katie**

Very glad I posted this know. Lots of options for us to be looking at. I know ultimately it is her choice but I would like to find out as much as I can to help her.

I've just been looking at the RAD degree. It sounds ideal but the option to study full time in London is only available for ballet. The dance degree is only distance learning. Is anyone aware of anything similar with the option to move away from home but not focused entirely on ballet?

Thanks. I think my daughter is similar but feeling a bit confused! Good luck to your daughter :-)

Sadly her own school is not offering any dance studies at GCSE or A level anymore despite having a lovely dance studio so I can definitely see that teaching in a school may not be a sensible option at the moment. I will have a look at the RAD teaching degree now. Thank you, you've all been very helpful.

Thank you so much everyone for the helpful replies. Her associates teacher has given her some feedback of things to work on this year and she says age is on her side as she can spend the next 12 months working really hard. But she also has to work really hard with her GCSEs and time management is so hard at this age! In terms of her long term goal I'm sure she would love to be a professional dancer but she's also at the stage where a little bit of realism is starting to slip in too. If I ask her she will say 'I'm not sure but something dance related' or something vague along these lines. I know she would love to have her own dance school in the longer term. My concern is that so many dancers don't seem to have permanent work :-( They have to top up their wages with bar work etc. There's nothing wrong with that and I admire their dedication but it's such a shame for them to work so hard through university and then struggle at the end of it!

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)