As cliché as it’s going to sound, I have always wanted to perform. I did the Saturday school stuff as a kid, I did the shows and I actually did ballet for a couple of months when I was four, before never doing another class until my first drama school audition (a big mistake). I discovered musicals at about 8 and that was it, my path was set – it was Musicals I had been searching for. 

All my clubs and extra-curricular stuff pretty much ceased once I went to secondary school however, so it wasn’t until Sixth form, (which here in the UK is where you go for two years between 16-18 to get higher qualifications for universities) that I got back into performing arts properly. We did some mediocre shows, I did LAMDA and singing exams during this period, but we also had some speakers give talks.

One such speaker was a graduate from somewhere called RADA, which I learned was a drama school. By this time, I was in my final year and had applied, visited, and been accepted to some Uni’s theatre courses. I knew even then however that none of it felt quite right, though the courses were well-designed, they weren’t quite what I felt I wanted and needed to get where I wanted to go. So, when this RADA-trained actor started talking about prestigious training places such as this one, with their contact hours, course content and connections to the industry, I realised that was the way forward for me. It really was a lightbulb moment.

I started to google and search for the main colleges in the UK, and no surprise most were either in or near enough to London. Fortunately for me, I grew up not too far away from the capital at all. About a 35-min journey on the train in fact. Not everyone has this luxury I know, so I really made the most of it. Luckily this wasn’t too late into the academic year, still winter into early-spring, and so I started applying for the very first time.

Whilst researching places that interested me, I realised each one had their own special fee for in-person auditions (which was all of them at the time as this was before Covid!). It was very quickly dawning on me how much I was going to need to audition for even just five to ten places. At the time I had a retail job going, and though it wasn’t much, I could save to make this happen – though my parents did help with hotel accommodation! 

Though I am talking about 2016 here, I can remember that RADA was the most expensive, and then the others such as GSA, Guildhall, Arts Ed and Mountview averaged out at between £45-£60. These prices are deemed more unnecessary now, but there was no way round this then, you just had to pay it. Furthermore, at this time I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to train solely in acting, or MT, so I applied for a range of colleges and courses to see what suited best. 

I was an incredibly naïve teenager in my first year of auditioning, not really grasping how important dance was, how long many others in the audition room had been dancing for, and just how many apply for these courses. That was almost 10 years ago, and I shudder to think that it’s even more now. 

Of all the auditions I did, which were many, I got into one little foundation course in one little town and it changed my life. The course actually lasted for two years and counted as a BTEC - so yes, I ended up doing 4 years of BTEC coursework…

But, as foundations should be, it was also incredibly practical based and was my first insight into training. Our days were usually 8:30-5/6pm, with various shows happening throughout the year. The classes were small, real small, my MT group was only 6 of us and we loved it. Though most foundations are one year, I didn’t mind having an extra year to really get to grips with the industry that before then I knew so little about. 

Second year meant it was time for us all to be auditioning. One of my first mistakes in 2017 into 2018 was sending off applications too late. I had been planning to send them just after Christmas, both having listened to advice about not wanting to be too early whilst still having plenty of self-doubt and nerves. Unfortunately, just after Christmas, my grandad passing meant I then waited until the second week of January to finalise and send off applications. I learnt the hard way this was too late. 

 All audition dates I got were from April onwards, and of course maybe I wasn’t going to get into these places regardless, but it really didn’t help my chances. The offer I ended up with was with a good school, no doubt about it, but I didn’t feel it was for me for many reasons. On top of not vibing there, they had offered me a diploma as their degree course was all full by then. There was no way I could afford a diploma and the loans that were available to me at the time just were not worth the interest rates for a school I wasn’t already absolutely sold on. 

Another aspect was that at the time one of my parents had a good, stable job that on paper put me over the threshold for bursaries and full-funding, e.g. a DaDa. As some of you may know, having a ‘higher’ income does not always mean having loads to spare for a multitude of reasons. Ironically, if I was deciding to train right now, I probably would be eligible! Because of all of this, I made the decision to finish up my foundation, move back home, and do it all again a third time. 

 At this time in my life this probably was one of the biggest decisions that I had made for myself, by then I knew the industry and what a gamble this was. However, once I had come to this conclusion, I felt more happy and at peace than I had in a while. And so come summer of 2018 I moved back home after 2 years and planned my ‘gap’ year. 

The first thing I wanted to sort out was getting a job, something that was part-time so I could still go to class and audition, but something that would have plenty of overtime for me to fund everything – it was going to be an expensive year! 

 It was a great year, I went on trips with my friends, passed my driving test, but most of all worked my ass off. I had weekly singing classes, evening dance classes, went to the gym, did workshops and of course auditioned again. 

 By this time, I knew exactly what places and courses I wanted to apply to and the kind of performer I was becoming. I had so much support from family, friends and colleagues. I actually saw my email of acceptance whilst on a shift, running to my manager just to be able to tell someone. I tried to keep it in so I could tell my parents in person, but I ended up calling them both and crying on the phone.

 So there you go, an incredibly quick – though maybe still too long – recap of my audition journey for drama schools. 

I know the highs and the lows inside out, I know the nerves, the stress, the sting of rejection and the fatigue. I also know how worth-it it is. How each audition teaches you something. I am someone who can speak from direct experience, someone who’s only agenda is to be here for you and equip you with all the things you learn on the way.