Central School of Ballet

[Tulip]

Is there anyone out there with children starting Central in September. If there are, what accomodation have you all looked at, as it would be great if the new children or young adults could live close by to each other.

[Seagazer]

Hi tulip, when i was at central we somehow managed to choose the hostel that no one else did! I ended up sharing a dorm with 10 other girls ( 9 from Stella Mann , 1 from London studio centre),about half a dozen of my classmates were all in another hostel. 30 years ago now, so little point giving you my recommendations!!

My expupils who went off to vocational schools last year found flatmates/ roomies on their schools fb site. Good luck with finding the right place for your beautiful dd .

[veryskint]

As mentioned on the post 16 thread I have reserved a room for my DS at Hyelm in September. However, my DS is not keen as he feels it is still too far to travel each day and also in reality not many Central students actually live there (although maybe there will be more this year due to the Barbican YMCA closing). From what I understand there are a number of students who live in shared flats that although do not belong to Central are continuously rented by Central students i.e. as a final year student moves on another Central student takes over their place in the flat. Similar to Lottie, my DS is too busy and too tired to arrange his own accommodation. I have wanted to leave it to him as we live too far away to view any possibilities. However, perhaps it is time to start looking into it.

[aileen]

I feel that these vocational schools should have their own halls of residence. They are taking students as young as 16 and the days at vocational school are long and often seem to involve evening classes. Most university students, who are of course at least 18 years old, live in halls at least for the first year. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate it is unlikely that any school is going to be able to invest in its own accommodation.

[Lottie]

With the YMCA Barbican closing in September this has left very few options available in the immediate area. Several vocational schools in the area, not just Central, have used the Y for years. It's been a very useful place to stay but now we have to look elsewhere. (and teach DS how to cook!)

[glowlight]

Is there any Unite student accommodation in the area?

 

Many of the students at Northern Ballet School in Manchester live in Unite accommodation and they do not seem to have a problem with their tenants being under 18 (they expect the parents to underwrite the contract but I think that's common for student accommodation)

 

http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation-london

[Lottie]

As Unite have now been mentioned, that is where we've booked a room for DS. You have to ring each place and speak to them directly to ask if they take under 18's. East Central House is 15 mins walk from Central. They were very helpful when we went to look round at the end of term. DS didn't have the time to go into estate agents etc to ask about flats.

We wanted something booked as we only had a choice of Unite or Urbanest for an under 18 year old and will get quite full soon, I think, plus peace of mind that he has somewhere for September.

More info on Central on 'Post 16' thread.

[Tulip]

Lottie I have just had a look at this one and it looks really nice, but is it £225 per week?

[Lottie]

Afraid so.

Hopefully next year DS will have his act together and get a flat that someone from Central is moving out of. We did suggest it to him but didn't do anything about it!

The ones opposite Central start at £200.

Urbanest are from £218, £239 upwards. Just looked at their website and there is now a waiting list for the cheaper rooms both at Hoxton and Tower Bridge.

Unite at East Central House is as you've seen from £225.

Ridiculous but what else can you do? We just tell him that he's spending his inheritance now.

 

At ENBS, Elmhurst and Tring, even with a Dada, aren't there accommodation fees to pay? If so how much? (ENBS would be hostels/landlord flats similar to Central)

[Tulip]

Wow Hyelm works out massively cheaper, rent is £90 - £146 per week, that includes breakfast and evening meal and at weekends a lunch. I just hope a lot of the new students for September decide to go to this one so that they can all travel in together. Thankyou again Lottie for this valuable information.

[Lottie]

We applied to Hyelm after Christmas but because we said that he already lived in London did not meet their criteria.

[JulieW]

At ENBS, Elmhurst and Tring, even with a Dada, aren't there accommodation fees to pay? If so how much? (ENBS would be hostels/landlord flats similar to Central)

 

At Elmhurst you do pay a certain amount for the "boarding" aspect of the school in the first year - comes to about £6,000 a year (this was a couple of years ago - might be different now and very rough figures - I think I've erased it from my memory!). Plus your tuition fees after the DaDA of around £1,275 (?). The £6,000+ pays for accommodation in Lyndhurst (their boarding house) where all the 6.1s live with a couple of members of staff on-site, plus their food (some at Lyndhurst, but most at the school). In 6.2 and 6.3 the students move into privately rented accommodation - usually "inheriting" flats or houses from old students. We pay about £330 a month each for the 3 boys who share a very spacious flat next door to the school (that covers rent and bills).

 

This featured heavily in our decision for him to stay at Elmhurst rather than go to ENBS or Central - although he wanted to stay put anyway I feel for those of you having to pay for accommodation in London.

