BRIT School

The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology[1] is a British performing arts and technology school located in the London Borough of Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible. Selective in its intake, the school is notable for its celebrity alumni.[2][3][4][5]

The BRIT School
Address
The Crescent

Croydon
,
CR0 2HN

England
Coordinates51.3899°N 0.0914°W / 51.3899; -0.0914
Information
TypeCity Technology College
Established1991
Local authorityLondon Borough of Croydon
Department for Education URN101849 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalStuart Worden
GenderMixed
Age14 to 19
Enrollment1350
Websitehttp://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk/

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.

History

Mark Featherstone-Witty had been inspired by Alan Parker's 1980s 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 Sir Richard Branson to be the project champion who agreed, on the condition that 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 then Conservative government needed to give impetus to their flagging City Technology College scheme.

For nearly 30 years, the BRIT School has been the beneficiary of funding from the British record industry, with a substantial annual contribution from the proceeds of the Brit Awards, administered via the record industry's charity, the BRIT Trust.[6]

The school's former principal Sir Nick Williams was knighted in the New Years Honours List 2013 for services to education.

Mandate
Beatles Gig (Music)

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.[6]

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 two professional theatres, the Obie Theatre, which can seat audiences of up to 324 and standing audiences up to 500; and the BRIT Theatre, which opened in January 2012 and seats audiences of up to 280. There are also various dance studios, musical theatre studios, and TV and radio studios.

YouTube Music funded a new Television Studio that opened in 2019 for Film & Media Production students.[7] This was in response to the student-run show "The BRIT Live" which airs on the BRIT School's YouTube channel, giving the students their own studio and control room to broadcast from.

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 or audition in their chosen focus (strand) (either Film and Media Production (FMP), Community Arts Practice (CAP), Dance, Interactive Digital Design, Music, Music Technology, Musical Theatre, Production Arts, Theatre and Visual Arts & Design, for sixth-form entry students), plus a meeting with relevant tutors. Entry to the Music course also includes oral and music theory tests and an audition, with entry to the Dance, Theatre, Visual Art & Design and Musical Theatre courses also including audition rounds.

Strands
Dance Vision (Dance)
Steer The Stars (Musical Theatre)

Film & Media Production (FMP)

Students learn about media, film, TV and radio production. They have access to the YouTube Music TV Studio, the two radio suites and to rent production equipment for free.

KS4: BTEC Level 2 Tech Award in Creative Media Production

Post-16: UAL, Level 3, Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology

Interactive Digital Design (IDD)

KS4: NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Graphic Design

Post-16: UAL, Level 3, Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology (Interactive Digital Design)

Growth
The BRIT School pictured in 2007

The school expanded in 2012, acquiring part of the former Selhurst High School building next door. Three new courses, Production Arts, Interactive Digital Design and Community Arts Practise were introduced to coincide with this. There are currently 1352 Students on roll.

Media appearances
  • Music Week The BRIT Awards 2019 donates £250,000 towards mental health wellbeing for young people.[8]
  • The Times Black Midi: the Brit School boys who are the most exciting band of 2019[9]
  • 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 episode that aired on 13 December 2010.
  • An episode of Celebrity Masterchef was filmed at the BRIT School in spring 2011, which included the final four candidates serving lunch.
  • A documentary was filmed and shown on the CBBC channel.

Criticism

Although the Brit school has produced many successful alumni, the school has attracted criticism: a 2011 BBC News article discussed the issue of whether students who attended the school have an unfair advantage over those who did not.[10]

Notable alumni


References
  1. "BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology - GOV.UK". www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  2. "Alumni". The BRIT School. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  3. "The BRIT School – UK Music". www.ukmusic.org. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  4. Truelove, Sam (13 October 2016). "11 of the most famous people who studied at Croydon's BRIT School". croydonadvertiser. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  5. "BRIT School which tutored Adele sells star-making skills to business". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  6. The BRIT School Celebrates Twenty Years of Success, 22 September 2011 Archived 19 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine BPI. Retrieved 5 February 2012
  7. "'We're passionate about the work of The BRIT School': YouTube Music funds studios for students". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  8. "The BRIT Awards 2019 donates £250,000 towards mental health wellbeing for young people". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  9. Hodgkinson, Will (31 May 2019). "Black Midi: the Brit School boys who are the most exciting band of 2019". The Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.(subscription required)
  10. "Do Brit School graduates have an unfair advantage?". Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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