Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - BA Modern Ballet

[Petit Jeté]

Hello, just wondering, if there is anybody out there with any personal experience or knows of anybody who has completed or is currently on this course who has given any feedback.

My DD has been offered a place here and at another etsablished school in London and although thought the course in Scotland seemed very friendly and caring we only know what we experienced at the auditions and the information from the website and what we were given on the day. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Anna C]

Hello Petit Jeté and welcome to the forum. :-)

[ballet0]

My older dd graduated from there last year please feel free to pm with any questions xxx

[Pas de Quatre]

I have a pupil who is thinking of applying next year, i.e. for entry in September 2014.  Can you fill us in a bit on what happened to last year's graduates ballet0?  Did they get classical  jobs, contemporary, or go into more commercial work?

[Friends]

My friend's dd has a place at the Conservatoire starting this September.

Not knowing much about it I've looked at the website and it has a lot going for it compared with the schools in London.

The tuition fees for Scottish and EU residents ( not English, Welsh or N. Irish known as the Rest of the UK (RUK ) are £1820 per year compared with £9000 for the RUK.

Accommodation is cheaper, a single en-suite room is £5508 per year compared with the same in London at £11322.

The course works very closely with Scottish Ballet and the students have many opportunities to perform.

If my dd was Scottish then we would find it very hard to turn it down due to the massive savings in fees. That saving would buy rather a lot of pointe shoes 

Did you know they are still accepting applications for this September 2013.

[Its her Life]

I also have a friend whose dd has accepted a place there for Sept 2013 & she has said the facilities are superb & there is plenty of performance experience. What she liked as well were the accommodation arrangements considering dd is only 16.

[hfbrew]

I happen to know one of the people who validated the degree course and was told that it was excellent, offering brilliant facilities and definitely on a par with other vocational courses. This person (who has been instrumental in vocational Ballet training for years) strongly recommended it ,  

[Petit Jeté]

Hi Encouraged, thank you for your reply. My dd has already been offered a place for entry September 2013 and just wanted to know if anybody had any thoughts or feedback. As we are not Scottish we would have to fund the course and living costs through student loans. Yes, you're right, that would pay for a lot of pointe shoes!

 

Thanks Its her life, we also thought the facilities were very good although we didn't see all of them, we didn't manage to see the accomodation either but it looks good on the website being able to share with other dancers is a bonus.

 

Thank you hfbrew, very helpful feedback, this sounds very promising.

[taxi4ballet]

The tuition fees for Scottish and EU residents ( not English, Welsh or N. Irish known as the Rest of the UK (RUK ) are £1820 per year compared with £9000 for the RUK.

 

Eh? I find this a bit puzzling... surely everyone in the UK is a resident of the EU?

[Kat09]

It is strange isn't it - I believe that it is the same for university fees and was challenged in the courts - the case brought lost   It seems we in England are only "european" when it suits the powers that be - blatant discrimination if you ask me - but what would I know?!

[2dancersmum]

I think this is in line with the universities in Scotland where Scottish students and EU students pay one rate but those from England and N Ireland pay more.  I believe it is different again for Welsh students.

[afab]

I wonder what my DDs would fall onto. They are British with English and Irish ancestors and they have French citizenship as well! I bet, luck having it, that they would be considered RUK rather than EU!!!

[AccentuateThePositive]

I wonder what my DDs would fall onto. They are British with English and Irish ancestors and they have French citizenship as well! I bet, luck having it, that they would be considered RUK rather than EU!!!

 

 

 

Afab I was just thinking it might be worth getting the Irish citizenship sorted! It looks pretty straightforward if your DDs have a parent or Grandparent who is Irish:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/your_right_to_irish_citizenship.html

[taxi4ballet]

And - I wonder how they treat Scottish people living in England and English people living in Scotland.

[Legseleven]

This subject really bugs me. Same discrimination relating to the Dance School of Scotland. English schools and institutions would NEVER get away with blatantly preferential treatment for English students, less favourable rates for EU citizens and exorbitant fees for Scottish students. Does anyone know what the case taken to court re the same university fee discrimination was called and which court (ie how high a court) decided it?

 

The law is most definitely an ass.

[taxi4ballet]

Especially when there are no state-run schools in the rest of the UK 

[2dancersmum]

I don't think the case actually ever reached the courts as it was being brought by 2 English students at Scottish univeristies who were refused legal aid in Scotland and therefore had to drop the case as they could not afford to continue or risk losing and having to pay court costs.

 

In any case, the fees issue rests on where you are ordinarily resident (or for the previous 3 years?).  The Scottish government decided on their level of fees for their residents, as did the Welsh and the English for theirs.  I don't think it makes it any fairer or less disriminatory but there you go.

[veryskint]

The University fees subject is unfair - there is no doubt about it and it has been discussed in a number of contexts, not just dance education.  It applies to all university courses of which the degree in Modern Ballet at the RCS is just one.  If it is any consolation as a Scottish domiciled student my DS is only able to borrow a couple of hundred pounds maintenance loan from SAAS even though he spends about 45 weeks a year living in Central London.  If he had been an English domiciled student he could have borrowed approx £5,000 per annum regardless of family income.  My personal view is that a decision needs to be made by Central government so access to tertiary education is equitable regardless of where you live.

 

With regard to the Dance School of Scotland there are historical aspects to it's funding and national status.  However, my experience is that there have been and probably still are English pupils at the school - the critical point is that they live in Scotland.  Therefore, the issue is not around nationality but where the families live.

 

Edited for typos

Edited May 10, 2013 by veryskint

[Aurora]

It hardly makes us a UNITED Kingdom does it?!!

[ballet0]

The dance school of scotland is free to anyone who lives in Scotland there have been students from Australia france and other places but they are living in scotland due to their parents work . The dance school is funded by the Scottish Government also if your child lives in another part of Scotland their education budget from their authority is moved to Glasgow City Council xx

[Friends]

Can someone explain why EU students only pay £1820 tuition fees?

[Kat09]

Here we are Encouraged. . . European law dictates that EU students must be treated the same as those in Scotland.

Everyone born in Northern Ireland is eligible for a Republic of Ireland passport under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

There has been an expectation that students from elsewhere in the UK may try to win exemption from Scottish fees by acquiring dual nationality.

Having a parent, and in some cases even a grandparent, from an EU country such as France and Germany opens up that possibility.

Under new legislation that will come into effect from 2013/14, dual nationality university applicants from the rest of the UK will be required to prove that they have previously exercised their right of EU residency to qualify as an EU student.

( am checking my family tree tonight !! )

[afab]

European law dictates that EU students must be treated the same as those in Scotland.

But surely British students are EU students and should be entitled to the same as those in Scotland, shouldn't they?!

[ballet0]

The conservatoire has various types of Scholarships to help with  fees for non scottish students xx

[meadowblythe]

One of the things I liked about the Conservatoire is that the dancers are part of a wider creative environment - there are also students of opera, musical theare, drama, classical music, jazz, film and stage management.  They are all largely in the same accommodation and the flats are mixed regarding course members, unless students specify otherwise, and there are opportunities to work in a wide range of productions.  All students can get free tickets for any event on in the conservatoire as they want them to experience as wide a range of genre as possible. 

 

Meadowblythe