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Hi,

ds is interested in applying to Drama School next year, but will not be available to audition until after Christmas. When do most of them start accepting applications, and is it OK to say you are unavailable until after Christmas? He also has done a fair amount of acting, and is interested in a shorter course rather than 3 years, so I am thinking the best options for a condensed course seem to be the Bristol Old Vic 2 year acting course, or the Lamda 2 year course. I assume just doing a foundation degree is not going to give him much. I notice RADA only either has the foundation or 3 year degree.

Any thoughts?

If your DS doesn't want to audition until after Christmas then I would personally hold off sending in your applications until late December. DD found some schools got back really quickly and didn't give her much choice on dates! All schools are accepting applications at least up to the UCAS deadline of mid-Jan.

In terms of more condensed courses, I definitiely don;t think a foundation course is what your DS would be looking for. Most of the BA courses are 3 years (like normal uni courses). However, the Stage highlighted this new 2-year BA course recently: http://www.courttheatre.org.uk/ It is not an NCDT accredited though.

The NCDT website has lots of useful information on accredited courses and is well worth a look: http://www.ncdt.co.uk/

Good luck!

sapphire wrote:If your DS doesn't want to audition until after Christmas then I would personally hold off sending in your applications until late December.

oh definitely agee with sapphire - be really prepared to get an audition date within 3 weeks max of applying - and if you apply late in December, you should get date for mid-end of January/beginning of Feb, that's an estimate. It does just depend on how many apply at same time as you !!! hard to call. You can apply to some schools and state dates you are not available for audition, if this option is on their online form, but if it isn't, don't apply unless you can audition anytime 2 weeks after you send in your application.
They start taking applications in October - some students like to get at least one audition out of the way before Christmas so they can concentrate on their school mock exams, if they're doing them. The danger of applying to all the schools at the same time is that audition dates could be in the same week for different schools, which can work for some and not for others !
And applying late in the application timescale for an audition date, can mean a much longer wait to get sent a date because the schools tend to get an influx of applicatioins nearer to the deadline ! and that means it takes them longer to process your application becasue they're so busy !
It depends on how prepared you are with audition pieces really, and how much preparation you need for each audition between each school you're applying to, and of course, if you're using the same pieces for some and not for others !It is useful to apply early for a school that may be the least suitable or your last choice, so it can be used as experience of the audition process, to prepare you for later auditons at schools you prefer !

Unfortunately the schools all behave differently regarding how soon the ask you to audition after receiving your application. You could send all your applications off at the same time yet have audfition dates months apart or, all in the same week . But some can be quick eg RADA so he should not send any off till available.

Those courses which are part of UCAS take applications fro Sept to 15th Jan. Those not in UCAS have their own start/finish dates so you have to look at each place individually

My ds didn't send any applications off until after the Christmas holidays and had all three that he applied for in April. Two of his auditions were the very last auditions being held by the colleges that year. He received the dates within a week or so of sending the applications off. I would suggest sending the applications in just before Christmas so that they can be processed before the colleges break up.

Ds is also thinking of applying for 2013 and I know nothing about the process, apart from the great advice on here.

He wants to do an Acting Degree and would like to try for some of the acredited courses. I'm a bit worried about how much you need to be able to sing and dance as well as act. If you go to one of the drama schools to do Acting , like Rose Bruford or BOVTS, do you also need to be an accomplished singer and/or dancer?

tikka

I am living proof that you do not need to be a great singer and dancer to be offered a place on an accredited acting course!

Your movement is definitely assessed and is an important part of the audition, but for a straight acting course there is not really a dance audition as such (certainly not at auditions I know about, which is 8 or 9 different schools via various people I know who have auditioned) - though they may ask you to learn a dance routine at some schools as part of the movement assessment. We were given a short routine to learn at Birmingham for example. I thought it was very tough indeed (though some sailed through it) and was not very good at it - I was still offered a place. They certainly watch how people move in the group auditions etc and also (of course) in the speeches. This is much more to do with how "engaged" you are physically though, not whether you have had dance training.

In terms of singing - most acting courses do have singing as part of the audition process, but lots of actors who are/were not strong singers have been offered places. They will be interested in how you put the song across rather than assessing your technical skills or how good your singing voice is.

tikka wrote:I'm a bit worried about how much you need to be able to sing and dance as well as act. If you go to one of the drama schools to do Acting , like Rose Bruford or BOVTS, do you also need to be an accomplished singer and/or dancer?

as pg said.you don't need to be able to sing and dance for the Acting course. You may have to do some movement in a workshop situation, but not dance, and when singing, they're only looking to see how you interpret a song, so really don't worry at all about that.

Thanks pg. was a bit worried that it could be a non starter as he doesn't sing or dance - just acts (a lot!). Think a few singing lessons would come in useful!

tikka

good idea to get a few singing lessons in, - helps get confidence up ready for auditions, and get the help to choose a suitable song that suits your ds's voice.

I know someone who was offered a place at drama school (on an acting course) who sang "Nellie the Elephant" at his audition. Not that I'm recommending this as a song choice you understand

I agree with Genevieve that a couple of singing lessons would be a great idea

My DD arranged a couple of singing lessons and it certainly boosted her confidence at auditions and has helped with song choices etc. In fact she has enjoyed her lessons so much that she has carried them on just for fun. Her teacher is now talking about singing exams which is not something I would ever envisaged DD being in a position to do!

Hello all,
Can anyone fill me in a bit more regarding accepting a school place if you're lucky enough to be offered.
So for example on the non ucas drama schools given that each application is separate and that the decision dates are all different is it possible to be in a position of having several offers?
Does a school give the candidate a limited time to accept/reject the place?
Can you accept one while waiting for a decision?

Thanks

Yes, you can accept a place while waiting for decisions on others. The problem arises when school insist on (non-returnable) registration/deposit fees which can be quite hefty. You can only accept one place at a time, but you can change your mind (more than once) and move to a preferred choice that comes in later (this happens quite a lot and is one of the reasons schools have waiting lists/provisional offers). Schools compete for the best students as well as students competing for places and some students will have multiple offers. It makes sense to delay paying the registration fee if you can - some schools will give you some leeway, some will insist that the only way to be sure that the place is kept for you is to pay the fee.

Ds had to accept his offer within two weeks of the offer letter and pay a deposit of £350. The letter stated that if you decided to withdraw acceptance, then you had to inform the college at least 4 weeks before the start date of the course in order for your deposit to be refunded.