Five tips to avoid deadline day drama

The deadline for conservatoire music courses is 1 October at 18:00 (UK time). By this date your entire application, including referee details and payment, must be completed and sent to us. Make sure you don’t miss this deadline by following these five tips.

1. Know your logins
We’ll start with the basics, it’s important you know your username and password so you can complete your application. You don’t want to be struggling to login while trying to meet the deadline. If you’ve forgotten your username or password, recover your details online.

2. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the personal statement 
The personal statement may appear daunting but we’ve got plenty of advice to help you along the way. Also, check out our personal statement mind map as it has lots of guidance on how to start, all the way through to completing it.

3. Make sure you have a valid debit or credit card to make a payment
In order to send your application, you must complete the payment section. It may sound obvious but check that the account has enough money in it to cover your application and audition fees and is valid to make payments online.

4. Don’t leave it to the very last minute
You never know what might happen, whether you have last minute internet issues or other technical problems you don’t want to miss the deadline because of it.

5. Keep calm
Above all, it’s important to stay calm and not stress. If you have any questions about your application, check out our website or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter.

Good luck with your application!

Get the views of conservatoire student Charlotte, who has been sharing her experience in her blog.

How to make the most of an open day in four simple steps

Open days are a great opportunity for you to get to know a conservatoire better. You get to see the facilities and they give you the chance to meet current students and staff so you can ask any burning questions. Before you attend one, make the most of your visit by following these four simple steps:

1. Make a shortlist – visiting every conservatoire might be a bit ambitious, so choose the ones that offer the course you’re interested in. There are eight conservatoires and all open days are listed on their website:

• Birmingham Conservatoire
• Leeds College of Music
• Royal Academy of Music
• Royal College of Music
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

2. Know what to expect – each conservatoire will have a planned itinerary of tours, talks and chances to ask questions. This will vary from each conservatoire so make sure you check their website to find out what’s on the agenda for the day.

3. Plan ahead – think about what you’d like to find out more about, and which departments you'd like to look at.  Prepare some questions you’d like to ask current students and the academic staff. They’re the ones who know the place best so make sure you make the most of this opportunity!

4. Taster sessions – as well as attending an open day, you could see if they run taster sessions to give a flavour of the course you’re interested in.

If you have any questions about applying to a conservatoire put them to our helpful advisers on Facebook and Twitter.

Get the views of conservatoire student Charlotte, who has been sharing her experience in her blog.

Three tips to choosing the right course

Have you considered a career in music, dance, or drama? If so, check out what’s on offer with UCAS Conservatoires.

But how do you know which is the right course for you? Our tips will make sure you choose the course that best suits you.

1. Research courses in our search tool.
The first place to start will be our search tool. Once you’ve found a course and conservatoire that’s taken your interest, find out more about the course, the conservatoire, the entry requirements and the audition fees by clicking on the course in question.

2. Attend open days
Open days will give you the opportunity to check out the facilities, meet current students and staff and give you the chance to ask them questions. Search for open days by conservatoire on our website. If you attend an open day, make sure you plan ahead by checking out the itinerary for the day. This will give you an idea of what to expect and what questions to prepare.

3. Check conservatoire reviews
If you’d like to get further information on a conservatoire there are lots of resources online. You can read student opinions on Unistats or conservatoire reviews on QAA.

If you have any questions about applying to a conservatoire put them to our helpful advisers on Facebook and Twitter.

Get the views of conservatoire student Charlotte, who has been sharing her experience in her blog.

How to apply for UCAS Conservatoires in 5 steps

You can now apply for 2016 UCAS Conservatoire courses on our website. To apply on-time for a music course, we must receive your application by 1 October. If you're applying for dance and drama courses, you must submit your application by 15 January.

Here are five things you need to do to apply...

1. Find the right course for you
The best place to start is our search tool. If you’re not sure which conservatoire or course is right for you; we’ve got lots of great advice. Try attending an open day to get a taste of conservatoire life, as it gives you the opportunity to meet the tutors, speak to current students and check out the campus.

2. Register
When you’re ready to start your application you need to register.  All you have to do is answer questions about yourself and create a password. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be given a username. Make sure you keep a note of your log in details so you don’t have any problems at a later date!

3. Start your application
When you log in, you’ll see this page which shows the sections you need to complete:

Each section must be complete before you can send your application. There’s lots of advice on filling in your application on our website.

When it comes to adding your qualifications, enter every place you’ve received a formal qualification from in the ‘Education’ section.  This should start from the age of 12 onwards. You can search for your schools by clicking on the ‘Add a school/college’ link and then select the ones you’ve attended.

If the school isn’t listed, just click on the ‘My school/college is not listed’ option which will allow you to enter the details in manually.

