Royal Welsh College plans cuts to junior school

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has started a consultation process to end its existing teaching provision for school-aged children at the end of this academic year because of “significant financial challenges” as well as a need to reach “young people from diverse backgrounds" and "embrace the Welsh language," the school has confirmed.

The proposals would see the complete withdrawal of the Cardiff school's Saturday Junior Conservatoire, which provides music tuition to 182 children aged 4 -18, as well as Young RWCMD Drama, a Sunday course for 152 students aged 3 to 12+. Cutting the programmes would affect five full-time salaried staff members and a further 112 employees who work variable hours throughout the term.

A petition against the junior school’s closure, with over 2,000 signatures, claims pupils are being "left out in the cold” as many receive bursaries to afford their tuition fees and play on instruments loaned by the college, which will have to be returned.

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Responding to concerns raised on social media last week after parents and staff were notified of the college’s plans, RWCMD issued a statement defending the proposals due to the “significant financial challenges” it is currently experiencing.

The statement said its weekend youth programmes demanded “considerable subsidy” from the conservatoire and received no direct funding from the Welsh Government or Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (formerly Higher Education Funding Council Wales).

The college said: “Continuing to subsidise Young RWCMD in this way isn’t sustainable given our serious financial pressures.”

In addition to citing costs as a motivation for ending the junior schools, RWCMD said that the current model of weekly, term-time activity limits its ability to offer “vibrant experiences into professional training” that reach “young people from diverse backgrounds not just from the Cardiff area” and to “embrace the Welsh language”.

The college said it remains  “fully committed” to providing opportunities for young people to access professional training in music and theatre.

However, it added that meeting the "changing needs of students in the future” would mean “rethinking aspects of how we deliver our training while continuing to make the highest impact and contribution possible to the performing arts, musicians and theatre makers, and Wales".

'Devastated and disappointed'

The Musicians’ Union said it was “devastated” by the planned closure of the school's junior programmes and “very disappointed" not to have been included in the initial formal consultation process. Equity, the performers' union, was also not invited to participate.

Calling the cuts “terrible news for young people and musicians,” the MU said it understood the challenges facing RWCMD “given the state of higher education and culture after 14 years of austerity” and appreciated the college’s desire to explore alternative models of activity.

But it added: “[This] does not change the fact our members will be losing work as a result of these proposals.”

Playwright Lisa Parry told Arts Professional that the college's communication with parents had been "woeful" and that the announcement had been poorly timed, as most other junior conservatoires have completed auditions for next year.

She also noted that many pupils had already applied for trusts and foundations to help fund their places at RWCMD for next year and that these grants can not be secured for private lessons.

'Deeply upset'

Parry added: "We’re all flummoxed at the suggestion that the weekend classes are stopping RWCMD from doing good work on diversity, the Welsh language and helping young people outside of Cardiff.

"The students are an incredibly diverse bunch, and it’s an absolute joy to see how that diversity enriches their friendships; many students receive tuition in the Welsh language at college, something they struggle to receive elsewhere, and families travel for miles to attend both the music and drama courses.

"It’s just incorrect to suggest that Young RWCMD only caters to Cardiff students. These are children who are all deeply upset, and the statement led them to think they were getting in the way of causes that they all feel passionate about, too.”

The proposed closure of the school at the prestigious college comes at a challenging time for both providers of art services in Wales and higher education institutes across the UK.

The devolved Labour government in Wales has recently cut its cultural funding by 10%; meanwhile, a raft of universities across the country have recently announced job cuts impacting arts subjects, blaming falling student levels and rising costs coupled with frozen tuition fees since 2017/18.

Just two years ago, the Welsh government launched its National Plan for Music Education, which aimed to treble funding for music provision in tandem with a new curriculum. The new curriculum saw music become one of the five disciplines within the Expressive Arts Area of Learning and Experience.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We fully recognise the financial pressure higher education institutions in Wales and across the UK are under and we are engaging regularly and constructively with them.”

“We also recognise the value and importance of music education. Our £13m National Music Service gives every 3–16-year-old the opportunity to play a musical instrument, sing, and make music. 

“The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama remains a key partner in the delivery of the National Plan for Music Education, in particular providing learners with opportunities to progress in playing a musical instrument or singing.”