Excelerate at Arts Ed

A place to talk about full time schools and post 16 training.

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evielovestoast
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Excelerate at Arts Ed

Post by evielovestoast »

Hi I’m brand new to this helpful forum hopefully someone can help. My dd is at a very well known performing arts college doing a foundation she is 16 and originally applied for a BTEC. After her audition she was offered the BTEC with 3 year Diploma. After her first week she realised that the timetable for both courses was too much (she had to retake Maths too) for her and moved to foundation. She is looking at options for next year but she will only be 17 so limited choice. She doesn’t want to stay where she is as it’s too dancer. Arts Ed is a favourite but the sixth form fees are just too much. I found a part time course there called Excelerate and wondered if anyone knew about it as it’s pretty new. She has lots of youth theatre experience and is just signing with an agent but she is stressed as to what to do next. She will have no A levels or a BTEC just the foundation and her gcse’s so this might limit her options even more. Hopefully someone will have some words of wisdom as not sure what to do. Thanks so much for reading my long post
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jasmine2
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Re: Excelerate at Arts Ed

Post by jasmine2 »

Hello
You sound like you have really thought about what she wants to do. I would say go for as many college auditions as you can afford/get to. If she is already doing the foundation course, it sounds like Excelerate is a similar thing. It reads that it is more for students that are unsure if it is the career path for them, or have not had too much training already.
It sounds like a brilliant course though.

What does your dd want to do? Straight acting or MT? There are plenty of colleges that offer fantastic courses for 17yrs+

Emil Dale Academy in Hitchin, Performers in Essex, Bodyworks in Cambridge, Bird, Laine, Millenium etc.

Good luck and keep us posted. :D
I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.......
Robin64
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Re: Excelerate at Arts Ed

Post by Robin64 »

Get the maths GCSE passed if possible. Options will be slightly limited by not having the BTEC or A levels - not a huge deal but it does mean not being able to apply to degrees which have the student loan funding. However there is the diploma route with dada funding. If she is interested in straight acting more than dance then time is very much on her side as they often like older students anyway. I would be tempted to look again at getting a qualification such as a BTEC / A levels if there is somewhere reputable to do it. Then there will be time also to perhaps do some part time work and save up and do youth drama etc or perhaps she will get some work with her agent. There is also NYT short courses etc or YMT/NYMT if she enjoys singing/acting. This would be a good time to read and see plays too.

If she really doesn't want to go for the post 16 qualification then I would be looking at diploma courses and seeing what they can offer and what the entry requirements are. There are some good suggestions on previous threads about places to study post 16 eg Bodens which seems to have a good set up for that age group.

I don't know the Arts Ed course you mentioned. We didn't like Arts Ed last year when DD auditioned and won't be trying there this year.
evielovestoast
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Re: Excelerate at Arts Ed

Post by evielovestoast »

Thank you for your replies I’m going to look into as many options as I can and at places that aren’t too dancey. Bodens sounds good but unfortunately we are in Surrey so Barnet not really an option for daily travel will try and see if there is a similar set up nearer. The BTEC’s in our area tend to be at the large FE general colleges which I feel would be a step backwards after a full time foundation. Argh not easy this MT life
Robin64
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Re: Excelerate at Arts Ed

Post by Robin64 »

Brit school? My nephew loves it there.
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