 

Do the students get student loans for tuition and accommodation though because of the way the course is funded - I know it doesn't cover all of it though and it has to be paid back eventually

[KathyG]

I too have wiped the cost of Lyndhurst from my mind as it cost us a lot more than what we were paying under MDS. I can remember thinking that the first year cost us about 9,000 in total including Dada, bupa and extras. When in 6th form once in your inherited house you also still have to pay the school about 300/400 a term for food which is compulsory as all 6th formers can still get all meals even at weekends at the school. We're paying about the same as Julie but we're in a 3 bed house just across the road from the school. There's also no council tax as they are students.

 

Like Julie this was one of the reasons we chose Elmhurst and DS was also concerned about the amount of debt he would be in at the end of the course.

 

The costs of studying at Central like any other London uni are very scary and even with the loans parents will still have to pay quite a lot as the loans won't cover it all,

[rowan]

I have to say I'm shocked at these prices. The situation can't be any different for ENBS or Rambert or any of the other London dance places. What about host families? Could that be an alternative?

[veryskint]

My DS started at Rambert last September. His accommodation was arranged through McKenna Homestay. I can't remember how many weeks in the year you pay for but it is most of the year apart from a break in the summer. It works out approx £135 per week which includes breakfast and evening meal. The amount is paid in three installments - Aug, Nov and Mar. It has been very good value for money and my DS has been very happy with his host family. It will be a sad day when he has to leave to move into accommodation in the centre of London.

 

There are cheaper alternatives in the centre of London. However, unfortunately if your DD or DS values their privacy and would prefer to have an en-suite then the price starts to escalate. Fortunately for us our DS has already spent four years living in basic shared accommodation with other dance students before moving to London so hopefully will not be too fussy when he is looking for accommodation next year.

Edited April 10, 2012 by veryskint

[Lottie]

JulieW. At Central, as it's a degree course you have Tuition fees and a Maintenance loan both of which has to be paid back and then a Maintenance grant which is non repayable (depending on your household income).

 

Rowan. Some do live with host families. (I remember at Rambert they said that most of their students do live with host families.) Living quite far from London it's having the time to find out and meet them etc. We had to consider the daily travelling in/out, the cost and the time taken to do that. DS wants to be in before 8am and in year 2 they don't finish until 7pm some nights so have decided to choose a closer option. DS originally was looking for a house/flat with several others but some didn't want to be so far out and not many/any available.

[veryskint]

With regard to funding as Lottie has indicated degree courses at schools such Central and Rambert are funded like any university degree. However, what was news to us last year is that if your household income is above a certain threshold you cannot apply for the maintenance loan (even though it would eventually have to be repaid - probably naive of us to think we could). However, all students regardless of household income can apply for the loan for tuition fees. My advice to new students and their parents is to apply quickly as we had to wait several weeks after the start of term for the fees to come through as there had been several errors along the way.

 

Having a dance student is a very expensive, although occasionally rewarding investment (hopefully)

[Living the Dream]

I have to say I'm shocked at these prices. The situation can't be any different for ENBS or Rambert or any of the other London dance places. What about host families? Could that be an alternative?

I have located a recommended hostel in Central London for ENBS at £6,800 per annum (which is for the 3 school terms), this includes breakfast and evening meal and also lunch on weekends, then on top of that is the DADA parental contribution of £1,275. Travel on buses in London is free of charge for students.

 

I was told by the Finance Director at Elmhurst that they currently invoice DADA Upper School students £3,000 per term (£9,000 per annum).

 

It's very expensive, even with a DADA at these schools but hopefully worthwhile in the end.

LTD

[2dancersmum]

Just a reminder that the rules for student loans and maintenance loans for students have changed from last year. Those on a degree course at Central and Rambert can get the £9000 loan for tuition fees and the maintenance loan. The maintenance grant is income assessed but the all students are now eligible for 65% of the maintenance loan with the remaining 35% being assessed on household income. The full maintenance loan for students living in London is £7675. It may seem like a lot of debt for the student but dancers will be in common with all those going to university. In addition, repayments are only made once the dancers income is above £21,000 and payments stop if income falls below this. Monthly repayment is about £25 a month at this level and since it is taken at source will not really be missed. The reality of girls earning above the threshold continuously, whatever the profession, is that for most girls the debt is likely to be written off. Dancers at the other ballet schools, who do not have student loans have to pay the full housing costs upfront (or their parents do). Housing benefit used to be possibilty if the parent was still able to claim child benefit for that child but I'm not sure with all the latest benefit changes if that still applies.

