Academic and boarding
The Royal Ballet School gives talented dancers the chance to pursue a career in classical ballet, alongside their academic education.
Students train full-time in classical ballet alongside their regular academic studies. Entry is by audition and hard work and dedication is required to progress through the school.
Our students come from across the UK and all over the world and are therefore required to live in boarding houses. Younger pupils live within the grounds of White Lodge, Richmond Park and Upper School students live either in Covent Garden or at our new boarding house in Pimlico.
Learn more about what it’s like to be a student of The Royal Ballet School.
Life at White Lodge
Life at Upper School
BA (HONS): CLASSICAL BALLET AND DANCE PERFORMANCE
Validated by The University of Roehampton
The Year 14, (3rd Year), class of 2023 was the fourth cohort to complete the BA (Hons) degree. There were 15 entries, of which 13 were awarded 1st Class Honours and the remaining were classed as Upper Second, 2:1.
FOUNDATION DEGREE: CLASSICAL BALLET AND DANCE PERFORMANCE
Validated by The University of Roehampton
The foundation degree is completed by our Year 13 students, (2nd Year). We are delighted to announce that 24 of our 25 candidates achieved a ‘Distinction’. The remaining candidate was awarded a Merit.
EPQ RESULTS
As part of the academic enrichment programme at the Upper School, students may choose to study a range of academic and vocational courses in addition to the degree. One of the options is the Extended Project Qualification, (EPQ). This is organised and supervised by the academic team. The cohort of 2023 was the second to enter for this qualification. There were 9 entries.
| A* | A | B | C | D | E | U | |
| Total | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| % | 11 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cumulative % | 11 | 55 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
GCSE RESULTS
| 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | U | |
| Total | 18 | 16 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| % | 10 | 9 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cumulative % | 10 | 19 | 39 | 60 | 81 | 96 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
GCSE PASS RATE
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021^ | 2020^ | 2019 | 2018 | |
| Entries | 182 | 201 | 233 | 178 | 222 | 211 |
| % 9-4 | 96 | 95 | 100 | 100 | 95 | 94 |
GCSE VALUE ADDED (CEM DATA)*
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021^ | 2020^ | 2019 | 2018 | |
| Overall Value Added | 0.47 | 0.70 | 1.03 | 0.99 | 0.88 | 0.47 |
*More information on the Value Added measure produced by The Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring can be found at www.cem.org. As a rough guide, the recorded number gives a measure of how well the students have done, on average, against what their ability suggested that they might achieve against students of similar ability nationally. For example, a positive result of 0.5 suggests that, overall, the students scored, on average, 0.5 grades higher in each subject than other students of similar ability nationally.
^ Results in 2020 and 2021 were affected by COVID-19. Centre Assessed Grades (2020) and Teacher Assessed Grades (2021) were used instead.