Vocational Training

I'm beginning to feel old (keep your comments to yourself). I feel like we're all watching a case of the Emperor's New Clothes happening in our industry and nobody is really speaking about it.

We all know that on your Spotlight CV they ask you where you trained, not what class degree you ended up with.  I mean of course everybody is going to write their final mark because everybody would have worked really hard to achieve it, but to my knowledge, no Spotlight breakdown has ever been published asking for someone with a certain class degree?

When you go into an audition room, somebody might ask you where you trained, but they'll never ask you what 'grade' you got. They just want you to demonstrate your talent, and can you meet the brief. They'll ask for a song, or give you some sides to read. They might want to see you dance - but they'll teach you the routine. 

My weathered response to the whole degree/diploma debate is always the same - show me the difference between a degree pirouette and a diploma pirouette!

Over time it's the quality of training that will build a reputation for a college, not what qualification do they offer. In other words - the whole 'get a degree' argument is nonsensical.  People will argue that it's giving people a fallback? Fall back to what exactly? If you want to turn that degree into anything useful you'll need to go back to college to train some more. Your B.A. (Hons) won't automatically give you teacher status (which people insultingly think of as a 'fallback career').

Let's face it - everybody moved to a degree because it gave the colleges and the students more access to funds, NOT because our industry suddenly demanded a qualification.

In truth, I don't mind that per se, however what I do care about, is how suddenly vocational courses are getting penalised.  My students at The MTA are not eligible for ANY government funding streams, as they've just pulled the plug on the PCDL.  

So offer a degree I hear you shout! However to prepare any form of formal accreditation we have estimated it to cost us between £4k-£6k.  To go for a 'formal recognition' as opposed to a degree would set us back around £6k just to apply.  This money though would come from my students' fees. The fees that they pay us in order to get them industry-ready in 2 years.  Now we're successfully achieving our goal year on year - so why would I want to pay to 'prove it'. I have proved it - every graduate is on our website with their Spotlight page attached (if applicable). You can see our proof for yourself, for free.

We're currently working really hard on our #50percent campaign to make up the deficit that the PCDL has created so that we can reassure any prospective student that we are working hard as hard as them to help them out financially.*

However, the discrimination doesn't stop at government funding level.  

Last year Equity and Spotlight issued a new set of criteria, which colleges had to achieve in order to get onto their 'Graduate List'. I applauded this decision having banged on about the lack of regulation in our industry. 

The criteria (and our course) are listed below:

• Vocational training courses for performers, practical rather than theoretical  

Well, The MTA's course is entirely practical, so this is a big tick for us.

• Contact hours in excess of 30 hours per week

We guarantee our students a MINIMUM of 40 contact hours/week. So far so good

• No more than 22 students in a class

We only have 22 students in a year, so the entire college can be no bigger than 44. In the morning dance classes are streamed into 3 or 4 groups...meaning that our class sizes are really small

• 30 weeks in a year of instruction

Once again we're winning - as we offer a MINIMUM of 40 weeks/year

• Course offers a professional showcase opportunity – attended by industry

Not only are we the only MT college to offer an Acting Showcase AND a Musical Theatre Showcase, we are also the only college to produce a public performance EVERY term. So I can safely say that our students get a load of opportunities.

• Course offers Professional Development programme with industry engagement

A nice easy one for us - every single member of my faculty is a current industry professional. So they have nothing but, industry engagement. If by professional development you're talking about understanding that our students are going to self-employed businesses, then yes, we have all of that covered too.

• Access to professional facilities

Yup...3 dance spaces with sprung floors, mirrors, PA system. 2 studio spaces, an acoustic pod, and all of our shows are performed in a London theatre.  We are housed in the middle of an Arts Centre, so I'm confident that this is a tick too.

• Clear commitments on safeguarding, bullying/harassment and diversity

We have all of these documents - and indeed they were all approved by Spotlight and Equity as well

• Equivalent to NQF level 4 / SQF level 6 Qualification issued by a ‘recognised body’

I was confident of this last one too - as our course is more than equivalent to one of these qualifications...but here's where the tale goes sour. They don't mean equivalent - they mean...have a qualification. 

So we, along with courses such as LSMT and Fourth Monkey**, are prevented from going on the Equity/Spotlight graduate list.  In many ways it doesn't matter. Our students are permitted to go straight onto the main Spotlight register, and can apply for Equity's student membership, so their careers are not penalised at all.  However, it does mean that when certain bursaries and scholarships are being considered eg the SOLT bursaries (including the Laurence Olivier Scholarship), we are not even permitted to nominate a student! Instead, all the colleges that are already in receipt of Student Finance and DaDas are permitted to submit their students for even more financial help.

Here's irony, there was a mix up one year and we WERE invited to nominate a student, and yup, you guessed it - after auditioning for the panel they won a substantial financial bursary which allowed them to continue with their studies.  

Or to put all of this another way, students currently studying on a uni degree course have access to the full Student finance package, even though lots of those students will not be eligible for Spotlight membership when they've finished.

Hell, just the other week the NUS (Extra) company contacted me to say that after 5 years of our students being on their approved list, we were being taken off that too . . . all because we refuse to offer a formal qualification.

In case you're still unclear of how mad this is. . . one of the qualifications that the power's that be endorse is the Trinity Level 6 Diploma.  A Diploma that we can't even apply to deliver because one of their criteria is that the course has to be 3 years!

I run a college where 100% of my students have secured INDEPENDENT agent representation BEFORE graduating.

Where 77% of our graduates are still working in the industry. 

A college where 89% of the class of 2018 have already secured their first contract.

A college which remains the only school to have been awarded The Stage School of the Year award TWICE, for our innovative approach to training and pastoral care and (in 2017) our proven track record.

We have initiated an industry-wide Mental Health Charter and are working closely with other colleges in order to support them making the change from 'counselling' to 'mental health'

A college where just 3% of students have dropped out since we started in 2009 (and all but one of those are still in contact with us).

A college whose graduates are working all over the world (including the West End), whose graduates are in festival award-winning films and are working in all areas of the industry.

A college that has ALWAYS provided its graduates with ongoing support be that pastoral or practical.

A college that has had consistent, verifiable results since 2011 when our first group graduated. 

A college that is completely transparent, right down to open book accounting.

Yet in spite of all of this - the computer (very sadly) keeps saying 'no', as the producers and casting directors keep saying 'yes'.

10 years later, I'm disappointed to see that our vocational industry is actively fighting against vocational training.

* If you'd like to make a contribution to our campaign to make 50% of our places available with 50% scholarships check out the ways that you can help on our funding page: 
http://www.themta.co.uk/fees-funding/ Scroll down to the bottom. . . no contribution is too small.
Thank you

**Fourth Monkey moved across to a degree in 2020