If you’ve decided you’d like to spend some time studying with us you need to check with your International Office/Exchange Coordinator to see if there is an inter-institutional agreement (Erasmus+, International Exchange or Study Abroad) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place between your institution and the Royal Conservatoire. We cannot accept exchange applications from students at institutions with whom we do not have a fully signed inter-institutional agreement or MoU.
If your institution is one of our partners and is able to agree to you applying for an exchange during the forthcoming academic year, you will be required to complete an online application via EASY by 31st March 2023. Please note that there is only one application deadline per year. If you wish to apply to study here between January 2024 and June 2024 (terms 2 and 3 of academic year 22/23) you must also apply before 31st March 2023. We are unable to accept paper applications.
Your application will be considered and an outcome communicated via EASY within eight weeks. It is essential that you complete the required fields on the application and upload a good quality video recording/portfolio as well as all other supporting documents as your application cannot be processed without them.
When you apply via EASY you should select the ‘Semester’ you wish to apply for even though at RCS we have ‘Terms’. Term 1 runs from 25th September 2023 to 15th December 2023 (i.e. fall semester), Term 2 from 8th January 2024 to 29th March 2024 and Term 3 from 15th April 2024 to 20th June 2024. If you apply for the Spring Semester we will assume you wish to study here for both Terms 2 and 3.
The Master of Music Opera course begins on 11th September 2023 and the PGDE programme starts on 21st August 2023.
After you have selected the ‘semester’ you should choose the ‘course’ under Study Plan. If you wish to study at RCS for less than a full academic year you should still select the most appropriate 60 ECTS course listed. Successful applicants for ‘fall’ or ‘spring’ semester will study for less than 60 ECTS and the precise number of credits will be calculated prior to arrival via your Learning Agreement. To help you complete your Learning Agreement please refer to the following: Erasmus, International Exchange and Study Abroad Course Catalogue 2023-2024
Recording/Portfolio Requirements
BA Acting (Not for Arcadia, Muhlenberg or CalArts applicants)
Please submit a recording of yourself performing two speeches in character. One should be from a play by William Shakespeare, preferably in verse, and the other a contemporary contrasting piece of your own choice. Each speech should be no less than one minute and no more than three minutes. Please also include a personal statement at the beginning (straight to camera). This should include a brief overview of your background and why you are interested in studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Please also include a variety of close, medium and long shots in your audition.
BA Musical Theatre (Not for Arcadia, Muhlenberg or CalArts applicants)
Please clearly chapter each section of your recording and include a personal statement at the beginning (straight to camera). This should include a brief overview of your background and why you are interested in studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Dance/Movement
Please film yourself performing a short dance piece (one – three minutes) which may be jazz, ballet or contemporary based. This can be self-choreographed or by a teacher. This should demonstrate turns, jumps and floor work.
Singing
Please film yourself singing three songs accompanied by a pianist. These should show vocal range and the awareness and ability to use contrasting stylistic features common to Musical Theatre repertoire. The range should include three songs, one of which is not from a musical (this may be pop, rock, blues, gospel, jazz, folk etc).
Acting
For this section you should film yourself performing:
- one Shakespeare monologue and
- one contemporary monologue to contrast.
Both should be no longer than two minutes in length.
BA Modern Ballet
Please clearly chapter your recording for each section. The camera should be positioned so that the full range of movements is shown. Practice clothes and soft ballet shoes should be worn
Barre work
(Exercises should be performed on both sides) Approximately 15 minutes, including:
- Plies
- Battements Tendus and Battements Glisses
- Ronds de Jambes and Battements Fondus
- Adage
- Grands Battements
Centre practice and allegro
Approximately 20 minutes, including:
- Battements Tendus/Glisses/ Grands Battements
- Adage
- Pirouettes can be taken from 5th, 4th and/or 2nd position, shown both en dehors and en dedans. Pirouettes should be performed on both the right and the left side
- Petit Allegro/Warm-up jump
- Allegro enchainement
- One grand allegro enchainement
BA Contemporary Performance Practice
- Personal Statement (straight to camera). You are invited to introduce yourself to the audition panel by providing a brief overview of your background, why you are interested in studying Contemporary Performance Practice, and your inspirations as an artist. This introductory video should be no longer than 3 minutes.
