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!!

Thank you @HanD31we’ve only been waiting a week so I guess we just buckle in and hope that no news is good news.

Has anyone's DC been asked to do their devised piece in the room for a Central recall? Just thinking about practicalities of what to take as DS's piece uses a bulky prop.

I hope it goes well for your ds. My dd is there on Monday for her recall.

That's kind, thank you! Same to your DD 🙂

My daughter had her Central recall a week or so go and she wasn’t asked to do her devised piece.

Hey, just picked up DD after travelling back from RB final round. Its not 1 to 1 interviews, its a really relaxed chat in a group of about 5 people. Not anything too deep, they just got asked things relating to the day itself and who inspired them. Nothing too formal about drama school or anything.
My DD said she had a brilliant day, good luck to yours when it comes! X

Was your daughter recalled for devising? my dd has been recalled for all three courses so she may have to do it. It's on the list.

Thank you. Hope it went well.

I don’t know, I’m afraid and she’s not around to ask. Hope it goes well though.

Thinking out loud. There are lots of posts on tiltok from current performers / teachers talking about the intake of each performing arts school and the lack of graduate opportunities. However, I am inclined to think this is not specific to performing arts. Even in other fields such as finance or law, not everyone will get a top city role and even newly qualified doctors can be out of work these days.

However, I do want to know from parents who have has students attend performing arts schools outside of London, whether top agents still attend the 3rd year show cases? Ultimately it’s all very well receiving good training but unless you are able ro secure a good agent, the chances of auditions and the potential work may be limited.

In the same token, how do schools with large cohorts showcase their student’s talents?

I don't know about if agents still attend but from our research about opportunity to be seen...

-Some do 3/4 shows with different casts offering lots of opportunity to show what you can do.
-Lots of agent days where they see all the graduating year in an audition style.
-Some are really good at getting working directors and choreographers to teach or do their showcase work, which is an opportunity for networking and being known to people who may wish to work with you.

I think it's about making the most of all the opportunities around and putting yourself out there, which is tough when they train long hours and this can be financially challenging.

I do agree that jobs for the under 25s in a lot of sectors is tough. I read something about the cohort of programming grads coming out and there being so few jobs. It's becoming a bit of a problem I think.

And congrats on your offers. Such a tough decision.

It depends where you mean. If you are asking about Emil Dale or GSA, the agents see them. At GSA they are very very good at getting all the top agents in, and it is rare for anyone to graduate from MT without a really good or at least good agent. If you are asking about a smaller, less well-known school outside London, then I think it may be harder to get them to come, but lots of schools do a London showcase. They may end up with less well-known or more regional agents, or those specifically targeting certain areas of the industry eg cruises.

Thanks both. How do you find out who the good agents are? Look through those in jobs and look at their Spotlight pages?

For agents that cover screen as well as stage you can look at their popularity on IMDb. The lower the number the better generally speaking.

Apologies @NervesAreShotI am unsure what you mean? Can you be bothered to send a link?

Apologies- terrible advice - you might need IMDb pro to be able to do this (paid subscription) unless anyone can tell me otherwise (I just tried to look it up on the regular site and couldn’t see the popularity stats).

This post on Reddit is quite good but not comprehensive and slightly out of date but it gives a good sense of the scale of the agent landscape

https://www.reddit.com/r/acting/comments/1arnv6s/uk_acting_agent_list_2024_up_to_date/

I'd look at the college announcements for working grads. If you look at who they are saying has got work you can generally see who their agents are. If there are particular grads getting work in line with your DCs ambitions then see who represents them. That should give you a good idea of where most of them get representation from.

Thanks both

Also go on the websites of eg GSA, Arts Ed, Mountview, Urdang and possibly EDA and look at the profiles of last year's grads. Click through to their Spotlight page to see which agents they are with. It's too early just yet to see this year's grad outcomes, but last year's will give you a good picture. Look at agent addresses. If they are Central London they will be established and successful. If they are maybe East London and very cool (more likely for Actors than MT) they might also be very desirable. If they are from a residential address in Potter's Bar, not so much! (Less likely with the above schools though).

@Biscuitsneedednoted. Thanks.
So when they come to a showcase, how do you target the sgents? I mean is it a case of they choose you or can you choose to talk with agents you are targeting too?

It depends on the school. I know GSA MT invite lots of agents and CDs in during final year and they don't want the students to make contact separately. But they have a small and very talented cohort and generally they will all graduate with a very good agent. Some places you will be encouraged to invite industry people to showcases. Often the schools manage the process - they invite the agents, the agents tell them who they are interested in (which is as much about where they have a gap on their books eg for a brunette alto as about just talent) and the school passes on that info. Students then have meetings with interested agents, often at their offices, then the agents might evem come again to watch a showcase or a grad show before offers are made. That's more or less what happens at GSA and Arts Ed. EDA do an agent showcase, as do Urdang and Bird. Fairly sure Conti do too, and Royal Welsh. And they invite agents to grad shows. I'm sure others do as well but I am less familiar. The students all work on and record a showreel in final year too, so they have something they could send to prospective agents if they don't graduate with one. It's not as easy if you are at a less well -known school and/or in a huge cohort, but maybe they are targeting a different set of agents and perhaps for different types of work.

Again it sort of depends. With top agents you have to wait to get the nod via the tutors after the agent has been in and watched you in something. You can't just walk up to them and start chatting. The top agents will be unlikely to respond to any unsolicited contact at this stage.

If you are lucky and end up with several offers you have some thinking and choosing to do. But I think if you have been to a good school and have one decent offer from a recognised agent you are doing well and should take that. If you hold out for the one or two who are considered royalty, the one who has offered may get fed up waiting and withdraw the offer. In the end a good agent with experience of working with the most well known CDs should be able to get you auditions (although that is harder these days with so many grads). After that it all depends on what happens in the room!

Also worth thinking about - some of the big established names have a lot of very talented clients. If you are one of many triple threat blonde girls on their books, you may not get in the room even if you are perfect for a role if your agent has only been allowed to submit 3 clients and has gone with the 3 tried and tested who are mid- late twenties and have worked. It can be hard to get started as a 22 year old in that scenario. My feeling is that a respected but maybe smaller and slightly less starry agency might get you out and working faster if you can ascertain that they have enough faith in you to put you up for lots of things. If you have choices that is something to think about. You want the agent to have a good track record, with lots of clients in shows, so don't go for anywhere that doesn't have the clout with CDs to get you any self tapes or auditions, but equally you want to get the vibe from the agent that they genuinely want to represent YOU and believe in you and will put you up for things.