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Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent
performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
school based in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
in the London Borough of Hounslow.


Overview

ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in
musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
and
acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...
for
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
. The school also offers part-time and holiday courses in the performing arts. ArtsEd is one of twenty-one specialist performing arts schools approved to offer government-funded
Dance and Drama Awards 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. Established in 1998, the awards are funded and regulated by the British G ...
, a scheme established to subsidise the cost of professional dance and drama training for the most talented students at leading institutions. It is a member of the
Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate vocational drama training in the UK. It was formed in June 2017. History A formal organisation for drama training in the UK was first established with the Conference of Drama Schools (CDS) i ...
.


History


School

ArtsEd was founded in 1939. It was formed as a result of a merger between the Cone School of Dancing founded in 1919 by Grace Cone, and the Ripman School founded in 1922 by Olive Ripman. Both Cone and Ripman offered curricula combining a general academic education with training in the arts, in preparation for professional careers connected with the theatre. The two schools were amalgamated in 1939 to form the Cone-Ripman School, the predecessor of today's ArtsEd. The school was first based at Stratford Place in London, but following the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, relocated to Tring,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, sharing premises with Rothschild Bank at
Tring Park Tring Park is a public open space in Tring, owned by Dacorum Borough Council and managed by the Woodland Trust. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Half of the is undulating grassland, grazed by cattle. Part of the park ...
. In 1941, the school reopened at Stratford Place, while the second school continued to operate in Tring. In 1947, both schools were renamed the Arts Educational Schools. The London school was later based at Hyde Park Corner (144 Piccadilly), and later still at Golden Lane House in the Barbican. In 1986 the school purchased the former buildings of Chiswick Polytechnic. In the 2000s the two schools became independent of each other, and the Tring school has been renamed
Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is an independent co-educational school offering specialist courses in Dance, Commercial Music, Musical Theatre and Acting for 8–19 year olds. Originally known as the Arts Educational School, Tring Pa ...
. Today, Arts Educational Schools London is a co–educational Independent Day School and Sixth Form for pupils aged 11–18, and a professional conservatoire specialising in acting and musical theatre, as well as a range of part-time courses. For many years, the president of the school was prima ballerina assoluta
Dame Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring international ...
; Dame Beryl Grey became Director in the 1960s. Dame Alicia was succeeded in 2007 by
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
. Iain Reid was dean of the schools from 1999 until his retirement in December 2006. He was succeeded by John Baraldi, former chief executive of Riverside Studios, and former director of the East 15 Acting School; Baraldi left the school in 2009, and was succeeded by Jane Harrison. In 2017, Chris Hocking assumed the role of principal; he resigned in 2021 and was succeeded by Dr. Julie Spencer as interim principal. In 2013 ArtsEd was awarded a grant by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation to fund a refurbishment project. The money was spent on the main theatre, costume storage, the School of Film and Television and the school's access facilities.


Chiswick School of Art

The
arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
architect Maurice Bingham Adams designed the Chiswick School of Art as part of the Bedford Park Garden Suburb's community focus on the site on Bath Road in 1881. It was destroyed by a
V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
in 1944. The school was meant to provide the estate with a feeling of community. It taught classes such as "Freehand drawing in all its branches, practical Geometry and perspective, pottery and tile painting, design for decorative purposes – as in Wall-papers, Furniture, Metalwork, Stained Glass". The school was depicted by Thomas Erat Harrison in an 1882 book ''Bedford Park'', celebrating the then-fashionable garden suburb. File:Chiswick School of Art, Bath Road, 1881.jpg, Design for Chiswick School of Art by Maurice Bingham Adams, 1881 File:School of Art, Stores and Tabard Inn by Thomas Erat Harrison 1882.jpg, ''School of Art, Stores and
Tabard Inn Tabard Inn may refer to: * The Tabard, Chiswick, London * The Tabard The Tabard was an inn in Southwark established in 1307 that stood on the east side of Borough High Street, at the road's intersection with the ancient thoroughfare to Canterbu ...
'' by Thomas Erat Harrison, 1882


Academics


Day School and Sixth Form

The Day School and Sixth Form cater to students aged 11 to 18. Students are required to study mainstream subjects, in preparation for the
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
and
A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
s, alongside their performing arts pursuits. Besides the A-Levels pathway, Sixth Form students have an option to complete a
BTEC Extended Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within the ...
in a performing arts discipline. In 2015 the school was rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted. In 2019 it ranked second in the borough for percentage of pupils passing five or more GCSEs at A*-C.


