Guildhall School of Music and Drama

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama was founded by the City of London Corporation in 1880 and sits in the Barbican, central London. It teaches music, acting, and production arts including stage management and technical theatre. Its overseas undergraduate fee is GBP 23,120, the lowest of the London conservatoires and GBP 8,180 a year below the Royal College of Music. Against that, Guildhall publishes no ceiling on increases: later years are charged at the rate for that year. It does not use UCAS Conservatoires. Guildhall admits directly, so an application here does not consume one of the six conservatoire choices — a genuine advantage when applying broadly — but it runs on its own deadline and has to be tracked separately. Its production arts provision distinguishes it. Stage management, lighting, sound and video design are taught to conservatoire standard at very few UK institutions, and for an applicant interested in theatre production rather than performance Guildhall is one of the few realistic routes.