Audition fees scrapped at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Hattie Fisk
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
The school promises to remove financial barriers for students from low-income backgrounds to ensure they can ‘further their ambitions and fulfill their potential’.
Terri Harrison
In a move to increase access and diversity, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is dropping the fees on all of its auditions.
Maintaining its promise to have no fees on its music auditions, the move also covers the auditions of all acting and dance courses including its new BA (hons) courses in Musical Theatre and Musicianship.
LIPA have said the change is in response to the cost of living crisis, coming into immediate effect for students auditioning this year for September 2023 entry.
Principal and CEO, Sean McNamara says: ‘Withdrawing all audition fees demonstrates our commitment to increasing access to LIPA by removing financial barriers for students from low-income backgrounds.
‘We want all aspiring performers and creative artists of the future to have the opportunity to undertake world leading professional vocational training so they can further their ambitions and fulfill their potential in pursuit of developing a career in the creative industries.’
In 2021, LIPA scrapped fees for first stage acting auditions, and reduced the recall audition fees for both acting and dance to £30 from £40.
The school will also continue to offer travel grants to applicants who come to areas where those in higher education is traditionally low - something that has been in place since 2011.
