Theatre school launches course amid funding issues

A renowned theatre school that suspended its undergraduate course due to funding challenges has launched a new short course.

Bristol Old Vic made the decision to close the degree a year ago amid wider funding issues in the arts and higher education.

Students who want to see the institution's legacy in the sector continue hope the new foundation course will breathe "new life" into the school after concerns over its future.

Principal Stuart Harvey said financial pressures remained but the theatre school was excited to launch the new course. "Internally we have a positivity in our ambition that maybe we weren't seeing last year," he added.

Harvey said: "We're in a unique position of being a vocational training establishment where the contact hours are incredibly high. The nuanced and personal approach we take with our students mean our costs rise.

"We realise that we can't offer those on the shorter Foundation courses, the same level and intensity of training students get on a three year course, but we want to give them an introduction to the drama school experience through these new shorter 2-term and 3-term courses."

The new short foundation course will offer a £5,000 bursary to 50% of new students.

This includes £20,000 gifted by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which will be allocated to up to four students.

A date for when undergraduate applications will reopen is yet to be released.

Second year student Hari Johnson said last year was "devastating" but explained how excited he was for the the prospect of "new life in the school".

"A lot of people were worried," he said.

"It was representative of a wider problem with funding in the arts. But the school did a good job of reassuring us."

Tamzin Khan, a 2025 graduate who grew up in the city, said it is important to get that extra support to "go for your dreams".

"Especially for people like myself who are from a working class background," she added.

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