The Stage

Central is first drama school to join University of London

Published Tuesday 12 July 2005 at 15:10 by Jeremy Austin

Central School of Speech and Drama is the first specialist drama institute to be admitted as a college of the University of London, following the granting of formal approval by the governing council.

The organisation, based in north London, will join other world-class specialist arts colleges, including the Royal Academy of Music, Goldsmiths, the Courtauld Institute of Art, and the Slade School of Fine Art as colleges of the organisation. The University of London has a federal set-up, which means the colleges are among 20 self-governing bodies that are affiliated to the learning centre.

Announcing the change, Central principal Gary Crossley said: “We see this move as another step change for our discipline. It has always struck me that the study and practice of drama has tended to reside in the hinterland of higher education - a sort of Cinderella subject located somewhere in the back woods, whose purpose only is to train for an industry that is notoriously capricious.

“Historically, CSSD has devoted itself to countering such preconceptions. I believe that history will show that the Central School has been at the forefront of this change, and now, in the company of others in the University of London, will be able to capitalise further on the advance of drama as a discipline right at the heart of the creative arts in the UK.”

Central, which trained Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave and Harold Pinter, began awarding degrees in 1986 and became a Higher Education Institute in 1989. In 2004 it won the right to award its own taught degrees and in 2005 was designated as a Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

University of London vice-chancellor Graeme Davies said: “The admission of the Central School as a college of the university is a significant step forward. The CSSD brings to the federation nationally and internationally recognised excellence which very substantially enhances the available expertise in the university in theatre and related subjects.”