Colleges Dance schools etc HELP!!

[ET1994]

So Im currently in my last year of a BTEC level 3 performing arts at a local college and starting to look at and apply for universities etc. Its all so confusing and I dont know which ones to apply for. Im looking for something specializing in musical theatre but will also audition for other courses to keep my options open. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of colleges, unis etc which would suit me? any recommendations from dd's or ds's? Also those who have ds's and dd's at colleges etc where student loans are not available how have you managed to fund the fees for the course? Any other advice is welcome!

[pg]

www.ncdt.co.uk gives a good overview . The website is currently being revamped but there is a link there to the schools that run ncdt accredited courses.

[Caroline A-C]

Although all the well known colleges (Arts Ed, GSA, Mountview etc) are "private", you are still able to apply for student loans as with universities. However, you will only get £6,000 as opposed to the UCAS based courses which you get £9,000 loan. The maintenance loans are the same for all students I believe. Places like Central and RADA are UCAS so presumably you would be able to get the full tuition loan of £9,000. RADA doesn't offer Musical Theatre (think that is right) but all the others mentioned do. My ds is in his 2nd year at Arts Ed on the Musical Theatre BA course. There is no student halls so he has to rent privately which means he has to pay for the year as opposed to halls which are by the term so the student maintenance loan does not cover the full year's rental and we have to help him out with about three months of this. The fees are over £12,000 per year so there is a massive shortfall between what the student tuition loan is and the actual fees. I believe that the DADA's are still going which if you are lucky enough to get one cover most of the fees (think the student contribution is around £1,500). However, you are not entitled to the tuition loan if you have a DADA. A number of students do hold down part time jobs but as the college day is usually 8am-6pm, the college actually advise that you do not work more than three evenings as it will have an effect on your college course (think you would just be absolutely physically exhausted to be honest!!).

It is a huge undertaking financially but well worth doing. Don't be put off auditioning by the costs as you can apply for the DADA. For the very lucky ones, there are a few ALW scholarships which cover the full tuition costs and I believe may even cover living costs.

Hope this helps you a bit and good luck.

[Genevieve]

Places like Central and RADA are UCAS so presumably you would be able to get the full tuition loan of £9,000. RADA doesn't offer Musical Theatre (think that is right) but all the others mentioned do. .

Central applications can be done via UCAS, but RADA applications don't go via UCAS

[Welsh Mum]

Places like Central and RADA are UCAS so presumably you would be able to get the full tuition loan of £9,000. RADA doesn't offer Musical Theatre (think that is right) but all the others mentioned do. .

Central applications can be done via UCAS, but RADA applications don't go via UCAS

To make it even more confueing i am fairly sure you can get the full loan at RADA even though its not in UCAS