Ballet West (Scotland) BA in Classical Ballet and Dance Performance

[bbballerina]

Hello, I’m new to the forums. So, hey! haha (:

 

I got accepted in the BA program at Ballet West in Scotland today. I applied rather late and they started term last week, but have offered me a place at the school. I’m an international (I’m from California) student. I’m flying over basically as soon as I pack everything up and buy a plane ticket.

 

Their program looks good from just looking at their website (http://www.balletwest.co.uk/training.html). However, I only know of one person who’s ever heard of the school. He didn’t know much about it, only that the school was quite isolated since it's not in a city, and that their students get high marks on their RAD examinations.

 

If anyone has anymore information about the school, I’d really appreciate it! I’m really excited to be going out of the country for school, but it’s also rather daunting since I don’t know exactly what to expect.

 

Thanks so much! (:

[CDR]

Congratulations!

 

It's not really considered one of the very top colleges in the UK but it does have a good reputation and their dancers do go onto to join companies afterwards albeit mostly the smaller ones. I don't know anyone who has attended the full time course there but I do have some students who attended their outreach programme and one of my girls was accepted there last year although she ultimately chose to attend Northern Ballet School instead. However they all very much enjoyed the teaching and I understand the location is beautiful.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that the system of training in the UK is quite different to the US and you will probably find that the standard of the students is lower at this age as they generally have no real intense training until they commence full time dance college. Don't be put off by that though, by the end of the course everyone should be 'up there' at the same kind of level.

[Doubleturn]

I have a student who has just started there and yesterday I had a long telephone call from the parents on their return from settling her in. They seem very impressed with the staff and the proposed programme. This is the first year that this has become a degree course and I think the school is raising its profile. The standard may seem a bit mixed when you start because as CDR says, not all UK students have intensive training as early as in US.

 

There is an interesting tour of performances scheduled for Winter/Spring and at present BBC Scotland is there filming a documentary about the school.

 

The school is up a long drive, miles from the nearest village, in very pretty countryside - (think of Hogwarts). The students live in shared houses and are responsible for their own catering, laundry etc.

 

Good luck - I hope you soon feel at home.

[Redbookish]

For a course to attain BA status in the UK, any British college or university has to pass stringent validation and review procedures, which are nationally monitored for quality of curriculum, delivery of teaching, qualifications of lecturers, and standards reached by students in each year of their study (3 years in England and Wales to BA, 4 years in Scotland to MA).

 

UK higher education is organised rather differently than in the US, in that there are national and fairly uniform standards for setting and evaluating teaching and research in universities and higher education colleges, and these are overseen by organisations such as the Higher Education Funding Councils and the Quality Assurance Agency.

 

So you can be assured that the programme has been approved and validated by experts in the field, with particularly strong inspection by experts (teaching academics from other higher education institutions) and ongoing involvement of said experts, in our system of External Examiners. This is in addition to any other examining bodies, such as the RAD.

 

Enjoy Scotland -- I've just come back from working in Glasgow, and it is a beautiful country.