Undergraduate second degree students
Changes to Government funding from 2012
As a result of recent changes in Government funding to higher education, the Conservatoire faces a considerable reduction in its teaching grant from 2012. In order to continue to offer the world-class level of training and facilities for which our schools are renowned, we are charging new students £9,000 per year for all undergraduate programmes.
The Conservatoire will continue to subsidise the full cost of its vocational programmes. We have also put in place an extensive financial support package to ensure that we continue to admit the most talented students, irrespective of background.
Tuition fees
The Conservatoire’s tuition fees for UK and EU students who already hold an equivalent or higher qualification will be £9,000 per year for entry in 2012-13*. This applies only to students starting a course in 2012.
If you have already started your course, visit the course fees (current students) and financial support (current students) pages for more information.
*This may rise in subsequent years in line with inflation.
If this is your second degree, you may be entitled to a fee discount from the Conservatoire and/or financial support from the affiliate schools. You may also wish to consider independent sources of funding such as a Career Development Loan.
Conservatoire Scholarships
The Conservatoire offers a range of scholarships in the form of fee discounts, which means your debt after graduating will be reduced. See the table below for details of what the scholarships are worth and who is eligible. You can also download the table as a PDF:
Download a table of Conservatoire Scholarships
How do I apply for a scholarship?
If you wish to be considered for a Conservatoire Scholarship, you need to indicate as appropriate on your application form to the school/s. You then need to complete an application to Student Finance England (or its equivalent) as early as possible in order to be income assessed. This will allow the Conservatoire to assess what level of support you may be entitled to.
You can apply to Student Finance for income assessment even if you are not eligible for a loan, or do not wish to apply for a loan. Scholarships awarded on the basis of talent will be allocated by the schools and all eligible students will be considered.
You may be eligible to receive more than one Scholarship.The maximum amount of fee discount you can receive is £4,000 per year for each year of training.
Interim income assessment form
If you apply to a Conservatoire school, you may be asked to complete an interim income assessment form (see below). This will help us to provide you with provisional information about any financial package for which you may be eligible. Where possible, we are trying to let all applicants to whom we offer a place know whether they will be entitled to a fee discount, and what the minimum discount would be, before they accept.
CDD INCOME ASSESSMENT FORM 2012-13 (PDF)
CDD INCOME ASSESSMENT FORM 2012-13 (Word)
You do not need to complete the interim form unless you are requested to do so by the schools. You will still need to apply to Student Finance England or equivalent for income assessment.
*Please note that students from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not eligible for the National Scholarship Programme. This is because the authorities in these countries will have their own financial support in place.
| Scholarship | Who is eligible | How it is allocated | How to apply | What it’s worth | How many available |
| National Scholarship Programme | Students who meet the following criteria:
|
Awarded on basis of talent, with priority to: low income, disabled students, looked after children/care leavers, travellers, refugees and those in certain ethnic minority groups | Income assessment through Student Finance or Conservatoire means testing and through audition/interview | Discount of £3,000 per year for each year of training | 30 across the eight schools |
| Means tested fee discounts | All UK and EU undergraduate students who are new to HE | Household income less than £25,000 | Income assessment through Student Finance or Conservatoire means testing | Discount of £1,000 per year for each year of training | All eligible students |
| All UK and EU undergraduate students who are new to HE | Household income £25,001 – £42,600 | Income assessment through Student Finance or Conservatoire means testing | Discount of up to £1,000 per year per year for each year of training | All eligible students | |
| Additional fee discount | Students who meet the following criteria:
|
Awarded on basis of talent | Income assessment through Student Finance or Conservatoire means testing and through audition/interview | Discount of up to £2,000 per year for each year of training | Discretionary |
| Sir Bob Reid Scholarship | All UK/EU students on all undergraduate programmes | Awarded on basis of talent | Judgement in first year of training | Discount of £3,000 per year in the second and third years of study | 8 (one at each Conservatoire school) |
| Talent and need based scholarships | All UK/EU students on all undergraduate programmes | Awarded on basis of talent and exceptional need | Income assessment and/or audition/interview | Discount of up to a maximum of £4,000 per year for each year of training | Discretionary |
| Care leaver bursary | Meets definition of a care leaver: “any 18 – 21 year old (or until the end of an agreed programme of education or training) who has been looked after for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and who is still looked after or recently left care.” | Awarded to all eligible students | Self-identify as a care leaver on the application form and/or on the enrolment form when you start your course | Bursary of £750 per year for each year of training | All eligible students |
Support from the schools
The affiliate schools may offer their own bursary schemes and support in addition to that offered by the Conservatoire. The links below will take you to the relevant section of each school’s website:
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
www.oldvic.ac.uk/student-bursaries
Central School of Ballet
www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk/sscosts.php
Circus Space
www.circusspace.co.uk
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
www.lamda.org.uk/drama/funding
London Contemporary Dance School
www.lcds.ac.uk/bursaries www.lcds.ac.uk/fees
Northern School of Contemporary Dance
www.nscd.ac.uk
Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance
www.rambertschool.org.uk/funding
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
www.rada.ac.uk/courses-at-rada/acting-and-performance
www.rada.ac.uk/courses-at-rada/production-and-design
Other sources of funding
If you are applying for a second degree, you will not be eligible to apply for a student loan from the Government and you may wish to consider alternative sources of funding to support your studies.
Access to Learning Fund
www.direct.gov.uk
This is a hardship fund for students experiencing financial difficulty. You can only apply for this after you have started your course.
Professional and Career Development Loans
www.direct.gov.uk
If you already have a degree, you can apply for a Career and Professional Development bank loan which you repay once you have finished studying.
You can also download this information as a PDF document:
Download alternative sources of funding
Educational Grants Services
www.direct.gov.uk
A directory of organisations which offer educational grants.
Grants for Individuals
www.grantsforindividuals.org.uk
A directory of organisations which offer grants.
Turn to Us
www.turn2us.org.uk
A directory of organisations which offer grants.
Useful links
For more information about applying for vocational training, you may find it useful to visit some of the sites listed below:
Dance and Drama Councils
Council for Dance Education and Training
www.cdet.org.uk
National Council for Drama Training
www.ncdt.co.uk
FAQs
If you have further queries about fees and finance or about applying to the Conservatoire, you may like to visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
