Supported Admissions Scheme

Our Supported Admissions Scheme provides extra support and guidance to eligible candidates, ensuring that talented performers are not held back by barriers when applying to our undergraduate Musical Theatre courses or pursuing a career in the Performing Arts.

Applications for the Supported Admissions Scheme are open for entry in 2026. Laine Theatre Arts encourages applications from students whose backgrounds are underrepresented in further and higher education.

What is the Supported Admissions Scheme?

Our Supported Admissions Scheme is designed to offer additional support and guidance to eligible candidates, ensuring that talented performers are not hindered by barriers when applying to our musical theatre undergraduate courses or pursuing a career in theatre and performance.

We understand that navigating audition processes and higher education applications can be complex. This scheme also provides support for families, parents, or guardians who may have limited experience with applying to vocational schools or higher education and require extra assistance throughout the process.

What support is available to successful candidates?

• Application fee waiver
• An invitation to attend at no cost, in person or online, informal conversations with members of Laine faculty who will offer guidance, support and advice relating to our application and audition process. 
• Complimentary ticket  to a Laine performance/ event
• Opportunity to receive feedback following your  audition.
• Potential travel bursaries to support travel costs to auditions. Please note, this is dependent on your individual circumstances and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• If offered a place onto our undergraduate/ diploma course, you can select a payment plan for the course deposit.
• A payment plan can be made available for tuition fees, should you be offered a place.
• Individualised support and guidance not only during, but following the application and audition process, regardless of the final outcome of your audition.

Who is eligible for the scheme?

To be eligible for the Supported Admissions Scheme, applicants must meet all the criteria outlined in Section A, as well as at least one of the criteria in Section B.

Section A:

1. Home Fee Status
   You must be eligible for home fee status during the 2026-27 academic year. This means you need to be UK-domiciled and a resident of the UK. Central will assess this based on the information provided in your application. For more information on home fee status, please refer to the official guidance on home fees.
2. No Previous Higher Education Experience
   You must not have any prior experience of higher education or university.
3. Course Application
   You must be applying to our Undergraduate Courses starting in September 2026.

Section B:

In addition to meeting all the criteria in Section A, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Be living in a household with a gross annual income of below £33,000 or which receives means tested state benefits and/or in receipt of Free School Meals, or 16- 19 bursary. 

• Have a home postcode which is classified as Quintile 1 or Quintile 2 in the POLAR4 dataset. POLAR4 is a dataset which groups areas of the UK based on the proportion of young people progressing to higher education (Visit the Office for Students website to use the postcode checker. 

• Your home postcode is classified as Quintile 1 or 2 in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Government dataset. To find out whether your postcode falls into these categories, visit the IMD website and download the relevant spreadsheet (see column F for classification).

• Be Black, Brown  or Ethnically Diverse

• Be in care, a recent care leaver, or estranged from your family. Recent Care Leaver is defined as someone who has been in local authority care for at least 13 weeks in the last 5 years. Estrangement is defined as having no contact with parents in the last 12 months, and being unlikely to have a relationship with them again. 

• Have a declared disability. 

• Have attended a state school or college for the entirety of your education. This means that you attended a school or college that did not charge any fees to any pupils, and was instead funded by the local authority.

You are living in a UK postcode where participation in higher education is low. Our Admissions Team will assess this based on your application.

• Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

• Please note: You must meet all the criteria in Section A and at least one of the criteria in Section B to be considered for the scheme.

How to apply

There are two ways to apply for the Supported Admissions Scheme:

1.Apply directly.

· If you choose this option, you will be required to provide evidence for some criteria.

2. Referral from a school, college, theatre group or youth organisation.

· Please speak with your teacher or youth worker about the possibility of referring you to the scheme. If they are not aware of the scheme and have any questions, ask them to get in contact directly with our Access and Participation team (joblack@laine-theatre-arts.co.uk)

· Applications and referrals should be submitted via completing the following form. The form will take no more than 10 minutes to complete: Supported Admissions Scheme Application 

The deadline for applying to the Supported Admissions Scheme is dependent on the course you are applying to:

Course	Deadline for receipt of application / referrals by midday
BA Top- Up Level 6 Musical Theatre Degree	Rolling deadline
Level 6 3 Year Diploma in Musical Theatre	6th October 2025

Evidence must be uploaded at the point of application, or you can email this directly to Access and Participation Lead joblack@laine-theatre-arts.co.uk. Your application cannot be processed until evidence is provided.

Once your application for the Supported Admissions Scheme has been received and processed, you will receive an email from the Access and Participation Team to let you know if you have been successful. 

If you are being referred to the Scheme, your referee will require your full name, date of birth, email address, home address, course you are applying to and knowledge of which criteria you meet. Please note that you must provide the name and email address which you intend to use on your course application.