Drama school Central scraps audition fees

The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama is to remove audition fees in a drive to combat “elitism” in the arts.

Prospective students will no longer have to pay to audition for Central’s diploma and undergraduate acting courses. An audition for an acting BA (hons) at Central currently costs £40 for most UK-based applicants, with an audition for an acting diploma costing £10.

In addition, Central has announced it will establish three travel grants to enable "eligible future students" to visit its campus. 

A £20,000 grant will support applicants travelling to the school’s undergraduate open days, while two grants totalling £30,000 will ease the costs associated with attending final-round undergraduate acting auditions and "other application-focused on campus events".

Central principal and chief executive Josette Bushell-Mingo said she hoped the removal of audition fees would "send a clear message that applicants from all backgrounds are welcome at Central". 

Bushell-Mingo continued: "In these increasingly difficult times, training institutions such as ours are grappling with government policies that seek to undermine the arts and funding structures that continually ask us to deliver more with less. We must push back against a creeping narrative that says the arts are elitist, that they are only for a select few.

"It has never been more important to stand together, united, and say that everyone is welcome in our sector and in our institutions – that the arts are vital and that they are for all of us."
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