Music and Dance Scheme
Financial assistance is available through the Department for Education’s Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) which is provided to enable young, talented musicians to receive a full-time education and training at a specialist school irrespective of their parents’ financial means. This assistance is means tested and is calculated according to a sliding scale linked to gross household income which means the higher the income, the greater the contribution. There are two parental contribution scales, one for boarding pupils and one for day pupils.
To be eligible for a place on the Music and Dance Scheme, students must normally have been resident in the UK for at least two years preceding the first of January of the year in which the place is being taken up.
In order to be eligible for the scheme in September 2024, the student must have been resident in the UK from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2023.
Under current Department for Education rules, overseas pupils who have been resident in the UK, or have been boarding pupils at the School, for two full calendar years or more are also eligible for a grant under the Scheme. Therefore, a pupil who starts at the school in September 2024 who has not previously lived in the UK, would be eligible under the Scheme’s current guidelines, from the Spring term of 2027.
As a guide, some examples of the annual parental contribution for 2023/24 for boarders are given in the table below.
| Gross family income per year | Annual parental contribution (Day pupils) | Annual parental contribution (Boarders) |
|---|---|---|
| £10,000 | £0 | £0 |
| £15,000 | £0 | £93 |
| £20,000 | £333 | £567 |
| £25,000 | £888 | £1,152 |
| £30,000 | £1,443 | £1,809 |
| £35,000 | £1,998 | £2,475 |
| £40,000 | £2,553 | £3,279 |
| £45,000 | £3,108 | £4,086 |
| £50,000 | £3,678 | £4,938 |
| £55,000 | £4,284 | £5,892 |
| £60,000 | £5,028 | £6,846 |
| £70,000 | £6,549 | £8,766 |
| £80,000 | £8,160 | £10,776 |
| £100,000 | £11,379 | £14,964 |
| £120,000 | £14,601 | £19,185 |
| £150,000 | £19,431 | £25,515 |
| £175,000 | £23,454 | £30,789 |
| £200,000 | £27,480 | £36,066 |