Once you’ve done this, add your qualifications in the ‘Qualification’ section. Similarly to the Education section, you need to search for the course type. If the qualification isn’t listed, find the different options for ‘Other’ and select the most relevant one to enter the details manually.

When you get to the personal statement we’ve got some great tips on what to include.

4. Send your application
The application fee is £20, which you pay with a credit or debit card. If you need to pay by an alternative method, such as a bank transfer, you can send us your application without the payment. However, you must send a payment to us within 14 days of sending us your application, otherwise it’ll be cancelled.

Each conservatoire will have an audition fee - you can pay for this when you send us your application or by bank transfer if you’re going to pay at a later date. Some conservatoires may waive the audition fee but you need to discuss this with them.

It’s important to arrange your payments as soon as possible as the conservatoires can’t make a decision until you’ve sorted your application AND audition fees for all courses.

5. Wait for your auditions
After your application has been sent and the fees have been paid, the conservatoires will get in touch with you about auditions. All updates will come from the conservatoire and they’ll also be in Track.

So make sure you’re prepared. Auditions may seem daunting but it’s your opportunity to shine. We've put together a handy document to help you make the most of your audition.

Good luck with your application!

If you have any questions about applying then have a look on our website. You can also get in touch with our advisers on Facebook or Twitter who’ll be happy to help.

Get the views of conservatoire applicant Charlotte, who has been sharing her experience in her blog.

Take the Spotlight – the winners are…

Our first ever ‘Take the Spotlight’ competition, exclusively for UCAS Conservatoire students, came to a close back in March. We’re really pleased to share the winning entries with you.

To enter, students could either send us a 3,500 character essay or a short video. Amongst other things, they were asked to think about:

• who/what inspired them to pursue a music/dance/drama-related course
• why they chose to study at a conservatoire over university or HE college
• the benefits of studying at a conservatoire

The top prize was £2,500 and a runner up from each category won themselves £1,000.

We received so many truly inspiring entries and… drumroll please, here are the winners…

Winning video entry:
Doug Price from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland raps about life at a conservatoire in his fantastic video, sharing his insight in a really unique way.

Winning essay entry:
Sally Horton from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, writes passionately about how she’s developed both musically and personally at a conservatoire, and what you can learn about yourself as a performer. Read her winning essay here.

The runners up

Alexander Astbury from Birmingham Conservatoire was a runner up with his video, in which he shares more of the performance side of studying at a conservatoire.

Emma Torrens from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland was a runner up in the essay category. In her entry she argues the case for changing the meaning of a conservatoire to reveal the truly inspiring and creative nature of this type of study. You can read her essay here.


Feeling inspired to study at a conservatoire? Check out our website for more information on the courses on offer and how to apply. If you’ve got any questions about how to apply then put them to our advisers on Facebook and Twitter.

How to reply to your conservatoire offers

If you’ve applied to a conservatoire, the next deadline to reply to offers is less than a month away. Some of our terminology can seem confusing at first, so we’ll talk you through what your offers mean and how you can reply to them!

Get on Track
To reply to your offers, first of all you need to log in to Track and select ‘Click here to view the current status of each of your choices’.

Here are the SIX different decisions you could see in Track:

Guaranteed unconditional (GU) – your place is confirmed and you don’t have any conditions to meet.

Guaranteed conditional (GC) – you need to meet certain conditions set by the conservatoire before your place is confirmed.

Reserve unconditional (VU) – you’re on the reserve list and if a vacancy comes up you won’t need to meet any conditions, the place will be confirmed.

Reserve conditional (VC) – you’re on the reserve list and if a vacancy comes up you will need to meet some conditions set by the conservatoire before the place is confirmed.

Audition pending (AP) – the conservatoire have invited you to attend an audition.
Unsuccessful – the conservatoire is not offering you a place.

First and second choices
Once you have a final decision from all the conservatoires you’ve applied to, the ‘Reply to Offers’ option will be available under your list of choices in red. After selecting this, you can reply to each offer – the options are ‘first choice’, ‘second choice’ and ‘decline’.

You can accept one offer as your first choice. If you’re accepting a reserve unconditional (VU) or reserve conditional (VC) you can have one second choice too, which can be any of your other offers.

If you accept a guaranteed unconditional (GU) or guaranteed conditional (GC) as your first choice then you can’t have a second choice.

Stay up-to-date
We’ll send you an email when there are any changes to your application, but to put your mind at rest it never hurts to keep an eye on Track. You need to reply by the date shown in Track, otherwise any offers will be automatically declined.

Once you’ve replied to your offers we’ll post you a letter to confirm this. Double-check all the information on this letter is correct, and if there are any issues call us as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about UCAS Conservatoires then have a look on our website or get in touch with our advisers on Facebook or Twitter.

Meet our blogger Charlotte and follow her journey as she applies to study at a conservatoire.