BankruptMum

Brilliant, look forward to meeting you!

Perhaps the additional three years will be apparent in the finals but without other competitors there is no competition and birth year should not be held against a candidate - let the games begin! Good luck to everyone!

I didn't think it was a regional event, guess they hold it in different areas around the uk each year to make it more accessible. Our teacher said the timing had to be exact.

Wow, well done to your DD Angel!

They bounce back quicker than we do thats for sure!

That is lovely, these children are all so talented yet so young, you have to enjoy the opportunity. Hopefully you will receive the news you are after .

Clara things really will juggle around long into May - dont loose hope just yet - it really is worth ringing the school. They will have ranked everyone and are usually happy to pass on the information, at least it may put your mind at rest (email if you arent feeling brave)!! As I mentioned other schools havent even held their finals yet so nobody will be turning any places down for a while.

Its hard though isnt it - we all comment on how a dancer can have an 'off' bad day, or equally 'good day' when it comes to auditions - being able to view a DVD audition befoe submitting it allows the candidate to make sure they are having a 'good day'. How many re-take photographs before sending off applications, its difficult to get perfect first time, live in a audition room you have to. I do agree though a DVD doesnt allow for the warmth and performance to come across as well as it does in person (its also dependant on persons skills filming!!). I guess these schools have done enough audiitons to know what they are looking for be it in person or dvd. Afterall they are still looking for the right framework rather than complete ability - maybe it isnt as complicated as we all think it is!

To Katymac (sorry I replied on the wrong page and didnt realise the conversation had taken a new direction!) You can only make a decision between the schools you have a choose of, regardless of how others 'rank' them. Take into account how accessible they are, qualifications which can be gained, additional experiences offered, employment history - its no different than choosing an academic school. Remove the emotion, look at the facts, compare it to your requirements. I'm sure your DD will do well at either school.

Clara, there will be many children who receive multiple offers (assuming your DD went for a Y7 place) and this will free up funding and places in weeks to come - waiting list places do become reality, people will be waiting to get results from Elmhurst/RBS before making any firm decisions. It may be worth contacting the school to find out how far down the list she is before you discount it all together! Well done for reaching the finals, that is an achievement :-) Fingers crossed for your DD.

Thankyou Bestfootforward, your comments are really helpful, its a little daunting to go into something for the first time with no knowledge - what would we all do without this forum! Feeling more relaxed about the whole thing now :-)

Pups-Mum it sounds as if your DD is doing very well! We started the year thinking we would cut back on festival committments, classes and competitions etc., and focus more on school work but it isnt working out that way - if anything she has taken more on! Including dance exams, although we have persuaded to put the ballet one off until the summer To be honest I have come to realise that just because she isn't in dance class doesnt mean to say she will be hitting the school books - far from it, she strops, huffs and puffs and starts getting herself worked up. She is far better sticking to her normal schedule which she knows is demanding and has to find the extra revision time elsewhere - somewhow it seems to be working. She stays at school for an extra hour each night to make sure some revision gets done daily, she has made up a revision timetable which she integrated with her dance timetable so can instantly see if she has a clash or if the priority needs to change. She has her exam timetable now and her last exam is on the 13th June - she can see its a short committment to GCSE's then dance can take a priority again. She doesnt respond well to nagging (adult encouragement!) but I find a cup of tea and chocolate cake keeps her at the kitchen table a little longer studying :-). Best of luck to everyone who has a child going through exams this summer, it will be worth it in the end!

I dont believe so, the form asks for last exam passed but also time spent at current level. My DD has only done RAD major exams so has no grades at all.

I guess all levels will have a mixture of abilities within a set range. Wasnt level 4 Intermediate - Adv 2? Are they split within each group to their actual grade? Does anyone know how many are usually in each level? Sorry for all the silly questions!

Thank you

Not heard about a place yet!

We have just had Karen Blackburn ( was meant to be Geoff Lucas but the organisers got the dates wrong!). Karen was really helpful and constructive, :-)

Some choose to audition others dont and choose to carry on training at home.

Bad news worked out well for us, its just a cross roads and an opportunity to see the wood for the trees.

My DD will be doing level 4, not done this comp before so not sure what to expect. Be nice to meet up with you all.

How many dada places do tring have available?

My DD was happy to leave at the Easter holiday, we wanted her to leave immediately although she needed to stay and complete music exams, competitions etc. As she choose not to audition elsewhere and finish her GCSE years at home before thinking of vocational schools again, she needed to integrate back into 'regular schooling', we felt it would be much easier if she started at the start of summer term rather than having a long wait until September - she needed to get her teeth into a new project and build new friendships. She has done brilliantly, her projected GCSE grades are now much higher and for us its worked out well. Again its a personal thing and you must do what is right for your family. Good luck to everyone xx

My DD's English teacher actually suggested she took a couple of days off! Needless to say she didnt, she battled on even with a sore throat - they are made of strong stuff. As has been suggested above being a sounding board is often enough. They know what they need to do and will get through it.

Perhaps they should screen the photographs and not audition such a large number. Often adjudicators appear not to be watching but generally that's not the case. If you are really unhappy about the way the panel conducted itself then email them and give them some feedback. As Tulip mentioned we put up with things because that's the way they are - not a good lesson to teach children. People don't complain as they don't want to jeopardise their possible opportunity, hence nothing changes.