Best value Foundation courses?

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klchaplin1980
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Best value Foundation courses?

Post by klchaplin1980 »

Hi there. My sixteen year old daughter has been offered places on the Foundation Courses at Italia Conti and Evolution so I was just wondering what people's opinions of these courses are and if anyone has come across one that might get overlooked by people but is a quality course at a reasonable price. Many thanks in advance.
JayLou62
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by JayLou62 »

Depends on what area you are looking at and if you need accommodation. My dds went to The Big Act - it's only been running for a few years but is definitely up and coming. Here's the link:
http://www.thebigact.com/
jennifer1972
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by jennifer1972 »

We were quite impressed by Evolution when we went for the audition. The students were so positive and upbeat and obviously having the time of their lives. The only sticking point for me was that every student I spoke to was advised to go on to audition at 10, 11, 12 colleges all over the country, some at places I had never heard of (and I have heard of most :lol: ). This would involve a huge expense for the parents. I know they want to keep their 100% record of getting their students into places but it seemed a bit excessive.
lyndahill
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by lyndahill »

I got the impression from Italia Conti that they do a Level 3 Btec at Guildford which is free, but that's different to the Foundation course, which would be self funded and as much as £9000. Personally, I wouldn't send my DD down the Foundation route, I'd rather she did A Levels and continued her triple threat training where she currently is as the standards are extremely high Post 16 and they have many students successfully auditioning for the top Colleges and gaining places. It is a personal choice and many gain from Foundation Courses - I just see them as a way of the colleges making a lot of money, just my opinion though.
chivers61
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by chivers61 »

As has been said on this thread and others, the foundation/no foundation is not easy. Bottom line is that it is never funded, so if you do it in London it will cost you £9,0000 for fees plus 8 months living costs which will be about £8,000. So you're in for £17,000. Then as pointed out above there's no guarantee of a place. Also in some cases if you do it at Uni with halls and you use the halls it counts as your first year at Uni so you don't get guaranteed halls when you do the actual first year of your degree.

At one point DD looked like she was not going to get a place on a diploma/degree course so we thought long and hard and decided together that we would put a budget of £6,000 aside, much less than the £17,000 above, to get her the best private training we could in singing/dancing/acting. She could then also work part time to put money aside to help us fund a three year course. Fortunately she got a place so this scenario didn't happen.

Some may say that a foundation would make sure you're at the top of your game for auditions but again it's no guarantee. Not every "foundie" gets a place the following year. Our DD got a place straight from school at 18 with grade 8 singing, grade 7 ballet, grade 5 jazz and having done no acting exams. She had also only done dance at a good school for 3 hours a week for 2/3 years (plus she did GCSE and A-level). She ended up with 2 offers. As has so often been said the colleges clearly jump on students who are more "qualified" on entry but they also look for what I would like to think of as hidden gems or diamonds in the rough. Young people with potential who are trainable.
Robin64
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by Robin64 »

I have always been one of those who thought/said on here that we would not consider a foundation due to the well-made points above by others. However now it is audition time and with a no, and a foundation offer so far, with a recall and 2 more auditions to go we are wavering. Being realistic - a recall at GSA - yes that is well done but there are...what..15 places for girls? and some of them have already gone (DD knows someone with a place already (brilliant student and her third try to get in) and it is unlikely she is the only one with an offer in the bag) so not really holding too much hope on a first try there for DD. Arts Ed similar situation tbh plus no chance without funding anyway, then Central..we will see what happens. I know she has potential and would work hard but realistically she may not get anything this year. So...bite the bullet to let her have a foundation at one of her favourite colleges and know that she would certainly get good training even with no guarantee of a place after? or let her do that and be heart broken if they don't choose her to stay for the diploma or degree - they obviously don't let all foundation students stay and I don't know how many they do choose? or believe that it will be enough to get in somewhere else good? It would mean a tightening of the belts for us and a loan - hard but wouldn't get us into serious difficulties if you see what I mean, so not totally out of the question but certainly not without an impact.

So there you have it. I thought I would be saying no but find that it is not quite as cut and dried as that now.

Plus in the mix is this point...add up all the cost of further dance lessons, singing lessons, any pre voc or other workshops she would do over a year out, all the new auditions and hotels and travel (AND STRESS!) which would probably start again before xmas this year and the thought of her going and actually getting on with it somewhere decent is really looking tempting.