- A recording of yourself performing a short performance piece. You will be invited to prepare and record an original, devised performance using one or more of the sensory stimuli listed on The Audition page at: https://www.rcs.ac.uk/courses/ba-contemporary-performance-practice/. This performance video should be no longer than 3 minutes in duration. As these performances will be filmed, you can choose where to locate your performance; it does not need to be in a studio. You may choose to consider how your surroundings contribute to the performance as a whole. A recording device such as a smart phone or tablet is an acceptable quality and video editing is not required for the performance video.
- A written performance analysis. You are invited to write about a performance event you have attended recently, describing what you found effective about it and why. This can be either a live or digital performance work. You are asked to explain why this performance was an important experience for you. The written performance analysis will give us an indication of your ability to communicate your ideas about performance through writing. Your performance analysis should be no longer than 500 words and must be all your own work. Once you submit your audition recording and written performance analysis, this may be followed up with an online interview.
BA Production Arts and Design
Your e-portfolio should consist of the following:
- art portfolios, sketches, models, photographs
- pictures of samples of your practical work such as props, costume, small pieces of woodwork, etc.
- set and/or costume designs either as sketches, renderings or three dimensional models
- evidence of previous production experience such as press cuttings or programmes, whether at school, amateur level or professional
BA Production Technology and Management
Your e-portfolio should consist of the following:
- prompt books, cue sheets and other production-related documentation
- examples of lighting and/or sound designs
- rigging plans or technical specifications sheets
- evidence of previous production experience such as press cuttings or programmes, whether at school, amateur level or professionally
BA Filmmaking
We require you to create a short, scripted drama based on the guidelines given below. The short must be between two and three minutes in length (including titles and credits) and be based on a script.
At RCS our core work is in scripted drama and we invite you to create a short scripted drama film on the theme of ‘freedom’. Your short should be creative and visually interesting to the viewer and not simply a record of what the word means to you. Your script and film should adhere to the following guidelines:
- Script should be a maximum of three minutes in length (it can be shorter but no longer)
- Maximum of three actors
- There must be at least one line of sync dialogue (sync dialogue mean we need to be able to see the actor’s mouth move in sync with the line. It is not narration or voice-over, although these may be used in other parts of the film
- A minimum of two locations – one exterior and one interior
- No animation – ideas must be live action
Bachelor of Music (Performance) / Master of Music/MA
Applications to the School of Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland are welcomed for both our BMus and MMus programmes. You can learn more about what you can expect to study if choose to be a student here, together with audition requirements for each department within our study here pages.
BMus Performance (Composition)
Composition applicants should submit at least two compositions (preferably recent examples) together with brief analytical notes, and recorded performances and software files wherever possible.
BMus Performance (Timpani and Percussion)
Applicants should record all of the following:
Timpani
Ӣ Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 4 1st movement, 2 bars before T to 3 bars before U. (available in Modern Method for Timpani, Saul Goodman, Belwin Mills)
Ӣ Hindemith: Sinfononische Metamorphosen, Turandot Scherzo, (available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Ӣ Frank Martin: Concerto pour 7 Instruments a Vent, Timbales, Batterie et Orchestre a Cordes. (Available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Ӣ Beethoven: Symphony Nr. 1, 3rd movement 1 bar before A to end. Beethoven Symphony Nr. 7, 1st movement 20 bars before C to C (available in Fred D. Hinger, Timpani Players Repertoire Vol. 1 Beethoven from Southern Percussion)
Xylophone
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (available in the Goldenberg Book)
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Snare Drum
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade, movements 3 and 4 (available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf (available in Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions, Schott)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Cappricio Espagnol (available in the Goldenberg Book)
A piece of the applicant’s own choice on Marimba (optional).
