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WORLD TOP 10

 

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) is ranked as one of the world’s top ten destinations to study the performing arts in the 2023 QS World University Rankings for Performing Arts.

A conservatoire for everyone

With students from more than 50 countries studying across the broadest range of the performing and production arts, RCS is a diverse environment where new ideas and creative potential are encouraged and celebrated.

Equality and diversity are central to our working ethos. We value the unique identity of every student and staff member – art and performance need diversity in the classrooms, on the stage, and behind the scenes.

Visit our equality and diversity page to view the RCS Anti-Racism Action Plan which aims to make meaningful change to students now and for generations of students in the future.

The RCS Community

“We are the next generation of innovators, agenda-setters, artists.”

In the most challenging of years, our community of students, graduates and teachers have used their passion for the arts to create ground-breaking performance the world needs right now.

NUMBER 1 IN COMPLETE UNIVERSITY GUIDE

RCS is number one for arts, drama and music education in the Complete University Guide 2022, which ranks the UK’s top 14 specialist conservatoires and colleges.

STUDY IN THE WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY

We are located in the world’s most beautiful country. More than 50,000 international students from 180 countries choose to study in Scotland (www.scotland.org).

GLASGOW

There’s nowhere else quite like Glasgow – a city that blends the traditional with the cutting-edge, Scottish heritage with multi-cultural influences, the grit with the glamour.

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh takes your breath away. From the historic Royal Mile to the grandeur of the New Town, Edinburgh is the perfect city to explore.

A Campus Built For The Performing Arts

Explore the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in our 360 virtual tour. You’ll be able to see our rehearsal and practice rooms, professional performance venues, production workshops, editing suite, ballet studios and more.

Take the tour

#RCSALUMNI

Our graduates are a talented and richly varied group who make a significant impact across the globe. RCS alumni perform in orchestras, teach in classrooms, produce world-class arts festivals, create iconic set designs, lead cultural organisations and star in Hollywood movies.

View more of our talented alumni.

NCUTI GATWA

Star of Netflix’s Sex Education and MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance nominee (2019).

Fiona Findlater

English National Ballet stage manager who has also worked with Scottish Opera, National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet.

Keenan Fletcher

Ballet dancer with New Adventures dance company.

Sean Shibe

Internationally renowned guitarist and winner of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein award.

Svetlina Stoyanova

Soloist with the Vienna State Opera

Nicola Killean OBE

CEO of Sistema Scotland.

Ryan Bancroft

Principal Conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Amy Murray

Graduate of BA Perf graduate who recently appeared in The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Emma Mullen

West End star who plays Sophie Sheridan in global smash musical MAMMA MIA!

Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Oscar nominee for Original Screenplay for 1917.

Graham Rorie

Orcadian fiddle and mandolin player who was a finalist in the 2021 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year.

Amy Conaghan

Amy is an actor for both stage and screen. She was Courtney Cambpell in Hollyoaks for five years.

Isobel McArthur

Writer, and performer, of Olivier award winning Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of).

Fergus McCreadie

Recipient of Best Instrumentalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards 2020 and winner of Album of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2019.

Professional Partnerships

We have partnerships with all of Scotland’s national performing arts companies.

Visit our Partners page to discover all our partners.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) is one of Europe’s leading orchestras with a variety of work that is almost unparalleled amongst its British peers.

Scottish Ballet

Scottish Ballet is bold, adventurous and inspires audiences on stage and beyond. The BA Modern Ballet programme is co-designed and delivered by RCS in partnership with the company.

The National Piping Centre

The National Piping Centre and RCS have a long–standing relationship and together have produced the BMus Traditional Music — Piping programme.

National Theatre of Scotland

National Theatre of Scotland showcases Scottish culture at home and around the world, telling stories that need to be told, in ways never seen before. The company takes work where audiences are to be found whilst breaking down barriers to prevent people from participating.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Our partnership with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra offers deep and meaningful connections for our students straight to the heart of Scottish broadcasting, arts and culture.

Scottish Opera

Scotland’s national opera company is the largest performing arts organisation in the country.

Scottish Ensemble

Scottish Ensemble is a pioneering string orchestra, exploring adventurous ways in which diverse repertoire can be presented and shared.

Solar Bear

RCS worked closely with Solar Bear to establish the BA Performance in British Sign Language and English programme in 2015. This undergraduate programme is unique in the UK. It has been created for D/deaf and hard of hearing students who want to perform on stage and are interested in creating their own work. This can be through British Sign Language or English or a mixture of both.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

We partner with the internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra to offer unique side-by-side learning and performing opportunities, placements and residency programmes.

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Your privacy is important to us and you can read our privacy policy here.

Sustainability

At the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, we are committed to ensuring that we play a role in tackling the challenges of climate change on our environment.
We recognise that we have a responsibility to reduce our impact on the environment, particularly by enhancing and improving the sustainability of our estate.
A range of measures are underway, including:

  • Growing root vegetables and herbs in our roof garden, for use in our cafe
  • Annual reduction of our carbon footprint
  • Managing our investments responsibly. We invest up to 15% in companies specialising in renewable energy and we do not invest in fossil fuel
  • Installing energy-efficient LED lighting and solar energy on campus
  • Operating a campus energy monitoring system and motion sensor lighting
  • Committing zero waste to landfill
  • Subscribing to the Caledonian Forest scheme and planting trees to the equivalent of the paper we consume
  • Cycle Friendly Campus Award from Cycling Scotland that recognises our commitment to encouraging and promoting cycling as a healthy, sustainable mode of transport for all

The RCS Sustainability Committee actively collaborates to embed sustainability into every aspect of our operations. They welcome all suggestions from students and staff to further the sustainability of our campus and how we operate. The committee reports to the Board of Governors through the Academic Board, with goals to increase awareness, visibility and accountability of sustainable practice across our community.

Find out more at: rcs.ac.uk/greenroom

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