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Hi everyone, I graduated 2 years ago with a Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance from Trinity College London with the help of DADA funding. I’m now looking at going into something completely different and going to university to study a degree unrelated to ballet. My question is would it still be possible to access student finance for my university degree even though I already have my diploma? I have read multiple topics on here on the matter and there’s not one straight answer: some say you can and some say you can’t!! Any advice would be helpful thanks!

Hello! First time poster. Not exactly sure how this forum works. Please bear with me. 🙂 I am a dance student from Northern Ireland and I recently applied to Roehampton, Arts Bournemouth, Trinity Laban and London contemporary dance school. I’ve had offers from all of my choices, which has been incredible! During my audition at Laban I didn’t get much of a feel for the school. Could anyone touch on what the differences are between Laban and LCDS? Are they as good as each-other etc. I have a few weeks to make a decision and right now I am finding it difficult to find information which clearly outlines what makes each conservatoire different. I am a relatively new starter to the dance world. (Began dancing at 18, now 23) and am not really sure how to navigate narrowing down my choices. Thank you ever so much to whoever takes the time to read this!

Hi all, Just to disclaim, I am still hoping to pursue a professional dance career (I have a couple of auditions lined up in the next few weeks!) but I’ve been considering a more solid Plan B recently and would love to study History at university, if I were to not get a job/get injured/when I retire etc. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of moving from professional training into a good University (I know it’s quite an unrelated subject haha). I have 2 A*s at A Level (one in History luckily) and my Level 4 diploma in Dance teaching, but I know many universities want 3 A Levels (but I don’t ideally want to wait to have to study for a third!) Thank you

My daughter is currently in year 12 and contemplating what to study at university. She has been a keen dancer since age 2 and is currently studying for RAD advanced foundation alongside grades 8 in tap and jazz. Her A levels include dance and PE and she’s considering a degree in dance science as she would like to maybe work with injured dancers but also feels that an understanding of dance science would be valuable if she later trained as a dance teacher. However there are only 3 institutions offering an dance science undergraduate degree so she is debating whether to do a more general dance degree first then potentially a masters in dance science / sports therapy. Or would she be best doing an general sports science degree first? She would love to follow her love of dance into a career in the industry whilst keeping her options open / having a back up. Does anyone have any advice as to the best way into a career in dance science/rehab?

Hello, I haven't posted here for a while. My oldest dd is 18 and at a crossroads. Brief background - she started ballet at 3 and picked up modern, tap, jazz and a bit of contemporary over the years. Dance has always been part of her life and it's extremely important to her. She did consider taking it further a while back but she didn't think she was good enough and lacked in confidence. She was at Abbots Bromley for Sixth Form which she loved. She got her BTEC with top grades along with A Level English and secured a place at Birmingham to do English, having decided not to pursue a professional dance career. The Birmingham place is deferred to this coming September when she is due to start. She is now having a gap year and has started classes at a local dance school where my youngest dd goes. This school has an attached full time college where dd is taking some classes and the teaching staff there seem to really like her. She is now having second thoughts about university and thinks perhaps she should pursue full time dance training. But it would be difficult to turn down a place at a great university and she doesn't know if she would be able to reapply as she missed her offer but was lucky enough they they accepted her anyway this time. She and I are both worried about competing in a crowded industry where there is no guarantee of success. I don't even know if it's too late to apply to dance colleges for this September, or which ones she should apply to or how competitive it is. What do dancers do if they complete a college course but then don't make it as dancer? I don't think she would want to teach. Does anyone have any advice please? This wasn't on the cards at all, it looked like she was doing English at Birmingham but this doubt has come in now and I don't feel very well informed. Thank you for reading.

Just hoping that someone may be able to suggest a contact/source of advice that may be able to help my 14-yr-old daughter make some decisions about her future choices in dance. We're based in the South West but informed opinions from all sources would be very much appreciated - looking for inspiration, really! Ideally somebody who would be able to have a chat with my daughter about her choices post GCSE, especially with regard to University options vs vocational training, as well as best choices to make moving from experience purely in classical ballet towards a career in contemporary or musical theatre. Any and all input greatly valued - thanks!