Tertiary

The school had been accredited by
Drama UK Drama UK was an advocate for vocational drama training in the UK, as well as providing accreditation for vocational drama courses, from 2012 to 2016. History Drama UK was formed on 31 July 2012, by the merger of the two main organizations in the ...
(organisation dissolved in 2016). It offers Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education recognised qualifications validated by the City University London or
Trinity College, London Trinity College London (TCL) is an examination board based in London, United Kingdom, which offers graded and diploma qualifications (up to postgraduate level) across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and English language learning and ...
. A non-degree foundation course is offered for students who do not meet the academic requirements for admission into the bachelor's degree programmes.


Former pupils

*
Kai Alexander Kai Alexander (born 7 June 1997) is a British actor known for playing Jeffrey in ''Catastrophe,'' Richard Branson in Danny Boyle's ''Pistol'' and Dante Gunnarsson in Netflix's '' The Stranger.'' He most recently joined the cast of upcoming Ap ...
( ''The Stranger'', ''Catastrophe'') *
Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
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The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
,
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)'' * Simone Ashley (''
Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
'', '' Bridgerton'') * Samantha Barks ''(Les Misérables on stage and screen)'' * Darcey Bussell ''(Former Principal with the Royal Ballet,
Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
judge)'' * Gary Carr ''( Death in Paradise, Downton Abbey, The Deuce,
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)'' * Adam Cooper ''(Former Principal with the Royal Ballet and Matthew Bourne's New Adventures)'' * Martin Clunes ''(
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, Men Behaving Badly)'' *
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( ''It's a Sin'') *
Laura Haddock Laura Jane Haddock (born 21 August 1985) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Zoë Walker in ''White Lines (TV series), White Lines'', Kacie Carter in ''Honest (TV series), Honest'', Lucrezia in ''Da Vinci's Demons'', Meredith Quil ...
''(
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,
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)'' *
Nigel Harman Nigel Derek Harman (born 11 August 1973) is an English actor, best known for his role as Dennis Rickman in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has worked mostly in theatre. He starred in the final series of '' Hotel Babylon ...
''(
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
, Shrek The Musical)'' *
Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...
''( Chariots of Fire,
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...
)'' * Finn Jones ''(
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, Marvel's Iron Fist)'' * Bonnie Langford ''(
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, Spamalot,
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)'' *
Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...
''( The Wicked Lady,
The Lady Vanishes ''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel Lina ...
)'' *
Lashana Lynch Lashana Lynch (born 27 November 1987) is a British actress. She is best known for playing the role of Rosaline Capulet in the ABC period drama series '' Still Star-Crossed'' (2017), Maria Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films '' C ...
''(
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, No Time to Die)'' *
Madeleine Mantock Madeleine Mantock (born 26 May 1990) is a British actress. She is known for her main role television work on the series '' Into the Badlands'' and a remake of the series ''The Tomorrow People''. She played in a main role as Macy Vaughn from the ...
( ''Charmed'', ''Into the Badlands'') * Megan McKenna ('' Ex on the Beach'', '' The Only Way Is Essex'') *
Tuppence Middleton Tuppence Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is an English actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the ''London Evening Standard'' Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Middleton appea ...
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Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
, War and Peace)'' *
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('' Emmerdale'') *
Hugo Speer Hugo Alexander Speer (born 17 March 1968) is an English actor and director. Early life and education Hugo Speer was born in Harrogate in the then West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at Harrogate Grammar School. He studied acting at the Arts E ...
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The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...
,
The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action drama programme based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...
)'' * Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp *
Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both in ...
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The Hit Man and Her ''The Hitman and Her'' is a British television dance music programme hosted by Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan. The programme was produced for Granada Television and ran from September 1988 until December 1992 on ITV's Night Network. The sh ...
)'' *
Oliver Tompsett Oliver Tompsett (born 25 August 1981) is a British actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Fiyero in the West End production of the musical ''Wicked'', and for playing the role of Galileo in the West End Smash hit ''We Will Roc ...
''(
Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...
, We Will Rock You)'' * Sally Anne Triplett ''( Mamma Mia!,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
)'' *
Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...
''( Pop Idol Winner)'' * Yungblud


See also

*
List of schools in Hounslow This is a list of schools in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. State-funded schools Primary schools *Alexandra Primary School *Beavers Community Primary School *Bedfont Primary School *Belmont Primary School *Berkeley Academy *The Blue ...


References


External links

*
Profile
on the
Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Arts Educational The Arts Educational Schools 1939 establishments in England Arts organizations established in 1939 Buildings and structures in Chiswick Chiswick Dance schools in the United Kingdom Drama schools in London Educational institutions established in 1939 Independent co-educational schools in London Independent schools in the London Borough of Hounslow Member schools of the Independent Schools Association (UK)