Funding
What does it cost to go to a Vocational School?
Finding the funds to study on dance, drama and musical theatre courses can be expensive. A course at a CDMT accredited vocational training school can cost anything between £7,000 and £30,000 per year. Depending on where you study, different types of funding exist.
Music and Dance Scheme (MDS)
The Department’s Music and Dance Scheme currently enables exceptionally talented young musicians and dancers to access financial help for specialist education or training. MDS provides grants and help with fees at 8 independent schools and 21 centres for advanced training. Your child must be aged 8 to 19 to be eligible for the music schools and 11 to 19 for the dance schools.
At present four dance schools offer MDS places to ballet students at 11:
- Elmhurst Ballet School
- The Hammond
- Royal Ballet School
- Tring Park School for Performing Arts
How to apply – Apply direct to the school or centre you want to go to.
In addition, the Centres for Advanced Training (CATs) are organisations or consortia of organisations/partners for exceptionally talented children allowing them to gain access to specialist dance training in other dance genres.
Visit Gov.uk for more information on MDS and the National Dance CATs website for more information on Centres for Advanced Training in Dance.
Dance and Drama Awards
First introduced in 1999, the Dance and Drama Awards offer annual scholarships to exceptionally talented performing arts students studying at some of the country’s leading providers of vocational training in dance, drama and musical theatre. Funded by the government through the Education Funding Agency (EFA), DaDAs offer reduced tuition fees and assistance with living costs for the duration of the course. Following a review of the scheme in 2012, the government has confirmed that in 2015/16:
- Funding for the DaDA scheme will remain at approximately £14m per year
- Students who are the most talented and likely to succeed in the industry will be eligible to apply for means-tested support towards fees and living costs
- New students who are offered awards will be funded to the end of their courses
- Arrangements for DaDA students who received their awards for courses starting prior to 2013 will remain unchanged
Details of the levels of support available are published on the DaDA Information website.
Seventeen providers have been selected to offer DaDAs to students, in order of talent, in accordance with the level of support as determined by income assessment. Students intending to apply for an award should contact a vocational DaDA school directly to enquire if it has any DaDA funding available. The seventeen providers are all quality assured by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the eligible courses are validated by Trinity College London. Most have an additional accreditation with the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre.
DaDAs are only available to students studying for the following Trinity College London (TCL) qualifications at one of the 19 approved Providers:
- Level 6 Diploma in Professional Acting
- Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance
- Level 6 Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre
- Level 5 Diploma in Professional Acting
- Level 5 Diploma in Professional Dance (Ballet or Contemporary Dance)
CDMT schools offering DaDAs are indicated under Accredited Schools. Students intending to apply for an award should contact a vocational school directly to enquire about DaDA funding. You can find out more about the DaDA scheme on the DaDA Information website
Higher Education (HE)
Higher Education courses lead to a degree, diploma or certificate validated or awarded by a university; a number are now also designated ‘vocational’. Students following HE courses do not qualify for DaDAs but might be eligible for mandatory, Higher Education awards which cover the greater part of tuition fees.
To find out more about HE Student Loans, please visit the gov.uk website by clicking here.
Other Funding
Some courses may not be funded by any awards. In these cases, students are responsible for the full cost of fees and may need to secure private funding via loans, scholarships and trusts.
There may be charitable organisations or large companies based in your area that would respond to a request for sponsorship. We would suggest visiting your local library which will have a list of local charities you can apply to.