Hi My daughter has now graduated from Durham , she had a great time there both socially and academically and with her dance. She danced for a number of the DU dance teams, choreographed and danced in the Advanced Ballet team and also danced in the University Ballet Company. I would highly recommend Durham for those who want to still dance but for whatever reason don't end up pursuing it as a career. She is going to Imperial College in October to do her Masters so will be looking into her options for dance in London. There are dance societies at Imperial and shes aware RAD do run some external dance classes. Can anyone help with any further info or details,she is especially interested in doing her Advanced Ballet cert having passed Intermediate 3 years ago. Thanks.

Someone posted on another thread that their dd was researching universities with good extracurricular dance. I thought it would be useful to start a thread about it so dcs will be able to get a feel for the opportunities to continue dance at uni when they are studying something completely different. Maybe other people can post their dcs' experiences at various universities. My ds is at Warwick uni where he has done ballet, jazz, commercial/street, contemporary and tap this year. He plans to add lyrical to that this term, and will be teaching one of the ballet classes. This year he averaged 16 hours a week with the dance societies (Classical and Modern Dance, and Warwick Tap) and his actual degree only averages 10 hours a week contact time. He took part in a show each term, and they competed at 3 intervarsity dance competitions. I asked him which universities stood out : - Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Kings (KCL), as well as Warwick, all did very well in a wide range of categories. Durham and Lancaster’s ballet is good, although I don’t know about their Jazz/Contemporary/Lyrical/Street. Loughborough uni are the most successful and they host the biggest competition. For 2 out of the 3 competitions I was able to watch them from the comfort of my sofa as they were lifestreamed. The other competitions he went to were KCL and Sheffield. Manchester Uni also run a good one. You can see where various universities placed at Loughborough here. https://www.facebook.com/lborodancecomp/photos/a.260281204422124.1073741828.237324430051135/263638487419729/?type=3&theater. It would be great to hear about other dcs continuing their dance at uni. I'm seriously thinking of going to the Loughborough competition this year - anyone been?

I'm 28 years old and have just started to learn ballet. I have a few questions. Is it totally unrealistic to expect to someday get a degree in dance if I haven't danced since I was a child? Can weight lifting contradict ballet? What exercises are good for new dancers to do? What would be a good diet for a ballet dancer?

Hi everyone My daughter is 15, just finishing year 10 at school. She goes to a decent associates scheme but she is probably at the lower end of the ability there. She has been offered another year to start in September but it looked borderline for a while if she would keep her place. She works very hard but I'm concerned about her future. Ideally she would like to study contemporary dance at somewhere like Rambert or Trinity Laban but obviously the competition for these places is huge. However, her back up plan would be to study at university for a degree in contemporary dance. Can anyone offer any experiences of these degrees and what type of work they may lead to? She has her important GCSE year at school coming up and she is more committed to her dance than her academic work. I don't know whether to encourage her to slow down on her dancing and have a non-dance related back up plan instead. Obviously it's her life and I want to support her to do what she loves but equally I want her to be realistic. I don't want her to spend 3 years at university getting into a lot of debt for a degree that doesn't lead anywhere. Any thoughts / opinions would be appreciated. (ps I have no experience of these types of degrees so I in no way intend to cause any offence - I'm just trying to find some first hand experience and opinions)

Hi, Would anybody be able to share some information regarding the contemporary classes on the BA Dance Performance/Studies course at Middlesex? I have applied to both Roehampton and Middlesex but am torn between the two in regards to the amount of technique classes I will receive at each of them. Looking at the course online, Middlesex seems to have more performance based modules but would like to know if this is the case? Additionally, does anyone have any knowledge of the reputation of both Middlesex and Roehampton for dance? Thanks

