Edward Birch (Senior Education and Employment officer, Arts Council of England) takes a look at vocational training for the performing arts and provides a useful checklist for prospective students who are considering embarking on a training course in the performing arts. You maybe spoilt for choice but the advice from Edward is to fully consider the strengths of each course before making that all-important commitment.

Spoilt for Choice

The range of vocational training opportunities available in Britain can match anything available in Europe and at its best, is still recognised as a world leader. With a large number of excellent examples of quality training providers throughout Britain, we are fortunate to have an effective infrastructure serving the needs of the performing arts industry.

With such a vast array of options in vocational training, a student may presume that any course can provide the necessary route to professional employment. In fact, a number of key issues should be considered, starting with the real purpose of vocational training.

The following list attempts to identify a range of objectives that define the purpose of vocational training. It is important to remember that the aim of any vocational training is to provide a student with the necessary understanding and expertise to obtain professional work within his/her chosen field. The 'type' of training or the specialist areas studied, tends to dictate which employment sectors are open to newly qualified graduates, particularly in the first year or two. This is why a student's final choice is so paramount to his/her development as a performing artist.


The purpose of vocational trainings is to:

Develop a range of technical (physical) skills appropriate to the artform and industry
Build an understanding of the artform's vocabularies through the application of technique experience a range of settings appropriate to an artform
Provide an understanding of the possible employment sectors and recruitment procedures (auditions, agents etc.)
Develop a student's creativity, artistic interpretation and communication

Once you have a clear idea of the purpose of vocational training, further consideration can be given to the issue of quality. There are various key elements that are essential to a performing artist's initial training. Use the following four points as means of measuring the effectiveness of a vocational course. Any accomplished provide will be able to provide the necessary information. If you discover any gaps, seriously reconsider your options.


Identify the number of hours allocated to studying technique. Be careful to distinguish between tutor led hours (contact time) and student rehearsal time. Vocational training requires a high level of technical study with experienced tutors;