Access to specialist music and dance schools

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

On 16 October 2025, the House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate:

Lord Blackwell (Conservative) to ask His Majesty’s Government whether they are committed to maintaining affordable access to specialist music and dance schools for talented children of all social backgrounds.

1. What help is currently available?

The government provides funding for students who wish to study in specialist music or dance schools through several routes. Funding is also available directly from schools, colleges and universities, as well as some charities.

1.1 Music and dance scheme

The ‘Music and dance scheme’ (MDS) is a government-funded scheme to provide support for talented musicians and dancers.^[1] The scheme provides grants and help with fees at eight schools and 20 centres for advanced training (CATS). A list of these schools and CATS is available on the government’s website.^[2] Classes at CATS take place in the evenings and weekends to allow for students to also participate in mainstream education and live at home.^[3]

To apply through the scheme, students must be aged eight to 19 for music schools or CATS or 11 to 19 for dance schools or CATS.^[4] Students who meet these age requirements can apply for help to pay for full time study at a school or part time study at a CAT. They would need to apply directly to the school or CAT, which would usually require filling out paperwork and auditioning. The school or CAT would then ask for information about household income to decide how much funding a child would receive.

In the 2024–25 academic year 2,074 students received a MDS bursary.^[5]

1.2 Choir schools scholarship scheme

The MDS also funds the choir schools scholarship scheme which provides financial help with sending a child aged eight to 13 to an independent cathedral or collegiate choir school.^[6] The government advises contacting the Choir Schools’ Association directly to apply. The association says its vision is that every prospective chorister who is offered a place in one of its members’ choirs is able to accept it “regardless of financial circumstances”.^[7] A bursary information sheet provides further information on the application process, including relevant deadlines.^[8]

1.3 Dance and drama awards

A government-funded ‘Dance and drama award’ (DaDA) can help students with fees and living costs at 15 private dance and drama schools.^[9] To receive an award, students must be aged 16 to 23, show talent and display a likelihood to succeed in the industry. They must also be studying a Trinity College London level 5 or 6 diploma in dance, acting or musical theatre.^[10]

Students should apply directly to the school they wish to go to and tell them they want to apply for a DaDA.^[11] The amount a student receives is dependent on their household income and where they live and study. Department for Education guidance provides information about the funding rules for the awards for the 2025–26 academic year.^[12]

1.4 Other government funding

Depending on the course they are studying, a student may be able to access the standard undergraduate finance package offered in the part of the UK they plan to study in.^[13] Students doing a master’s level course may also be eligible for postgraduate loans, which can assist with course fees and living costs.^[14]

In addition, students could be eligible for advanced learner loans in England if they are over the age of 19 and studying an eligible level 3, 4, 5 or 6 qualification at an approved college or training provider.^[15]

1.5 Funding from schools, colleges and universities

Most performing arts schools and colleges, as well as universities providing such courses, offer scholarships. Such scholarships may be offered in recognition of a student’s talent or to widen access to underrepresented or disadvantaged students.

This type of support will usually be advertised on the provider’s website. For example, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts website states that it currently provides scholarship support to 28% of students and sets out further information on what support is available and how to apply for it.^[16] The Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s website similarly provides information on the six main strands of financial assistance it provides to students.^[17]

1.6 Charitable funding

Some charities, trusts and other organisations offer scholarships or funding to students if certain eligibility requirements are met. For example:

• The National Youth Arts Trust offers bursaries of up to £1,000 for young people aged 12 to 25 who cannot afford to access opportunities in the arts.^[18]
• The Wayne Sleep Foundation provides financial support to students who have acquired a place at an established arts institution.^[19]
• The Dewar Arts Awards supports students in Scotland under 30 with demonstrable outstanding ability and limited financial means.^[20]
• The Society for Theatre Research gives grants for research related to British theatre and performing arts.^[21]

Other funding opportunities are available for specific subjects. For example, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and the Lilian Baylis Awards focus on drama students, while the Women’s Career Foundation (Girls of the Realm Guild) and S D Whitehead’s Charitable Trust are for dance and music students.^[22] In addition, a number of opportunities for music students have been collated by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Help Musicians charity and the Independent Society of Musicians.^[23]

Some opportunities are also available for students who wish to study abroad. For example, the Royal Philharmonic Society Isserlis Scholarship for studying abroad and the Lisa Ullman travelling scholarship fund.^[24]

2. Government policy

2.1 Future of government funded support schemes

The government has funded both the ‘Music and dance scheme’ (MDS) and the ‘Dance and drama awards scheme’ (DaDA) for the current academic year (2025–26). However, it has not made an announcement about the longer-term funding of these schemes.