Hello everyone, I previously posted about finding out about Uni dance degrees, we have finally got to the stage where we have seen four Uni's, Middlesex, Roehampton, De Montford and Surrey. My daughter has offers from the first three and we only saw Surrey yesterday so we'll see what they say. It's hard to choose which one! I think De Montford is out due to it's location and travel time from Edinburgh where we live. Has anyone else been to these audition days? and if so what did you think? I think my DD is having a crisis of confidence and wondering whether there will be enough actual dance to safisfy her but on reading other threads about this I think there are ways to top up if she wants to, it's just being practical about finding extra classes etc Has anyone got advice for a tired old mum who has has enough of train journeys for the time being!

A general - not dance related - request. Musical DD has set her heart on a place at a conservatoire. So far so good. Whittling choice down from 8 down to 5 is do-able. Should she not get offers, or have reservations, Plan B is to study something Geology related, as that's her favourite A level. She doesn't want to do academic music. My question is. how do you decide where to apply? Both my older children were doing very vocational courses so it was not too hard to get round the open days, or read the prospectuses. We've agreed we'll get an application together in principal during the Easter and Summer holidays (personal statement, research, check information required), but not submit it until Christmas, as the conservatoires will have made their offers by then and her music teachers have all advised not to get distracted by haring around the country attending open days for Geology stuff. If necessary we'll do a blitz at Christmas so she can make her final decision of where to apply then. Any advice on where to start is vey much appreciated!

Hi all, long time no speak! I've just started studying Dance at De Montfort Uni in Leicester (after much struggle and debate discussed in previous posts from the last year) and I'm enjoying it so far (I literally only started on Monday). But although I'm in every day and have a practical class every day, most of my days finish at around 1pm, and then I don't know what to do with myself for the rest of it! I've been to dance society tasters this week however most of these are designed for people who aren't typically dancers and just want to keep it as a hobby; this also costs a certain amount to join and go to each class and is not lead by dance professionals but by current students. When I accepted my uni place my original plan was always to reapply for vocational after my first year, but obviously I'd need to start applying and thinking about auditions now or in the next couple of months, and I don't know if I can put myself through that again? It was such an emotional rollercoaster the first time around! Basically what I'm saying is, I'm considering reapplying for vocational training because I'm not convinced I'm going to get enough practical hours in here at uni, without going to find another dance school and paying for evening classes (something I am looking into). Any advice? Thanks!

Hi all My daughter is off to university in September and is in the processing of making her choice for First and backup picks. She is a very keen dancer and has just passed intermediate tap with distinction and is working on her RAD Advanced ballet(she has completed her grades) - ballet is her first love but I she would like to be able to carry on with the tap as well. As a consequence her choices for university will be influenced slightly by whether she can carry on with her dancing while there. Her first pick is between Imperial College , London and Durham Unversity. Obviously RAD and the ENB run classes for external students so London would be good. SHe has read that Durham have a ballet company on campus but doesn't know what the standard is - and has no idea of whether there are any good schools in the area? Can anyone help with information either to confirm what she thins she knows about london(do the RAD and ENB do external classes?) or about the Ballet at Durham University or schools in the area. Her backup pick (which it isn't likely she will have to use , but I believe in always being prepared) is between Manchester or Liverpool Universities. We know there is a Ballet school on Oxford rd as she went to summer school there once but we don't know whether they do external classes . We know nothing about the ballet in Liverpool so again any information would be much appreciated. Thanks

Hi!! I've got one more audition left at Arden School of theatre next week, but I didn't get into any of the vocational schools I applied for (London studio Centre, LCDS, NSCD and Laban) however I have got offers from Middlesex University as well as Edge Hill! I was just wondering if anyone had any experience in either of those places? Initially I was drawn more towards Middlesex however the audition day put me off a little, but I'm now heading back towards that one just because of the location, I've always wanted to train and live in London because I think there's so much more opportunity there and Edge Hill is so far away! Any advice on either of them or how to choose would be greatly appreciated :')