DancingDays

Hi, just to clarify, you don't have to pay the deposit to accept the funding audition...you only pay the deposit if you want to secure the place irrespective of whether you get funding or not. If you do pay the deposit and are then awarded funding, the money is refunded to you. If you don't pay the deposit and don't get funding, then you can still have your place but only if there is still a place available and you can pay the full fees. If you don't pay the deposit and do get a funded place, then your place is already reserved (they keep the beds they need for the funded places reserved anyway) and no deposit is required. Yes, they did confirm that they have significantly increased the deposit from the £650 to the £2000 this year. So my original turmoil surrounds whether it's wise to pay the deposit now knowing that I could have to forfeit it should DD be offered a place at WL or decide to go to The Hammond, or risk a place still be available following funding at Tring should DD not get a funded place at Tring or a place at WL.... It's still a lovely position to be in....to have a choice and know that our DD will embark on her vocational journey in September and I know we are fortunate to be able to consider it with or without funding (although it will be tight without funding) but it's still a huge amount of money to potentially write off....(although I shiver when I think how much Picturesintheflight lost) And I agree Lildancer96 that although it shouldn't, I don't want to think that DD could be overlooked for funding because it is thought that we could afford to pay anyway. We will make significant sacrifices to enable DD to attend without funding but if we can get help in the form of an MDS then we will be glad to know that it was gained completely on merit Above all else...we are over the moon that DD has a place and I keep smiling whenever I think about it

Fantastic news Amandalou Well done to your DD - I'm guessing we'll have different timings but now you can relax and have a great Christmas too xx

Wow Pictures! That's harsh especially with another child at the school already.... We had a similar situation with my son a few years ago...we accepted a private place and paid the deposit but later he was then offered a Grammar school place. We were very grateful when the independent school didn't ask us for the first term's fee (although we lost the deposit but we were completely OK with that). With this situation, I would again completely understand the £250 registration element being non-refundable but not the £2000 deposit.... My gut is kind of telling me to just pay it....but it just seems a little unnecessarily high especially when compared to The Hammond. Tomuchtallent....you have my sympathies too.... So, the vocational school challenges continue...

Funding audition at The Hammond is 19th March so 3 weeks after Trings....

No, I think it's standard across the board I suppose if you know you can only go if you do get the funding then it doesn't matter....but I think it's to try to get people to make a firm decision earlier rather than hedging bets until all results are known. The biggest issue for us personally is cost versus heart....so if for example just looking at The Hammond and Tring....if we got funding or a bursary at The Hammond but no funding at Tring, it would be thousands and thousands of pounds difference. If we don't get funding for either then it's a heart only decision.... We have always said that we would be happy with an offer from any of the schools as they all offer outstanding vocational education, but now we are in the fortunate position of having more than one, we can't afford to lose money of that amount as every penny will count from this point forward... I feel like I have "turmoil" stamped on my head

Hi everyone, I'm in need of advice....most of you will know now that my DD has been offered both The Hammond and Tring for year 7 and has funding auditions for both too. When we received the Hammond offer, we were asked to register with a £60 registration fee to make sure a place was reserved for DD (irrespective of the funding audition outcome) which we did as we took the decision that £60 was a reasonable sum for the school to ask (even if we ultimately did not send DD there). We received the offer from Tring on Friday and they ask for £2250 registration and deposit which is a huge amount of money. Although DD has been invited to funding audition in February, they require the registration by January otherwise they cannot guarantee a place if not successful at MDS audition. I just rang them to see if that meant that we could lose the 250 registration but still get the £2,000 refunded should we not take up the place after all the other auditions, etc have been done. The initial response was "no, we'd forfeit the whole £2,250 if we then don't take up the place reserved." I explained that the RBS auditions don't even start until January so parents aren't in a position to make an informed decision until after then and the response was "that we'd have to take our chances"..... I'm waiting for a call back from Tring now but it poses a real dilemma - I'm not for a minute assuming that DD will get offered a place at RBS, but if she did, we would stand to lose £2,310 in deposits...or alternatively if we don't pay the deposit and DD doesn't get a place at RBS or a funded place at Tring there may no longer be a place for her..... No parent can afford to lose £2,310 in deposits in the months immediately before embarking on potentially years of school fees irrespective of the school chosen....but then how can you risk the place your DD has secured by not paying up? Help and advice gratefully received.....

Good luck everyone auditioning

Thanks LinMM....I am enjoying a little glass of champagne and may even have another before the evening is out ;)

Hope he brings you good news too Amandalou x

Hi Everyone - very excited here this afternoon - DD has received an offer from Tring for year 7 and has been invited to Funding Audition too

Just thought you all might like to know that The Royal Ballet School's website has had a lovely update - it looks really fresh and seems to be more informative than before....lovely festive homepage too

So sad to hear that your DD is unwell again...I only know snippets of your journey from reading the threads in the forum but wanted to send best wishes to you and your DD and hope she recovers quickly xx

Gosh, I wouldn't want to answer that one....it would be subjective and down to personal preference I think.....and without experiencing them all first hand how can you judge? Any Summer School experience can be beneficial though I would have thought? x

Also, there are so many applications for the WL Summer School, that there's no guarantee that she'll get a place anyway....but there's no harm in applying - decision is made on photo application - and you can still apply to the other one (as long as you don't have to pay up front) Most Summer Schools were still open for applications after the RBS SS results were out so there'll be plenty of time to book in somewhere else if she doesn't get a place. My DD didn't get an RBS SS place but she still ended up doing YBSS and Yorkshire Seminars. Hope that helps a little

Gosh...just heard that Dimitrichenko has been sentenced to 6 years in prison - saw a clip of him in the court on the ITV News and he looked very gaunt - not healthy at all...

Good luck to your DD today Katymac, hope she has a great day

Wishing your DD a speedy recovery Porthesia x

Hi - they want socks and clean shoes (they don't have to be new but have to be tidy) with elastics - no ribbons as they may want the children to take off socks and shoes for a little while.

So sorry Huddsballetmum - we got a no for Elmhurst too but have had a yes for The Hammond so tell your DD to keep the faith x

Congratulations Amandalou1978 DD

Congratulations Kat09

Congrats to your DD Dancing2003. Actually, extra huge congratulations because that's 3 for 3 now isn't it? Your DD is obviously very talented so fingers crossed the funding happens for her with one of them xx

Hi, couldn't see a thread that is just for RBS LS Auditions and as we just got a letter with DD's audition time for the Birmingham prelim on 9th January, I thought I'd start one DD's scheduled for 9.30 am on the 9th

Fingers Crossed Huddsballetmum Mind you, I don't know how you'll be able to take your mind off it now - it would drive me crazy

That's what my DD sang - She said 2 others had the same piece. She also said that one of the modern amalgamation pieces that they were shown in the Modern part of the audition used the same music as her solo dance piece. That was spooky because it's a really unusual piece but they must have liked it! :-)