Very much torn.
bop2thetop
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by bop2thetop »

Hi everyone
Just to make sure everyone's aware not many foundation students that are at GSA go on to the 3 year Degree following the foundation course. Obviously it varies but about 4 foundies got in in my DD's year. However I know lots of foundies get on to other amazing BA courses e.g. Arts Ed, Birds, Mointview etc. So what I'm trying to say is that it definately helps you get on to a top course but only a few actually stay at GSA. Hope this helps
Robin64
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by Robin64 »

bop2thetop wrote:Hi everyone
Just to make sure everyone's aware not many foundation students that are at GSA go on to the 3 year Degree following the foundation course. Obviously it varies but about 4 foundies got in in my DD's year. However I know lots of foundies get on to other amazing BA courses e.g. Arts Ed, Birds, Mointview etc. So what I'm trying to say is that it definately helps you get on to a top course but only a few actually stay at GSA. Hope this helps
Thanks, that is really helpful, does anyone have that stat for Bird? Do you think some of these students wanted a change anyway or is it a bit disappointing not to stay?
Robin64
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by Robin64 »

Actually, one of the things that crossed my mind was that the foundation might feel like an 8 month audition!!
bop2thetop
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by bop2thetop »

Robin64 wrote:
bop2thetop wrote:Hi everyone
Just to make sure everyone's aware not many foundation students that are at GSA go on to the 3 year Degree following the foundation course. Obviously it varies but about 4 foundies got in in my DD's year. However I know lots of foundies get on to other amazing BA courses e.g. Arts Ed, Birds, Mointview etc. So what I'm trying to say is that it definately helps you get on to a top course but only a few actually stay at GSA. Hope this helps
Thanks, that is really helpful, does anyone have that stat for Bird? Do you think some of these students wanted a change anyway or is it a bit disappointing not to stay?
Hi Robin64. To be honest I'm not entirely sure but my guess is that most foundies would like to stay. GSA is an amazing place and has student finance for the Degree course but I can't say for sure. Some might prefer somewhere else.

And yes some people say it is a little like a very long audition. I expect that's the same for every foundation course though.
bop2thetop
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by bop2thetop »

Sorry no I don't know of any stats exactly just heard about quite a few foundies getting offers for other schools. Oscar might know more about this as her DS did the foundation at GSA and then went to Arts Ed
Munchpot
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by Munchpot »

bop2thetop wrote: Thanks, that is really helpful, does anyone have that stat for Bird? Do you think some of these students wanted a change anyway or is it a bit disappointing not to stay?
Hi. I've been most,y on the Auditioning for 2017 page. Pretty certain that my DD will be doing foundation at bird. She love don't the place and despite having offers from other she feels doing a year's foundation would help her and put her in a better position next year

We are lucky that we live just around the corner from Bird so accommodation isn't a worry for us

When I spoke to the college when she got her offer about success rates on the course getting onto diploma or degree at Bird the following year, they said, along the lines of, "We can't say it's a 100% success rate as some people choose to go to other colleges to continue training, after spending a year at Bird they decide it's not the college for them, some decide to become teachers and leave to pursue that route and quite a few stay on at Bird"

Again I've spoken recent,y to some Birdies I saw on the train and asked about the Foundation at bird and they were very complimentary, with one girl saying she wished she had done it as the people she felt were the best in her classes had all done the foundation

Hope that contributes to the discussion
chivers61
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by chivers61 »

This thread has highlighted the issue of transparency which is being discussed on another thread. Seems that no-one knows how many foundies get places either at the same or another college. That data can't be hard to compile. I think it is probably true that in thevmainmost of them so get a place somewhere. It probably is an 8 math audition and the college can't "unknow" what they know about you from their time there so I'm not sure how much what you do "on the day" is all they take into account despite what they say.

Also there is a challenge of late auditions for foundies. If you're going to get your money's worth and be the best you can be and you start in late Sept then you're going to wait until March probably to start auditions. Indeed most foundation colleges/courses encourage waiting as long as possible with the risk that for the colleges with smaller intakes for 3 year courses that there are fewer places left.
chivers61
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by chivers61 »

Apologies for the multiple typos above. Damn autocorrect! Should re-read before submitting.
Robin64
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Re: Best value Foundation courses?

Post by Robin64 »

This is really interesting and thanks to anyone contributing to the discussion. The issues that have come up in this and the auditions threads are important and helpful when you are trying to help and guide your young people especially if you are not from a performing background as it were. I think it is great that people are prepared to share experiences and their thoughts. I am especially grateful to those who are willing to share difficulties, hard decisions and the hard work that goes into even getting to the start of the higher ed course. There is so much more to the forum than back patting and proud moments (not that I don't like to hear those too!).
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