The Stage

Drama schools in mutiny over proposed student selection timescale

Published Tuesday 5 June 2007 at 13:25 by Alistair Smith

Drama schools are warning that government proposals for changes to the way students are chosen by universities could have a “major, damaging impact” on performing arts training institutions.

The method in which applicants are selected to enter further education is currently being reconsidered, with proposals that a new ‘gathered fields’ principal is introduced, whereby universities - including drama schools working through UCAS - would only be able to make offers to students over a specific and reduced time period.

In the university sector as a whole, it is thought that this will provide an improved system whereby students who apply early will not receive an unfair advantage in securing places at training institutions. However, it is feared that, if implemented for drama schools, it could place the organisations “under intolerable pressure” and lead to huge difficulties for teachers who would be forced to audition hundreds of prospective pupils over a severely reduced period of time.

Conference of Drama Schools chair Alastair Pearce explained: “The problem drama schools have - and this is also the case for the music conservatoires - is that we must audition the vast majority of candidates. A-Level results and other paper qualifications just can’t give us a sufficiently accurate assessment of applicants’ attainment and potential. With hundreds of students to be seen, the audition season goes on for several months if all are to get a fair hearing. If we were to compress this careful process into a few weeks, injustice would be done to applicants.”

CDS has recently responded to a consultation paper on the proposals and warned that it would need a five to six month period in which it can audtion prospective trainees. As part of the consultation, six suggested time periods have been put forward, with some allowing as little as 16 days for auditions to take place. According to the CDS, only one of the proposed options - that the deadline for applications would remain on January 15 and decisions could be announced from then until June - would be viable for the drama sector.