NotaPushyMum.Com

Personally I think it is quite easy for any college to quote statistics to support their school and in this instance for Bird, I would imagine it comes quite simply from numbers. If you looked at the colleges of cast members from all the West End shows, I'm sure certain colleges like Bird would feature more strongly than others. But then if one college is producing 100 graduates every year and another only 30, of course you will see the larger college mentioned more. There would still be a greater percentage of cast members with the larger college listed even if all 30 from the smaller college were working and only half from the larger college. And that's just from one year!

What actually counts is that your DC get good training and make the most of their training. It is about attitude. It is also about perseverance. Quite a few seem to get that first role out of college, when they have had the support of the college and are still training daily but how many are earning their living from performing alone two years, five years down the line. All colleges can give impressive destinations for their students - it does not mean all their students achieve this and nor is there any indication of if how long a contract lasted. One of DDs friends graduated about seven or eight years ago from a prestigious college and was straight into the West End - for six months - then waitressing for over 2 years before she got a panto role and started getting work again. There is no crystal ball.

There are many many great colleges , schools etc and as a parent of a pupil at Dance School of Scotland Glasgow , we parents and pupils have been supporting each other and sharing information . We have been on a rollercoaster of a journey this year ,first year of auditioning with first 2 auditions at GSA and Arts which resulted in no and no , Daughter lost all confidence then offers from Mountview , Barcelona , Trinity and Conservatoire Glasgow . We parents have had discussions about all the schools and it's really important to understand that each artist is an individual, one course for a friend may not be the correct course for your son or daughter . I think we have to move away from making harsh judgements on school , what will be will be , I am sure I read on this forum , that its not about you choosing the school , it's about the school choosing you . Also funding plays a big part on your choices , we were on a high on Monday with Mountview offer , only to sink to despair on Tuesday when the offer letter said , no DADA , fee paying place £13750 !!! We all want the best training for our youngsters , so keep the faith !

Well done to your daughter bethjinty66. Please don't give up on a funded place yet !! Since mountview have changed their audition process they seem to have a lot of movement on the list. A lot of people we know last year who were ion the reserve list got a place. I would hope that this meant movement on the dada list too. Fingers crossed for that, it may be worth checking . We know people who got dada offers there and at least one of them will probably not accept .

Well done to your DD bethjinty66. If you don't have a Dada for Mountview you are eligible for a student loan which will be for maintenance as well as £6000 towards the fees. My DS is in his first year there and has a student loan which certainly helps although finding the rest is still tight. He absolutely loves it there. Unfortunately you can only borrow £6000 towards the fees rather than £9000 as it classes as a private institution. It does come up on the student finance list though and was very straight forward to apply for. It arrives promptly on the first day of each term. Hope this helps and good luck to your DD with her decisions.

These last few posts confuse me...

I thought if you were accepted on a BA degree course - funding was by student loan - not DADA.

Likewise - if you study on a level 6 Trinity diploma - funding is by DADA or self funded - student loans not available for diploma courses.

Is Mountview an exception then? The posts seem to suggest that you can get either sort of funding for their courses? I would not expect someone offered a place on the BA Honours course to be hoping for a DADA and likewise I would not expect a student offered a diploma to be eligible for student loans funding.

Anyone heard from Performers about DADA or scholarship?

I know of somebody that had a phone call Tuesday evening from Performers offering full funding. Not heard from anybody else yet that was there for audition and there were a few from Ds' school. Maybe they have just offered the full funding so far.

Thanks for the info

Hi all this waiting is driving me to despair! my DD was accepted onto the courses at 8 colleges which we were thrilled about, but have only heard back from The Hammond, which we were chuffed was a yes for the Dada, however Laine is her dream. ive read on here that someone got a yes via email and that someone else got a waiting list notification by letter. seeing as we have heard nothing where should I think we stand, just a flat no? its sending me crackers x x x

Hi all, I'm new here, but have been reading with great interest.
Firstly well done to all your DD/DS's & you parents it's a mind field! My head is full of when, what if's & how much! This is our 1st ever experience at Auditions for Dance Colleges, My DD is 15 and has auditioned at Urdang, Laine, Italia, Bird & Tiffany and has had offers from all bar Urdang, Laine unfortunately was a no as she was offered the Foundation course & unfortunately at £8k + living costs with no funding available it was impossible to source, so now waiting on funding from Italia & Bird.

2dancersmum wrote:These last few posts confuse me...

I thought if you were accepted on a BA degree course - funding was by student loan - not DADA.

Likewise - if you study on a level 6 Trinity diploma - funding is by DADA or self funded - student loans not available for diploma courses.

Is Mountview an exception then? The posts seem to suggest that you can get either sort of funding for their courses? I would not expect someone offered a place on the BA Honours course to be hoping for a DADA and likewise I would not expect a student offered a diploma to be eligible for student loans funding.

You are correct 2dancersmum, no DaDAs for BA degrees and no student loans for Diplomas.
Happy to be corrected but I think the confusion is because ArtsEd and Mountview seem to make little distinction between the courses and the choice is based on funding route. So if someone gets an offer of a place without DaDA they can either decide to self-fund or take the degree route with student finance; they will be enrolled on to the correct course for their funding route but it makes little practical different. This differs to places like Bird and Urdang where the classes are separate and offers are course specific.

Dd2 was at the Scholarship audition on Monday at Performers. We know of 2 girls awarded Scholarships and a friend of dd's (who was also at the audition on Monday) was offered a DaDA by phone on Wednesday. Dd2 received 2 letters today - one from Bodyworks placing her on the reserve list for funding and one from Performers saying she did not have a Scholarship but is being considered for a DaDA and they will be in touch in a few weeks. Still waiting to hear from Millennium, Urdang and Laine. She has a place at Bird but no funding. Back to waiting

Hi all and well done to everyone with places so far. The waiting game is so stressful and I am glad ours is over. My 19 yr old dd has a place on the Diploma at Urdang after doing a year on a fantastic foundation course at Funky Studios in Nottingham( a fraction of the cost of those in London) and the students have places at Urdang, MTA, Arts Ed and Lipa. For those with younger DC please do not give up as they still have plenty of time and if they have the chance to do a foundation course it gives them a better understanding of the training ahead of them. The government are in the process of changing the funding for older students 19 years and over on diploma courses. My dd is on the reserve list for funding, and the degree, and we can not afford to pay the fees, but she is working hard to raise the money from employment, loans and charitable trusts. Working a year to save the money is another options and doesn't do them any harm. GOOD LUCK to everyone.

Hi Megmar610 DADA is 2015-2016 tax year and you need your P60 to submit with application. DD is accepting place at Laine, just waiting on our P60s to submit. Haven't heard from Performers yet but Laine was the one she wanted so one very happy DD

You are right carricrafts. At Mountview (and I believe at ArtsEd) the course is the same whether you do the diploma or degree so both funding routes are available. I think if you do the diploma route with a Dada you can pay about £400 to get the degree also, but you can't have the student loan as well as a Dada.