The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music have been ranked among the top five institutions in the world for performing arts, a new listing has revealed.
The QS World University Rankings, published annually, features British colleges in three out of the top five places on its 2021 list for performing arts.
The Royal College of Music has been placed second, RCS third and the Royal Academy of Music fourth.
New York’s Juilliard School takes the top spot, with Conservatoire de Paris in fifth.
The QS rankings list the top 100 institutions globally in 48 subject areas. They are decided through a combination of surveys with more than 100,000 academics and 50,000 employers, alongside several other metrics such as teacher/student ratios, research performance and the ability to attract international students.
Twenty-three British institutions feature on the 2021 list for performing arts courses.
This year, RCS has risen from ninth to third place, with the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music maintaining their 2020 places.
RCS principal Jeffrey Sharkey said: "It is especially gratifying to achieve this recognition at a time of great challenge to the arts in a global pandemic. It is a tribute to the entire RCS community of students and staff who continue to show such creativity and determination to keep the arts flourishing and developing. This exciting news demonstrates that our wider community places faith and trust in our conservatoire to be a place where the arts will continue to tell our shared stories and help rebuild the bonds of society."
Last year, London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama ranked in sixth place, but it moved to 15th in the most recent listings.
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama also features in the top 50, in 33rd place, as do universities including Oxford (12), Cambridge (14), Royal Holloway (18), Huddersfield (27) and Warwick (49).
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