[veryskint]

Very useful information, thankyou

[Janice]

2dancersmum- thank you for that info my dd has central at the top of her list for next year and I was beginning to think that even with the loan etc it would not be possible for her. You have made me feel better. I know about leaving with a big debt but I was not to worried about that as you said it is unlikely that she will pay all of it back if any.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Jeez,How the times change. ! I remember the name Hyelm. When i was at Vocational School I stayed at St. Dorothy`s in Hampstead,back in 1984.The house was the former residence of President Charles De Gaulle. The rent for bed, breakfast and evening meal, was £40 a week. !!! Plus, living in Hampstead was fantastic. Sting lived over the road from us. We sometimes used to hang out of the window and wave hello to him. ! Michael Williams and his wife, Judi Dench were just around the corner, as was Boy George, and lots of other famous people. It was like living on Millionaire`s Row,but with dead cheap accommodation.!!

[veryskint]

With regard to posts 17 and 19 above, unfortunately if your DS or DD is a 'Scottish domiciled student' even though they live during term time in London you can still apply for a maintenance loan but it has a much lower minimum than the one outlined above. The amount that is not assessed against household income is only £940 per annum. I telephoned the Scottish Awards Agency who are aware of the discrepancy with English students but unfortunately those are the rules set by the Scottish Government

Edited April 11, 2012 by veryskint

[Shimmer]

A friend of mine lives at a hostel in Victoria called Holland House and there are a large number of Central students living there too. It's very basic and a lot of the rooms are for two or three people sharing but it includes meals and is not too expensive. When I moved to London last year I found a flat through www.spareroom.co.uk and was fortunate enough to end up sharing with a 40-something trader who was absolutely lovely and looked after me. Unfortunately London is a very expensive place to live!

[Anna C]

Welcome to the forum, Shimmer! :-))

[taximom]

I think a number of people will breath a huge sigh of relief at the Barbican Y closing!! A number of outbreaks of bedbugs ugh!!! London is hugely expensive and generally students have to balance more expensive accommodation and within walking distance of school against more modest accommodation but the consequent transport costs. Few students will have en suite unless they can afford the likes of Unite accommodation which is often 50 week contracts at £9000+. My DD lives within 15 minutes walk of her school in fairly central London and manages on a full Uni grant with no contribution from us. It is possible to budget carefully and do this and it is important, whatever age your student it and whatever accommodation you end up with, that they understand how to budget!! I would also suggest that the student loan goes into one account and is then split between accommodation and bills, putting bills, for example, into another bank account. My DD had her account hacked into through the banks website and all her grant, her dance bursary and a scholarship stolen. It took the bank 6 weeks to pay her anything back!!!!

[Tulip]

Thankyou everyone for contibuting information, this thread has been invaluable.

[BankruptMum]

A huge amount of valuable information, thankyou everyone.

[tomuchtallent]

I think it must be luck! my mum lives in Birmingham and my dad lives in Central London and more family near Tring!So if my dd wants and of course if she gets gets in when she is older we wont have the problem of accomodation.

[Interested Parent]

Does your family take paying guests? They could be making a small fortune!! ;-))

[Tulip]

A friend of ours went to see Hyelm and said that it was dirty. We may have somewhere else up our sleeve. It is a little more expensive, but worth it.

[Janabiyah-Jane]

I know friends of my daughters have been looking at flats due to the Barbican closing (currently in their first year). They seem to be looking at flats for about £100 each per week (3-4 sharing a 2 bed)... Obviously you have to pay for the full year so that is £5200 a year just for the accomodation, but I guess that isn't bad for central London, the difficulty is getting landlords to allow under 18's, they would have to accept the parent as a guarantor.

[daisybell]

My dd was at Central but is now at Elmhurst so I've had experience of London and Birmingham accomodation. While she was at Central she stayed at the Barbican (2 years ago) and we had the nightmare of bed bugs in 2 rooms! It was so bad she had to move back home and travel into London every day till we could find a flat, 2 hour journey each way! Must add though that although others had the same problem some have never had to deal with the delights of bed bugs!! Perhaps we were just very unlucky. Anyway this led to her moving out asap into a flat even though she was only just 17, I was very worried about her living in a flat at such a young age. We had no problems finding a flat for an under 18 and just acted as her guarantor. The cost was around £500 a month as she shared with another student, bills and food on top of that too.

 

Just a thought but we did look at Chester House as well, it was so clean and I believe the food is pretty good too. It isn't cheap and it is a bit of a trek to Central but a friends daughter has lived there for 3 years and is very happy.