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!!

Finally heard back from Royal Central and dd is recalled!! Yippee!! What a roller coaster!! Does anyone know if you need additional monologues for the next round? Keeping fingers crossed for the other DC waiting from 4 Feb deadline

ooooh well done! we shall keep poised then as we were also 4th Feb deadline

With other schools offering foundation, diploma these courses are only 1 year/2 year course, then their is the 3 year diploma I think people are mentioning Bird as I am, also wondering how they manage their Showcase, I’m not aware of any other school who take in over 250+ students on a 3 year BA course, it’s really not the same as other schools. This is not a criticism but purely curious how they manage showcase and agent days

I’m not sure if it was misheard but someone at a recent audition said that Bird took 380 last year. They said they were putting lots on reserve this year as more accepted than they thought would last year and the intake was higher than planned. To be honest I’ve heard that same thing from a few schools with the 25 intake and there seem to be more reserves than normal this year so maybe a bit more cautious.

Bird have an in house agency where their students can be till they get an agent. They seemed to encourage their students to be proactive contacting agents and I’ve seen a lot of their dance showreels on social media etc.

Each student will be in a final year musical with main roles double cast. I think this year there might be a limited agent showcase but for selected students. They don’t seem to do a full agent showcase like some other schools.

A lot of this is hearsay so feel free to correct if I’m wrong!

My DD has friends there in yr 1.
I had thought she said it was approx 320. Still a huge number.. split into 9 groups I believe.. again only 2nd hand info.
No idea about showcase.

There are no more than 25 in each class so there can’t be 320 split into 9 groups. My daughter knows somebody so I will see if she knows the actual number

Central Acting emails incoming! 😊

Yes, I am curious too - but how do places who offer 3 year diploma and BA organise showcases and performances also? These students are all graduating whether it is from a BA or a diploma, whether it is from MT course or an acting MT course - my point is that some schools offer different study options, Bird and other colleges offer only one study option. To use as an example Conti - there are students on degrees - both MT and Acting MT and diploma in MT all finishing at the same time- I don’t know, but I would guess that these students all together would add up to at least 250- I guess same as at Bird or other places the students are split into groups and split into performances for final showcases and performances. I wish all this information was available on all the websites so students and parents could see actual facts

Hurray! Well done, good news here too! 😁 This is the official info for 2nd round, so no new monologues needed.
DS had 2 friends there last weekend who said they weren't in the room very long.

Depending on which programme(s) you are invited to recall for, you could be asked to do any or all of the following:

• repeat your first-round audition pieces
• workshop your pieces
• undertake improvisations
• participate in a physical and vocal workshop
• sing accompanied and/or unaccompanied (BA Acting: Musical Theatre candidates only)
• participate in a vocal assessment
• participate in a brief interview

Not all of those elements will be applicable to or be required from all applicants.
During all in-person and online second-round auditions, you will be seen by a minimum of two panellists representing the course(s) you have been recalled for. If you are successful at the second-round audition, you will be recalled for a final round audition at a later date.

Congratulations to your ds! My dd is recalled for the BA in Acting

Fantastic, same here! So DS's friends were only told which of the Acting pathways they were being seen for about a week after the initial recall email, so I guess we'll find that out once they receive the form and confirm a date. Our email came at 5.10pm today, they know how to keep you hanging on, haha! Nice way to finish the week though! 😁

Oh, so could she be called for other pathways too? I assumed she was only called for the acting. I'm going to re-read the email. Thanks for all the info

Has anybody done central recall for acting MT? DD has recall tomorrow and would like to do a different monologue to that on her self tape. Experience of other auditions seems to be that they don't really have a record of what was on self tape so should be OK to switch but don't want to get the panel offside by not following instructions! Anybody done the 2nd round recall who can advise please?

We still await and were part of the 4th Feb deadline, hopefully more coming out next week……

thank you that’s interesting my yp has an audition soon

Despite the large cohort, I think that anyone who gets a place here has done incredibly well as I’ve heard that they have around 3000 applicants. UCAS stats say that only 20% of 17/18 years olds are offered a place. My DD would have loved to have been offered a place here but unfortunately was rejected after her audition in Jan.

My DD is there today. They may have a print out for each candidate with background information from first audition and it does say workshopping monologues from 1st round.

There are 3 acting pathways, Acting: Musical Theatre, Acting: Classical and Contemporary and Acting: Contemporary and Devised. As I read it, they're all very much 'acting technique first and foremost' with the extra detail as an added dimension, but I could be wrong. The 1st round tapes are watched with all 3 in mind, then they're recalled for 1 or more pathway 😊

My daughter did Central recall 2 weeks ago she was recalled for Classical and contemporary and Contenporary and devised. She didn’t need any new monologues just the original 2 which she did in front of a separate panel for each course and was redirected on both. It was a lovely experience it was super well organised the students helping were so friendly and the panels were so lovely and every student got a really good opportunity to really show themselves and what they could do. An all round positive experience. She is waiting for results currently she will be gutted if she’s rejected as she loved it there. Good luck xx

Hi if this helps my daughter did it 2 weeks ago they literally have a file for everyone so they would know the monologues you originally did I would think she was asked to do the same 2 she did for self tape she did them twice for 2 different panels as she was recalled for 2 courses x

Does anyone know how long the royal central audition recall is for ba acting? I booked a train at 6.30 hoping that will be ok. Audition 1.30

My daughter was called for 1pm and was finished at around 4,30pm her invite said they would all be finished by 5pm. Good luck!

Thank you she only had to do one monologue and song as she was just called for MT. Fortunately they asked for her Shakespeare monologue which worked out well as it was the contemporary monologue she wanted to change! x

Hey all, Congrats on all the offers. Some lovely news all round.
DC (16) is choosing between the diploma (3 year) at Performers and CertHE/Foundation (1-year) at Laine. Both MT. Such a tough decision. So many different pros and cons. Any advice and thoughts welcomed as so many experienced people here.

How far away are they from home? I would always think of that given they're only 16, as full time training is challenging. Would either allow them to still live at home? I would also say that Laine is the most reputable name of the 2. It may also give them a chance to sample full time training without the commitment of 3 years. However, it would mean going through it all again next year x