We do not accept exchange applications for the following programmes of study:
MA Musical Theatre
MA Classical and Contemporary Text
MEd Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts
MA Learning and Teaching (Gaelic Arts)
PG Certificate courses
Research
English Language Requirements
If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country (Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, USA) and you are made an offer to study at RCS then you will be required to prove your level of English.
- For stays of under 6 months you can provide evidence by way of the Erasmus OLS assessment
- For courses in the School of Music = level B2
- For Filmmaking, Ballet and Production = level B2
- For Musical Theatre, Acting and Contemporary Performance Practice = level C1
- For stays of 6 months or more you must provide evidence by way of an IELTS test (in order to satisfy visa requirements)
- For courses in the School of Music = level 6.0 (with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component)
- For Ballet = level 5.5 (with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component)
- For filmmaking and Production = level 6.5 (with no component below 5.5)
- For Acting, Contemporary Performance Practice and Musical Theatre = level 7.5 (with a score of 7.5 in speaking)
If you are given permission to extend your stay after your have matriculated at RCS and your time in the UK, will be greater than 6 months, you will be required to return home to apply for a Student route visa. You may also be required to take an IELTS test.
Visas
Unless you are a British or Irish national you will either need to enter the UK as a Standard Visitor (for stays of less than 6 months), or under the Student route (for stays of more than 6 months). If you need further information on visas, email international@rcs.ac.uk
Programme Handbooks/Course Catalogues
Under the terms of our Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, we must make all course catalogues available to prospective Erasmus applicants. At the Conservatoire we call these documents Programme Handbooks. To assist you with your application the Programme Handbooks are included below:
Erasmus, International Exchange and Study Abroad Course Catalogue 2023-2024
School of Music
If you’re applying for a place as an Erasmus student on any of the BMus programmes please see pages 6 – 9 for an overview of the modules titles for each year of the programme. Please note that the numbers of credits listed are for the full academic year (September to June) and if you are accepted for term 1 or terms 2 and 3 the credits will be pro-rated accordingly.
If you’re applying for a place as an Erasmus student on one of the Master of Music programmes please see page 16 for an overview of the modules titles for each year of the programme. Please note that the numbers of credits listed are for the full academic year (September to June) and if you are accepted for term 1 or terms 2 and 3 the credits will be pro-rated accordingly.
School of Drama, Dance, Production and Film
BA CPP Programme Handbook 2022-23
BA Filmmaking Handbook 2022-23
Options modules
As one of the world’s most interdisciplinary conservatoires, we are fortunate to have leading experts in dance, drama, music, production and film teach on the one campus. We want students to have the opportunity to broaden their experience of the performing and production arts and be able to take a class in something outwith their own specialism.
We have created a suite of Options modules which students can undertake alongside their principal studies. For example, musicians can take a class in film music or acting, and dancers can take piano lessons. Options modules can be used to complement your studies or can be something that you are interested in trying.
A small selection of the most popular modules are:
- Acting
- Alexander Technique
- Classical Improvisation
- Conducting Skills
- Effective Practice Techniques
- Film Music
- Introduction to Music Psychology
- Music Technology and Sound Recording
- Orchestration
- Negotiated Project
Please note that most inbound exchange students at the Conservatoire are required to select at least one Options module. Due to the timing of when the Conservatoire asks its degree-seeking students to select their Options modules, there may be limited Options modules available to exchange students. If you are offered a place at RCS, you will be emailed the Options module booklet. All Options modules are subject to review and amendment and the module descriptors which will be emailed to you are for guidance only. Final versions will be confirmed prior to the start of academic year 2023/2024.
For more information on the awards conferred by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland please see our Diploma Supplement AY22-23
Data Protection
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has published the number of documents to support good data protection practice and to comply with current Data Protection law. They can be viewed on our Privacy pages.
