The Dance and Drama Awards are a scholarship scheme which subsidises professional vocational training at some of the leading performing arts schools in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Established in 1998, the awards are funded and regulated by the British Government through the

Learning and Skills Council The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Marc ...

and are awarded to selected students at 21 specialist performing arts institutions.

Overview

Dance and Drama Awards are offered to selected students, who are commencing training at the 21 specialist vocational schools chosen for the scheme. Through a process of auditions, the awarding school will identify the most talented students and allocate awards appropriately. The award pays a substantial contribution towards the cost of attending the relevant course and in many cases, also includes a means tested maintenance grant.

Courses

The vocational courses for which the awards are given are specially devised by Trinity College, London and, upon completion, provide a professional level qualification at either Level 5 or Level 6 on the National Qualifications Framework. Completion of one of these courses gives formal accreditation of the skills, knowledge and understanding that are acquired in training for employment as a professional actor, dancer, performing artist or in production roles supporting performance. Despite the fact that despite the courses being offered as post-16 further education, the qualifications are actually rated at graduate level. Courses which are eligible for funding: National Qualifications Framework – Level 5 *National Certificate in Professional Acting *National Certificate in Professional Classical Ballet National Qualifications Framework – Level 6 *National Diploma in Professional Acting *National Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre *National Diploma in Professional Dance *National Diploma in Professional Production Skills

Schools

All the schools which participate in the Dance & Drama Awards scheme are validated by Trinity College and are inspected for educational standards by OFSTED. They are some of the top performing arts training establishments in the UK. Schools validated to provide the qualifications are: *

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

* ArtsEd, London * Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Tring Park * Bird College of Dance, Music & Theatre Performance *Cambridge Performing Arts at Bodywork *

Drama Studio London Drama Studio London (DSL) is a British drama school in London. It is accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools. The Drama Studio London was founded in 1966 by actor and director Peter Layton, focusses on developing individual talent nurture ...

*Elmhurst Ballet School *

English National Ballet School English National Ballet School is a specialist classical ballet school based in London in the United Kingdom. The School was founded in 1988 by Peter Schaufuss as the official school of English National Ballet. The School's current Artistic D ...

* GSA Conservatoire *

The Hammond School The Hammond is a specialist performing arts offering training and education to students across school, college and degree courses. History In 1917, Irene Hammond, a dance teacher and performer from Cheltenham, moved to Chester where she began ...

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

Laine Theatre Arts Laine Theatre Arts, sometimes referred to as Laines, is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974 by former professional dancer and dance teacher Betty Laine OBE, and ...

*Liverpool Theatre School and College *Millennium Dance 2000 *

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

*Northern Ballet School *

Oxford School of Drama The Oxford School of Drama is a drama school in the United Kingdom. It is based at Wootton, ten miles north of Oxford. The school is an independent, vocational drama school which runs a three-year acting course and a one-year acting course, bot ...

* Performers College * SLP College Leeds * Stella Mann College *

Urdang Academy Urdang, previously known as The Urdang Academy, is a performing arts academy based in Islington, London. Founded as a ballet school by Leonie Urdang in 1970 and had been under the direction of CEO Solange Urdang from 2001 until August 2022, the ...

Eligibility

There are no prerequisites for receiving a Dance and Drama Award. They are awarded based solely on talent and ability, therefore they are not subject to means testing of the student's financial status. The only restriction on who is eligible to receive an award is that recipients must be between the ages of 16 and 23 and must have been resident in the United Kingdom or the European Union for a minimum of 3 years prior to the commencement of the course.

Notable recipients

Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp ...

, winner of

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

talent show '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' *

Dominic Burgess Dominic Burgess (born 29 July 1982) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in several television adverts and series such as '' Raising Hope'', ''Doctor Who'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', and '' Feud: Bette and Joan''. E ...

, stage and television actor * Ryan J. Brown, actor and screenwriter

References

{{Reflist Education finance in the United Kingdom Performing arts education in the United Kingdom British awards Dance awards British drama 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1998