BRIT School

BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology

Established	1991
Type	City Technology College
Principal	Nick Williams
Location	The Crescent Croydon London CR0 2HN England
Local authority	Croydon
DfE URN	101849
Ofsted	Reports
Students	880 (600 in Sixth Form)
Gender	Mixed
Ages	14–19
Website	www.brit.croydon.sch.uk

The London School for Performing Arts & Technology (most commonly known as The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology) is a British school located in Selhurst, Croydon, in London, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible. Selective in its intake, the school is notable for its numerous alumni including Ace and Vis, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jamie Woon, Jessie J, Leona Lewis, Katie Melua, The Kooks, Imogen Heap, The Midnight Beast, Katy B, and Rizzle Kicks.

Established in 1991 under the CTC programme, the school is funded by the British Government, with support from the British Record Industry Trust, and maintains an independent school status from the local education authority. However, despite its independent status, it is remarkable as being one of the only performing arts schools in the world that is completely free to attend.

History

What was to become The BRIT School had an awkward creation. Three players came together with different agendas. Mark Featherstone-Witty had been inspired by Alan Parker's 80's film Fame 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 Richard Branson to be the Project Champion who had agreed, but would only do so if other record companies chipped in. As it happened, The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) were concerned with home taping and realised they had no political influence to bring the necessary pressure to bear. The Conservative Government needed to give impetus to their flagging City Techology College scheme. The story has been best described in Mark Featherstone-Witty's book 'Optimistic, Even Then'.

During the recent 20th anniversary of The BRIT School’s opening, Kenneth Baker (former Secretary of State for Education) announced a new performing arts University Technical College in Manchester. He likened this to The BRIT School, although this was news to everyone (including BRIT school staff) and would be hard to accomplish given the emphasis on technology. Nevertheless, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) welcomed a new performing arts training development, given the grossly uneven provision nationally.

Mandate

Rootles Gig (Music)

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 a professional theatre, The Obie Theatre, which can seat audiences of up to 324 and standing audiences up to 500. There are also various dance studios, musical theatre studios and TV and radio studios.

The school was founded in 1991 under the auspices of the City Technology Colleges (CTC) initiative with sponsorship from The British Record Industry Trust (BRIT). Each year the BRIT Awards Music Ceremony raises money, some of which is used to help the continuing sponsorship of the school along with other music charities.

The school is constituted as a registered charity under English law.

Entry

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 in their chosen focus (either theatre, Broadcast and Digital Communication (BDC), music, musical theatre, drama, dance or visual arts, or technical theatre for sixth-form entry students), plus a meeting with relevant tutors. Entry to the Music course also includes some aural and music theory tests, with entry to the Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre courses including audition rounds.

Dance Vision (Dance)

Steer The Stars (Musical Theatre)

Growth

The school is planning on a large amount of growth starting in 2012. The school bought Selhurst High School next door to add to its set of buildings. Three new courses, Creative Design Technology, Interactive Media and Community Arts Practise are to be introduced to coincide with the opening of the new buildings.

Television appearance

GMTV did a one-week focus on the BRIT School, which was shown in the mornings for a week. Alan Carr's Talk show Alan Carr: Chatty Man' spoke about the BRIT School on the 13th December 2010. An episode of Celebrity Masterchef was filmed at the BRIT School in spring 2011, which included the final 4 candidates serving lunch. A documentary was filmed and shown on the CBBC channel.

Alumni

• Adele (Singer)
• Amy Winehouse (Singer)
• Ashley Madekwe (Actress)
• Ace and Vis (TV/Radio Presenters)
• Bashy (Rapper/Actor)
• Tommy Bastow (Actor)
• Tania Foster (singer)
• Blake Harrison
• Cush Jumbo
• Twist and Pulse (Performers)
• Dane Bowers
• Emily Head
• Imogen Heap
• Jamie Woon
• Jeremy Warmsley
• Jessie J (Singer)
• Joel Pott (Frontman of Athlete(band))
• Kate Nash (Singer)
• Katy B (Singer)
• Katie Melua
• Kellie Shirley
• Laura Dockrill
• Leona Lewis (Singer)
• Lynden David Hall
• Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry)
• Natalie Stewart (Floetry)
• Noisettes
• Polly Scattergood
• Rickie Haywood Williams
• Rizzle Kicks
• Spark
• Stefan Abingdon (The Midnight Beast)
• Tara McDonald
• The Feeling
• The Kooks
• Charlie Jackson
• King Krule

External links

• The BRIT School News Blog
• The BRIT Trust
• The BRIT Awards
• The BRIT School LIVE at The Bloomsbury Theatre 2007