The Royal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet School is made up of the Lower and Upper Schools. The Upper School has 83 students aged 16-19 and is situated in new buildings in Covent Garden. Almost all of the graduating students go on to gain dance contracts with classical dance companies within the UK and around the world. The Lower School, situated at White Lodge in Richmond Park has 124 pupils of which 121 are full or weekly boarders.

The Royal Ballet School is a unique place, our mission statement ‘To celebrate the past, herald the future but concentrate on the present’ sums up the atmosphere completely.

Whilst we are proud of our place in the birth and development of classical ballet in the UK we are mindful of the need to move forward. To this end a major redevelopment of facilities at both the Upper and Lower Schools has recently been completed as have improvements to the first and second year boarding facilities in Barons Court and Covent Garden. The School is a member of SHMIS and of the National Association of Music and Dance Schools (NAMDS), a large number of our students (UK and EU) receive support from the DfES under the Gifted and Talented Scheme. Many non EU students are supported by generous scholarships and bursaries which are funded by the School endowment fund or by individual sponsors.

The Upper School is truly international with over 30% of the students coming from overeas and of these approximately half will not have English as their first language.