Dancing17 Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 My DD has been lucky enough to have participated in many associate schemes over the years (so I assume she was an OK dancer!) waving off numerous friends as they joined their vocational schools. Being in the very fortunate position of both parents being employed we were not eligible for any funding to go down this route and sadly we did not have enough disposable income to fund things ourselves - a common echo on this forum! My DD has always taken this with good grace with the caveat that when she gets to college age we could explore this route again. However with it becoming increasingly harder to find local lessons for her and her fear of being further behind her friends at vocational schools I have started to explore 6 form options and that is when I stumbled across some Access to Vocational Training courses. So far I have only found 2 - one at Italia Conti and the other at Urdang. Does anyone have any experience of this? I am keen for her to take 3 A'levels or equivalent as I am acutely aware that the dance world is highly competitive and should she decide to go on to university then 3 A'levels will be required. Any advice or referrals would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 What sort of training does she have in mind - classical, contemporary or all-round/MT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing17 Posted September 15, 2017 Author Share Posted September 15, 2017 She does have a strong ballet bias but would prefer an all-round course possibly heading down the MT later down the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 Are you looking for somewhere she can do A-levels alongside vocational training, or to stay on at school until 18 and then audition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 My dd is doing 2 A levels (from a small selection available) alongside the L6 diploma at Hammond. From last year's research, I think it was possible to do the same at Elmhurst and Tring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Also at Hammond they do also have school scholarships which may sometimes be offered to families whose incomes put them out of the DaDa eligibility. Local to where I live there is also an excellent 2 year btec in dance/MT (3 a level equivalent) run by a dance school in collaboration with a college on vocational lines with an excellent track record of students gaining MT training places aged 18. Is there anything similar near to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing17 Posted September 16, 2017 Author Share Posted September 16, 2017 It was specifically Access to Vocational Training schemes where there are no fees and they come out with courses equivalent to A'levels/are able to do A'levels alongside their training. Tring fees are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 4 hours ago, Dancing17 said: It was specifically Access to Vocational Training schemes where there are no fees and they come out with courses equivalent to A'levels/are able to do A'levels alongside their training. Tring fees are I'm not quite sure whether Tring's DaDa hiccup is still ongoing but last year they said they were replacing the lost DaDa awards with school scholarships but that these would not be subject to the income limitations imposed by Dada's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 No personal experience and no idea whereabouts in the country you are but places I have heard of that are free include: Birmingham Ormiston Academy - btec plus a levels CAPA Wakefield Bodens Performing Arts - n London Old School Danceworks (part of the Dance Mill) - btec - Halifax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huddsballetmum Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/16/2017 at 22:51, 2dancersmum said: No personal experience and no idea whereabouts in the country you are but places I have heard of that are free include: Birmingham Ormiston Academy - btec plus a levels CAPA Wakefield Bodens Performing Arts - n London Old School Danceworks (part of the Dance Mill) - btec - Halifax CAPA do a full level 3 qualification which is equivalent to 3 A levels and the school is pretty good. All young people aged 16-18 are entitled to free education, those between 19-23 are entitled to a first full level three qualification for free. My DD has a number of friends at CAPA who enjoy the course and are getting a good level of training, they also add in either Northern Contemporary or Phoenix dance company (both Leeds based) to supplement their training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w445403 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Stageworks do an Audition Preparation course, it's a BTec Level 3 extended diploma (=3 A levels). It's based in St Neots, just outside Cambridge and has a very good record for students gaining places in all the well known colleges such as Mountview, Laine, Bird, Arts Ed, Urdang etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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