World-leading drama schools in England are facing a financial crisis that threatens to turn back the clock, shutting down opportunities for talented young people from diverse and less privileged backgrounds, according to leading figures in the arts.
The warning came after one of the most celebrated drama schools in the country, Bristol Old Vic theatre school (BOVTS), which opened in 1946 with the support of Laurence Olivier, has revealed it is closing all undergraduate courses from September. Postgraduate courses will continue.
Elsewhere, another leading institution is offering its staff voluntary redundancy, while a higher education expert said the situation facing drama schools was so dire it risked becoming “a national catastrophe”.
Actors, directors and leaders of other drama schools expressed shock and sorrow at the BOVTS cuts, and called for action to protect small specialist institutions, which are disproportionately affected by a spiralling funding crisis across higher education.
The actor and director Samuel West, who is a trustee for the Campaign for the Arts, said: “Without the undergraduate course at the BOVTS, we might never have witnessed the extraordinary (and profitable) talent of actors like Olivia Colman and Daniel Day-Lewis, to name but two.
“Courses like these give students life-changing opportunities; they are the bedrock of our cultural life. We need urgent action to protect and expand everyone’s access to the arts, now and in the future.”
The Shakespearean actor Paapa Essiedu, who went to Guildhall School of Music and Drama, said: “Whenever I’ve acted with actors who trained at Bristol Old Vic, they’ve been so detailed, layered, dimensional in their craft.
“I know the school will be continuing with some of its postgraduate work, but it’s so sad that that three-year course, which has been supported by a bedrock of experience and detailed knowledge, is being put to an end for now.”
BOVTS, which also counts Jeremy Irons, Naomie Harris and Patrick Stewart among its alumni, said the capping of tuition fees, restrictions to international student visas, cuts in grants and increases in costs of living and teaching had contributed to the decision to close its undergraduate programme.
Such courses give students access to loans to fund their drama training. The fear is that as they disappear – mainstream universities are also cutting their creative arts courses – a drama school training will become once again the preserve of the wealthiest who can afford to pay to go to private institutions.
Prof Randall Whittaker, the principal and chief executive of Rose Bruford college, another leading drama school, described the cuts as “heart-breaking” and said the current climate risked turning the clock back and making the sector less inclusive.
“I’m afraid that all the work that has happened for places like ours to become more inclusive – yes we still have a long way to go, but there’s been tremendous progress – I’m afraid it will go backwards.”
The college, whose alumni include the Baby Reindeer star and recent Golden Globe winner Jessica Gunning, has first-hand experience of the devastating consequences of drama school closures.
In 2022, Rose Bruford came to the rescue of almost 300 students, taking them in to complete their courses after they were left stranded when the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts closed virtually overnight, after being overwhelmed by financial troubles.
Another casualty was the Musical Theatre Academy, which closed in 2022, and in November the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama opened a staff voluntary redundancy programme to cut costs and ensure sustainability.
The principal, Josette Bushell-Mingo, wrote to students: “The educational landscape is constantly evolving and, like many institutions, we are faced with challenges to reduce our costs and ensure the ways we are working are efficient.”
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Drama schools have been particularly hard hit by the previous government’s decision to cut funding for arts subjects to prioritise Stem subjects, which fall within the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Top-up funding for creative and performing arts courses, which are expensive to run, was frozen at £16.7m in 2024-25, resulting in a real-terms cut due to inflation. In 2020-21 the grant was worth £36m, before it was cut nearly in half by Gavin Williamson, the then education secretary.
Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said although many of the affected smaller specialist institutions were world leading, a high proportion were struggling.
Courses are expensive to deliver because of a high student-to-staff ratio and they lack the economies of scale enjoyed by larger institutions. “It risks becoming a national catastrophe for these institutions that specialise in areas where the UK is traditionally top notch,” Hillman said.
The actor Ayub Khan Din, who wrote the award-winning play East is East, said: “A concentrated drama course is essential to any aspiring actor. Having said that, I realise that there is a huge financial burden for today’s young actors.”
Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans, co-artistic directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company, said the arts needed sufficient and consistent investment. “Otherwise, more and more specialist institutions will find themselves having to make impossible choices and the opportunities for talented young people looking to find their way into our industry will continue to narrow.”
Jane Horrocks, the star of Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice and Chicken Run, went to Rada on a grant: “But my mum and dad definitely wouldn’t have been able to send me to drama school without government aid.
“Drama schools are a great place of learning and a springboard into the profession. Agents and casting directors often use them to talent scout … it’s the perfect shop window.
“What a great shame to lose the undergraduate programme at Bristol Old Vic … one of the top drama schools in the UK. I auditioned there and didn’t get in, but I still don’t want it to close!”
