Author: alex

Updated Booklet Released – A Time of Challenge 2021

Posted on by alex

The electronic booklet, A Time of Challenge, which was first released in July 2020, has been updated to reflect the 2021 Covid-19 circumstances and the specific concerns and needs of CDMT Accredited Schools who have an approximate combined:

  • turnover of more than £90m each year
  • total of students on full-time vocational courses in the performing arts of 6,300
  • in-take of new students onto vocational courses of 2,700 annually, from 20,500 auditions.

These Accredited institutions which offer vocational training in dance, drama and musical theatre transform lives, enrich communities, drive regional and national economic growth, and improve social interactions across the arts and culture. Their remit and functions are therefore strongly influenced by educational, cultural and sector-focused decisions directed by the Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports. It is important that whatever decisions are made for the wider industry, including for theatres and performance companies, equal consideration is also made of the assistance needed to secure the existing ‘pipeline’ of highly trained future professionals on which the sector relies for its regeneration and renewal.

Further, the UK has a long-standing reputation for the provision of world-class professional training in the performing arts. However, in an economic climate where there is growing pressure on higher-level studies and the arts in general – due to Covid-19 and EU withdrawal – this reputation could be at risk. Sustained support must be offered for the creative industries, and crucially, those undertaking vocational training within it, better to ensure that young graduates continue to aspire, and feel inspired, to enter the sector in the years ahead. In turn, the UK economy more widely will benefit from the contributions made by the next generation of trained professional practitioners.

The electronic booklet can be viewed by clicking here.

A Time of Challenge 2021 front cover large