Drama school auditions 2026 entry- Acting/MT

[Mcmumager]

Annual thread for those with dc about to embark on the rollercoaster of audition season. This is my second time round as my ds did it a couple of years ago. These threads are always really supportive and full of great advice as it’s often hard to explain to others how tough and competitive this process is. Good luck everyone!!

@JustDramaMumThings She won’t get home until nearly midnight (Manchester is a long way from us!), so I don’t know yet how it went.
It seems strange to me that it’s not much spoken about. I appreciate it’s not up there in the same league as GSA, RADA or LAMDA, etc. But I genuinely have no idea if it’s on a par, reputation wise, with places like LIPA, Leeds Conservatoire, etc or if it’s considered sub par.

My DD has a recall at Manchester School of Theatre in a couple of weeks. According to my friend who has taught there, it is excellent and they all work when they leave

That’s encouraging!

My DD is in year 2 at Manchester and loving it - she turned down several other offers to go there on her second attempt. Clearly it’s not Rada or Lamda but the training is amazing and I’d say it’s solidly mid table of the FDS schools.

I agree it’s not much talked about online but I always think that’s because they only offer BA Acting and lots of people on forums tend to be MT, Actor Muso etc.

Huge benefit from my perspective is the school’s position as properly within MMU, not just affiliated, gives it a financial cushion that many other schools don’t have. From DD’s perspective she has other interests outside acting and wanted the “proper uni experience” and it provides that in spades- she feels it’s best of both worlds.

No word from RCS Musical Theatre self-tapes?

I genuinely believe it is pretty much up there with all the big ones, I've always seen it as quite an elite one so I think it's brilliant if your daughter has a recall for it. Please update us tomorrow with how she found it and safe journey home for her.

Great to hear from someone who has a YP there, it really does baffle me why it isn't spoken about more. I brought it up on another forum last year but got very little responses which I found strange. My DD was so keen on it and felt she may have fitted in better in Manchester than London (we are in Scotland) but it wasn't to be unfortunately. I definitely agree it sits up at the middle to top tier end.
My partner actually went to MMU for a different degree and he was keen for my DD to get there too as he loved it as a university. I agree, also like GSA, it can be really good to have the best of both worlds being at drama school plus getting the uni experience.

We haven’t heard anything other than an email saying that the videos hadn’t been uploaded (they had). My dd applied early November.

It is such a weird old rollercoaster and I still don’t get it! DD got to final round of one of the top top schools but got rejected at self tape stage from others which were far less prestigious. Just shows you never know what they’re looking for and it’s not about being “not good enough.”

Quite a learning curve for me as I went down the academic route and it all seemed so simple in comparison - As got you into a certain tier of uni, Bs got you into the next tier down etc!

No response here either but tapes viewed on 28-30 Jan according to YouTube.

The suspense! I know they operate in small panels, so I guess each panel has a fair few auditions to get through.

On the subject of self tapes have many applied to Urdang? What sort of time frame are we looking at to hear back
Do they look at the self tapes if submitted before deadline ? Thank you in advance

My DD has a BA offer from Urdang. They came back within 3 weeks of the deadline and if you check YouTube you should see a decent amount of activity as they viewed DD's a few times before her recall email. They have a cursory glance before deadline (maybe just to check it's there and viewable) but there is usually a flurry of activity after the deadline and the just before the recall emails.

From our experience last year, Urdang stated it would be within 2 weeks of deadline date (not submission date). Not sure if its changed this year but everyone we knew last year got their results 10/11days after deadline. It was normally Friday deadlines and they would find out the results 10days later on the Monday or the Tuesday.

Edited to say - posted this before I seen comment above so this is probably a better timeline to gauge since its this audition year 😊

@JustDramaMumThings She got home safely, albeit very late, as one of her trains was cancelled. She really enjoyed the day. Said the morning workshop where they were altogether was fun and she felt her individual audition and interview in the afternoon went well. So whatever the outcome, she feels she did her best. She has a recall for Rose Bruford on Saturday and met a few other people in Manchester who will also be there at the same time, so was happy about that.

My dd was there the same day and still hasn’t heard anything. She’s not hopeful though because she said some got offers on the day so she’s assuming the worst. Urdang didn’t even view her full self tape (she can see how long they have watched) and sent a no, which seems a bit unfair. She’s waiting on Bird and Wilkes, has Emil Dale in a few weeks (after a recall from a workshop which I am taking as a good sign). Bird is her top choice and she is hoping to hear tomorrow 🤞

Thanks for that. I queried results timeline with performers and they said they are sending them out this week, I was assured I’d have it by tomorrow. Urdang is tough fro girls, so many applicants. Boys have better shot. If you haven’t heard from bird yet I would see that as positive as we got a no after 2-3 days. 🤞 good luck !!! 🤞

Thank you for your replies it is very helpful

Aww that sounds like she had a great day! Just seen on another forum that someone has had an outcome from yesterday’s audition already, sadly a rejection, but super quick to find out. Good luck to your DD and hope its a positive result 🙏🏻
Also good luck for Rose Bruford! My DD still waiting to hear from self tapes for there. She got a rejection at self tape stage from GSA Acting today sadly. Just focusing on her recalls now x

Thanks, hope your DD gets some good news too. It’s hard supporting them through this process, isn’t it?
I’m not aware of other forums (fora?) that discuss these things… I find this one a really good source of info. Do the others offer anything different?

It really is tough and no pattern that can be followed between each drama school.

So the other ones I’m on have been going on for a few years in The Student Room website. Last years forum was really busy, slightly quieter this year but still quite a few people on it, mixture of parents and students. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post actual links here but the Thread title is Official Drama Applicants Thread 2026, i* think it should come up if you google *it

Hi everyone. My YP is a first year MT applicant and I've really enjoyed reading all the messages and advice on here. He's not a strong dancer so didn't feel confident enough to apply to any of the really well known names, but he's applied to:
TBA
UWL
Leeds Conserv
Arts1

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice on Leeds Conserv. He submitted his self tapes early Jan and still heard nothing (been 5 weeks) although he knows of others that applied at a similar time that have had recalls. Honest opinions, is it likely now to be a no? Or are we being too inpatient? Has anyone here heard of any nos yet from Leeds self tapes, are they sending them out or perhaps getting the successful applicants sorted first before dealing with all the nos?

Honestly you get yourself in such a mess trying to second guess stuff. It would just be good to have some sort of response/closure so you can move on with decisions. Any experience in this welcome!!!

Welcome to the world of overthinking as a performer parent! I would probably follow up with that timeframe as I know people who submitted tapes and have been contacted since.

Where would you see his strengths? If dance isn’t strong would he consider a foundation course to build on his skills. Lots of good ones out there both locally and funded through student finance.

Honestly, Leeds are not great with communication….DC was waiting months last year after an early in-person audition. We knew others from their audition with both offers and rejections but no news for us. They sent polite emails
but nothing. In the end we commented on a ‘FAQ’ post on instagram about auditions which said that you’d hear within 2-3 weeks and they finally responded to say DC was on a reserve list. Not a great experience, especially compared to other places.

Thanks. I think I'll get him to ring/email next week and see if that gets him anywhere.

His strength is definitely acting through song and he's had offers already from UWL and TBA which he's more than happy with but I think he just wants to see everything through before fully committing, so frustrating to be in limbo with one.