Drama schools for MT

Hello,
My daughter is finalizing her UCAS application for musical theatre courses but is struggling to narrow down her choices to only five. Is anyone able to give some insight into them, how good they are, whether they are really difficult to get into, etc? Are there any we have overlooked? Thank you for any help!
She is looking at
Italia Conti
PPA
The Hammond
Wilkes
Urdang
Performers College
The Brighton Academy
MPAA (direct application)
Emil Dale (direct application)

Italia Conti and Urdang are the only trustworthy ones in your list. Be aware that there are numerous dodgy 'theatre' colleges out there with no reputation/history and that are out to just fleece the unsuspecting. Add Trinity Laban, Mountview and Guildford School of Acting to those two and that would be 5 sensible choices of colleges that are not just going to close-down overnight

My dd has just started her degree (well….still mid freshers so almost lol). She got BA offers from Italia Conti, Wilkes, Performers, SI before it closed and a foundation offer from Emil Dale. Narrowing down where to apply was tricky but I’d say visit them for open days if you can, I knew pretty quickly where I could see her and she felt the same. She ended up torn between Wilkes and Performers (loved Emil dale but wasn’t willing to do foundation with other degree offers that she liked). She’s now settled at Performers and from audition day, their communication etc has been fab. They were the only school (that my dd auditioned for) that allowed parents in for a quick tour. They also did an offer holders day and were really helpful with accommodation. Wilkes were also great with accommodation help but it was taking a bit too long as she didn’t get into the Bell and by the time they offered her a room, she had done the offer holders day and settled on Performers.

I have heard good things about Wilkes & have come across several of their graduates working.
Hammond used to be brilliant, but there was a change of management and my daughter, who was part way through her course at the time found it impacted her. Her final year was horrendous.
Performers again used to have a great reputation and their graduates can be found all across the west End and beyond. However, since being bought by BIMM they have become too big and less selective.
I have no recent first hand experience of Italia Conti. They dropped off the radar for a while but are now firmly back again.
Have you considered Leeds Conservatoire. Very up and coming and their graduates are getting work.
GSA is another to consider, it's one of the very best but incredibly difficult to get into.

My daughter started at MPAA two weeks ago, absolutely loves it and so far very impressed with the teaching, classes and family atmosphere there.

Hi @Renegade_x
It's such a hard decision to make, narrowing down your short list to 5. I don't have any personal experience of the theatre schools, but as a piece of general advice, have you visited the institutions' open days or had a visit to the campuses and departments? Going to an open day can really help narrow down your selection as it will give your daughter an insight into the universities and sometimes the one that on paper she doesn't really think is 'the one' turns out to be perfect. At an Open Day, not only do you have the chance to meet all the academic teaching staff, but also the support staff. You will be able to look around the university, meet and speak to current students, have guided tours of the accommodation etc, often led by students who have current experience of living there and studying there. Importantly, your daughter will be able to gain a feel for the place, see if she finds it a nice place to be and somewhere that she feels comfortable at and thinks she would be happy to study there and spend the next part of her academic journey at. This can be more important than league tables etc. If she's not happy there and doesn't feel at home, she won't be able to perform her best.
I hope this helps a bit, feel free to ask anything else! And the best of luck in narrowing down the choices, and her future studies,
Jess
PhD English
University of Chester

Thank you for your help and insight! Can I ask why your daughter didnt choose Italia Conti? Best of luck to her for her course ⭐️

This is great to know! Daughter has submitted her direct application and waiting to hear about an audition...

This advice is very kind and no doubt well-intended, but given by someone who perhaps doesn't appreciate how drama school entry works. By all means go to Open Days to see what the facilities are like and meet staff and students, but ultimately you may not get much choice, as young people applying for MT and Acting courses vastly outnumber the places available. You might get no offers at all, or just one! I would say the best strategy is to apply for mix of 'dream' schools and slightly less prestigious ones. I would say the top 3 (and hardest to get into) are Arts Ed, GSA and Mountview. If you are discounting MV and Arts Ed because of cost, next look at Urdang, Italia Conti, Emil Dale, Royal Welsh, Central, Laban, Bird and maybe PPA and Leeds Conservatoire. I think Wilkes are starting to do very well for dancers, and Performers, although now massive, do still get some graduates who do well. I do understand McGinger's point that there are now too many colleges offering MT and realistically a lot of these grads will not be performing professionally in the most prestigious shows, but every school had to start somewhere. 10 years ago people would not have rated EDA for a degree course, but now it is doing very well. And many young people use the degree as a springboard to teaching, choreography, cruise ships, commercial dance and holiday park work - many are under no illusion that they will not be the lead at Drury Lane.
Is your young person more of a dancer/singer, or an actor singer? If singing is not the forte, go for Performers or Wilkes etc. Bird and Urdang are working hard to become more 'triple threat'. If they are an actor-singer, try GSA, Royal Welsh, Central, Laban? Check things like contact hours, agent showcases etc. Look at the last couple of years of grads on the website. How many get agents? Are they good agents? What sort of work are their alumni getting?

Hello,
My daughter is finalizing her UCAS application for musical theatre courses but is struggling to narrow down her choices to only five. Is anyone able to give some insight into them, how good they are, whether they are really difficult to get into, etc? Are there any we have overlooked? Thank you for any help!
She is looking at
Italia Conti
PPA
The Hammond
Wilkes
Urdang
Performers College
The Brighton Academy
MPAA (direct application)
Emil Dale (direct application)