In response to an oral question in the House of Lords in June 2025, the government said it was committed to continuing to fund the MDS, including the centres for advanced training (CATS), for the 2025–26 academic year at a cost of £36mn.^[25] This followed concerns the MDS may be defunded, after the government “unexpectedly cut support grants” issued through the scheme in December 2024.^[26]

Looking forward, the government said it would consider future funding for the MDS “in due course”.^[27] The funding decisions also apply to the ‘Choir schools scholarship scheme’, as it is funded as part of the MDS.^[28]

In addition, the government explained that it had adjusted the MDS bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT introduction on private school fees for the 2024–25 academic year.^[29] It said that this methodology would be reviewed, and details set out in due course.

In March 2025, the government was asked a written parliamentary question about the DaDA scheme tendering process for the 2026–27 academic year onwards.^[30] The government said that it hoped to announce the tendering arrangements for 2026–27 “soon”. It also said that funding for beyond the 2026–27 academic year would be subject to the forthcoming spending review.

2.2 Other government action

In its 2024 general election manifesto the Labour Party said that “the arts and music will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few”.^[31] It said it would implement its creative industries sector plan as part of an industrial strategy.

The government published its plan in June 2025. Within the plan, the government said it would “tilt government support towards the creative industries, and significantly increase direct funding for the sector”.^[32]

The plan made no specific mention of specialist music or dance schools.^[33] However, it did focus on providing a creative education. For example, it highlighted the planned launch of a new national centre for arts and music education in England in September 2026. An earlier government press release said this new centre would support the delivery of high-quality arts education through a new online training offer for teachers.^[34] The government argued this would promote “opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school”, including through the government’s network of music hubs.

3. Concerns about funding

Industry stakeholders have raised concerns about the future funding of specialist dance and music schools. For example, in August 2025 principals of two of England’s leading dance schools called on the government to fund specialist institutions such as theirs “properly”.^[35] Speaking to the Stage newspaper, Sharon Watson from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and Mark Osterfield from the Central School of Ballet raised concerns about future funding arrangements, noting that current funding deals were due to expire. They also highlighted an expected Office for Students consultation on the future of funding for small, specialist higher education institutions, expressing fears that they would be “overlooked”. The pair also argued that as an art form dance had been “increasingly marginalised”. Ms Watson said it had been omitted in recent conversations with the government and Mr Osterfield highlighted that it had not featured in the government’s recent industrial strategy. They also spoke about the importance of their schools’ work for diversity in the sector.

Commentators have previously raised concerns about diversity and unequal access to educational opportunities in creative fields. In November 2024, research published by the Sutton Trust showed the inequalities present in the creative industries, with education and class background having an impact on people’s careers.^[36] Its key findings included:

• young adults from working-class backgrounds are four times less likely to work in the creative industries compared to their middle-class peers
• top selling musicians are six times more likely than the public to have attended private schools (43% vs 7%) and British Academy of Film and Television Arts-nominated actors are five times more likely to have done so
• privately educated students represent over half of students at the most prestigious conservatoires
• at four institutions—Oxford, Cambridge, Kings College London and Bath—more than half of creative students come from upper middle class backgrounds

The Sutton Trust also found classical music to be “a particularly elitist profession”, with 43% of top classical musicians having attended an independent school (over six times higher than average).^[37]

Concerns around diversity were also raised in relation to the government’s decision to reduce funding to the MDS in December 2024.^[38] Although funding was later confirmed for the current academic year, Arts Professional reported that the government did not fully reinstate the annual grant for the national dance CATS, £300,000 of which was spent on outreach work. Brendan Keaney, artistic director and chief executive of Dance East, said that the funding for outreach was a route into the programme, “a first step into the pathway towards a career in dance”. Other stakeholders also argued that without the funding work to make dance more diverse and equitable would be affected.^[39]

---

Image by Larisa Birta on Unsplash