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| BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
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The Crescent , CR0 2HN England, United Kingdom[1] | |
| Coordinates | 51°23′24″N0°05′29″W / 51.3899°N 0.0914°W /51.3899; -0.0914 |
| Information | |
| Other name | The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology |
| Type | City Technology College |
| Established | 22 October 1991; 34 years ago (1991-10-22)[1] |
| Local authority | London Borough of Croydon |
| Trust | The BRIT Trust |
| Department for Education URN | 101849Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Chairman | Josh Berger |
| Principal | Stuart Worden[2] |
| Staff | ~170 |
| Years taught | Year 10 - Year 13/14 (theatre) |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 14 to 19 |
| Enrollment | 1419 |
| Website | brit |
BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology[1] is a British performing and creative arts school located inSelhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, dance, applied theatre, production arts, creative arts, film and media production, digital arts, visual arts and design. Selective in its intake but free to attend, the school is notable for its celebrity alumni.[3][4][5][6]
Opened on 22 October 1991 under theCTC programme, the school is funded by the British Government with support from theBritish Record Industry Trust (BRIT) and other charity partners and donations and maintains an independent school status from thelocal education authority.
Mark Featherstone-Witty had been inspired byAlan Parker's 1980s filmFame to create a secondary school specialising in the performing arts. By the time he started trying to raise money through the School for Performing Arts Trust (SPA), he had refined a novel integrated curriculum. He approached SirRichard Branson to be the project champion who agreed, on the condition that other record companies chipped in. As it happened, theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI) were concerned with home taping and realised they had no political influence to bring the necessary pressure to bear. The then Conservative government needed to give impetus to their flagging City Technology College scheme.
For over 30 years, the BRIT School has been the beneficiary of funding from the British record industry, with a substantial annual contribution from the proceeds of theBrit Awards, administered via the record industry's charity, the BRIT Trust.[7]
In 2012, the school expanded acquiring part of the formerSelhurst High School building next door. Three new courses, Production Arts, Interactive Digital Design (now known as Digital Arts) and Community Arts Practise (now Applied Theatre) were introduced to coincide with this. There are currently 1400 plus Students on roll. The school's former principal Sir Nick Williams was knighted in theNew Years Honours List 2013 for services to education.
The school celebrated its 30th birthday in 2022 and was awarded a PRS Music heritage award for shaping UK Art and culture for 30 years.[8]
The school was founded in 1991 under the auspices of theCity Technology Colleges (CTC) initiative with sponsorship from the British Record Industry Trust (BRIT). Each year theBRIT Awards Music Ceremony raises money, some of which is used to help the continuing sponsorship of the school along with other music charities.[7]
The school recognises that most of its students intend to make a career in the arts, entertainment and communications industries, but the school expects all to follow full-time courses to completion. It has two professional theatres, the Obie Theatre, which can seat audiences of up to 324 and standing audiences up to 500; and the BRIT Theatre, which opened in January 2012 and seats audiences of up to 280. There are also various dance studios, musical theatre studios, and TV and radio studios.
YouTube Music funded a new Television Studio that opened in 2019 for Film & Media Production students.[9] This was in response to the student-run show "The BRIT Live" which airs on the BRIT School's YouTube channel, giving the students their own studio and control room to broadcast from.
Entry to any of the school's courses is initially by application. If applicants meet the initial entry criteria, they may then be invited to interview or workshop in their chosen focus (strand) (eitherfilm and media production (FMP),Applied Theatre,dance,digital arts,music,music technology,musical theatre,production arts,theatre, orvisual arts & design), for sixth-form entry students, plus a meeting with relevant tutors. Entry to the music course also includes aural and music theory tests and an audition, with entry to the dance, theatre, visual art & design, and musical theatre courses also including audition rounds. The school is known for being selective in its admissions and though it has a large catchment area, students outside this area are granted a place only if they show unusual merit.
A 2011BBC News article discussed whether students who are accepted by the school get an unfair advantage in creative arts industries over those who did not.[10]
The school teaches the following course:
| Strand/Course | Int. | KS4 | Post-16 | Year 14 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Arts | |||||
| Film & Media Production | FMP | ✓ | ✓ | formerly 'Media, Art & Design'[11] and 'Broadcast and Digital Communication'[12] | |
| Digital Arts | DA | ✓ | ✓ | formerly 'Interactive Digital Design'[13] Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, 3D Art, Typography | |
| Visual Arts & Design | VAD | ✓ | ✓ | split into Fashion, Styling and Textiles | |
| Production Arts | PA | ✓ | formerly 'Production Arts & Technology' and 'Technical Theatre Arts' | ||
| Performing Arts | |||||
| Theatre | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | year 14 students are required to be internal post-16 students to apply | |
| Music | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Music Technology | ✓ | ||||
| Musical Theatre | MT | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Dance | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Applied Theatre | AT | ✓ | formerly 'Community Arts Practice' (changed 2022) | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
