the most able to cater to the individual.

For straight Acting,
RADA
LAMDA
GSA
Guildhall
Royal Welsh
Conservatoire of Scotland
Central

Italia Conti
Rose Bruford
ArtsEd
Mountview
LIPA
Leeds
Birmingham Conservatoire

Maybe Oxford School of Drama (if you qualify for Dada or can afford huge fees!)

There are plenty more.. but I would start to question value for money (personally), as looking at agent representation of graduates, it starts to become less successful.

However that isn't necessarily everyone's end goal - so I only speak from a personal perspective. I am sure lots of young people go to other schools and get some great training.

If applying for acting it can be tempting to apply for all of them but the self tapes and auditions could become very stressful. 5-6 max this year and save a few for next year?

Her preference is MT, but initially she wanted to go down the acting route, so she is open to both.

To be honest, lots of schools wouldn't have any teachers who know anything at all about applying to drama school. You kind of have to do your own research, and prep for auditions independently - which is where this thread is a bit of a godsend! Your DD did really well to get an offer at first attempt. She must be pretty good, so armed with more research and if she applies to a few more places this year, she can hope to do well.

The school sixth form has a strong Performing Arts dept, so I expected at least one or two of the teachers might offer suggestions of places to apply to, general tips and advice. But I guess realistically they are simply too busy. Anyway, it’s done now, so she needs to think ahead for next year.