Our professional, triple-threat, two year musical theatre course is designed for people aged between 16 and 19. This is a foundation course which is designed to help students gain places at top musical theatre colleges for higher training such as: Emil Dale Academy, Arts Ed, Mountview, GSA, Laines, Bird and Urdang. This course is a BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Performing Arts Practice (Musical Theatre), which you can achieve up to 168 UCAS points; the equivalent of 3 A-Levels.
Application and Eligibility
Applicants must be aged 16-19 years by the start date of the course.
Entry onto the course is based on audition. Whilst we encourage strong academic qualifications, they will not prevent an applicant from being granted a place, although good written and spoken English is a requirement for all of our courses.
However, if a student has not gained a 4 or above in Maths or English Language, it will be mandatory that they re-sit these qualifications whilst training at Emil Dale Academy. EDA provides tutoring for both subjects on-site.
Applicants are then offered after a successful audition and interview.
International Students
If you are applying to Emil Dale Academy as an international student, please contact admissions@emildale.co.uk before applying.
Currently, for students applying for the BTEC course, they must have a valid British passport, and they must have lived in the UK for 3 years prior to starting the course.
To apply, please CLICK HERE. You must pay an audition fee of £37, which is non-refundable. This is a one-off fee payable upon applying and covers the cost of the workshops and panel auditions, as well as any recall auditions if required.
We ask you to complete your application as robustly as possible, including detailing any specific access requirements you may have that need to be considered to ensure you have a fair audition opportunity.
Audition process
We audition throughout the year.
There are three things to prepare. You will need to learn one monologues of your choice lasting approximately 2 minutes, and two contrasting musical theatre songs with sheet music (you must bring the sheet music with you), cut to 2 minutes also.
You will take part in one jazz class where you will be taught and asked to perform a routine, and may also be invited for an interview at the end.
In some cases, students may be recalled to a later date, with advice as to why we need to see them again. There are no additional fees for this.
We are looking for trainability. Many people come to us as a strong singer or a stronger dancer. Do not let anything hold you back!
Emil Dale Academy’s two-year course offers the following:
Weekly (Please note that a condensed timetable is run during show terms to accommodate rehearsals and shows):
Additional weekly classes may include a combination of the following:
Emil Dale Academy is both a funded and private fee paying college.
Through our partnership with the Knights Templar School, Baldock, students are able to achieve a BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Performing Arts Practice (Musical Theatre).
The Education and School Funding Agency (ESFA) fund 13 - 18 hours a week for each student aged 16-18 studying towards a BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Performing Arts Practice (Musical Theatre). Students do not need to apply separately for this funding, this is awarded automatically upon successful enrolment and registration.
EDA does also offer additional Private Sector hours which make up an additional 10 – 17 hours a week. These hours are associated with an additional £4300 inc. VAT charge per year, which is due privately to EDA.
A number of scholarships are available for private sector hours, and these will be means tested and based upon audition results.
What are private sector hours?
Private sector hours are the additional studio based hours that Emil Dale Academy offers you throughout your two year course. Private sector hours make up 10-17 hours per week of our two year course. This enables us to provide you with additional contact hours in private 1:1 weekly technique lessons, ensemble singing, guest masterclass, ballet, jazz, tap, commercial, contemporary, acting, hot yoga, personal training, cardio, acting through song, and performance class.
These vocational hours and the fee charged are not associated with the Knights Templar School. In order to complete your BTEC, it is not compulsory for any student to undertake the private sector hours.
Scholarships for Private Sector
Emil Dale are proud to offer full and part scholarships which are granted after applicants audition successfully. These are means tested and based upon audition results. We cannot guarantee scholarships to everyone and those we do give are not replenished by any other source of income, and therefore we ask for as much detail as possible when filling in a means testing form.
Everybody should have the right to train at Emil Dale Academy and we do not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or disability.
Other payments
Aside from tuition fees, there are other elements that students will need to budget for including accommodation, bills, food (if they are moving away from home) transport, books, photocopying and printing.
Additional income is often sourced by students through part-time jobs, which the Emil Dale Academy recommends. We strongly advise against loans due to extortionate interest rates and potential implications they can cause.
There are lots of other ways to save money, such as student bank accounts and discounts offered with NUS Extra cards (available to BTEC and Degree students). Full-time students living with other students (only) will also be exempt from paying Council Tax.
When you are offered a place, we will send a Kit List detailing the uniform/ kit required for EDA classes for example ballet kit, jazz uniform and so forth. We estimate the cost of this to be £250.
EDA does have a second hand uniform shop which may help reduce those costs.
At the Emil Dale Academy, we understand that student finance may seem daunting however it really is just a case of being aware of the expected costs and doing some upfront planning to make sure the required finances are in place.
Here at Emil Dale, we appreciate that this will be the first time that many students will be away from home which can be daunting – we have a Welfare Officer as well as a Head of Student Experience who can help students cope with independent living.
Students studying on the BTEC course must apply for host accommodation through EDA, unless they have a private arrangement which must be discussed with EDA first.
Landlords/ letting agents will not allow students under the age of 18 to rent a property without an adult, and as such the host accommodation is a great solution for students living away from home.
EDA has a referral scheme to local hosts, and we require them to hold a valid DBS check. We cannot guarantee a host within Hitchin – some hosts are based in Stevenage, Baldock, Stotfold, Biggleswade and other surrounding towns and villages. Travel to EDA must be factored in to your budgeting and planning.
Costs
We are driven by results! Take a look at our 2019/20 student destinations by CLICKING HERE
2024 entry now open! Please select one of the options below to apply for our BA (Hons) course with access to student finance towards fees and living costs, Sixth Form and Gap Year course.
Any problems please email admissions@emildale.co.uk
Email us at admissions@emildale.co.uk | Difficulties completing the form? Please call 01462 677 808.
The audition fee for all courses is £37 and is non-refundable. This is a one-off fee payable upon applying and covers the cost of the workshops and panel auditions, as well as any recall auditions if required.
Emil Dale Academy is dedicated to widening participation within the industry and has set up an Audition Fee Waiver Scheme to encourage applications from talented candidates who are deterred from applying by financial barriers.
Please view our Audition Fee Waiver Scheme Policy to find out if you are eligible to apply for a scheme, and to find out how to apply.
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