"A reasonable argument against the current UCAS system with regards to drama school applications.”

This is not an account of one of my auditions. I repeat: this is NOT another account of an audition (I can virtually hear the sighs of relief from all around). This is me having what some people might call “a rant”, but what I prefer to call “a reasonable argument against the current UCAS system with regards to drama school applications”.

Allow me to explain: if you are a regular reader (I’m talking to both of you, here) then you will know that I really enjoyed my audition at Central last year, and may be wondering now why I am not applying there again this time around – a very reasonable question, and one with a slightly complicated and incredibly frustrating answer.

As you will know if you have applied there before, Central (as well as Drama Centre and Rose Bruford, among others) use the UCAS system for their applications. The idea of using UCAS is to simplify the process of applying for higher education by bringing all the various course options around the country together in one system, rather than all institutions having to operate entirely independently of one another, which would make things rather complicated for people applying to several different places at once.

Sounds fair enough, right? Well, I’m afraid that’s not quite how I see it…

The trouble with UCAS, when thought of in terms of drama school applicants, is that it only allows you to apply for five courses per year. As most people using UCAS will be applying for universities as well as drama schools, when you think about it this can severely limit your options. Even when only applying to two drama schools on UCAS, as I did last year, that only leaves three universities for you to apply to at the same time, and as university applicants will know, the more options you have, the better. For instance, last year, I only gained a place at one of the three universities that I was able to apply to, and I could easily have got into none at all. If I hadn’t got into any then I could have been forced to take a gap year that I didn’t want to take, a situation that could potentially have been avoided by being able to apply to the full complement of five universities, at the same time as applying to drama schools (which I think would be fair, given how unlikely the chances of gaining a drama school place are). Now, as I had planned from the start to take a gap year if I didn’t get in to drama school the first time round, this was not actually a problem for me, as I had applied to all the universities with a view to deferring my place there for a year anyway, to take if I didn’t get into a drama school at the second time of asking. But many people might not have been in my position and could have just wanted to apply once to drama school – these people could have potentially been left with no other option but to take a gap year if they didn’t get a place at a drama school or any of their three universities.

So now you’re thinking, “I don’t know why he’s so grumpy – he’s just written a 317-word paragraph about how UCAS does screw some people over, but how he ISN’T one of those people!” Oh, but I wish it were that simple…

I have my university place, which I am willing to take in the event that I don’t get into drama school this year. Unfortunately, because of the UCAS system, I can’t keep that place in reserve and start a new UCAS application at the same time. If I want to keep my deferred place at university as a backup, I am not allowed to use UCAS again to apply to Central, or Drama Centre, or Rose Bruford, or any other drama school on UCAS. This is why the only schools I have been able to apply to this time around have been ones that do not use the UCAS system. Considering how hard it is to gain a place at any drama school, I think that having your options limited like this is really unfair.

In my opinion, all the drama schools should be following RWCMD’s example. They use the new “CUKAS” system, which is an affiliate of UCAS that specialises in performing arts courses. This would provide all the positives of the UCAS system, such as a streamlined application process that makes things simpler for people, but, as it is a separate entity to UCAS itself, would prevent the stupid problem that I have from happening to people. Because the universities would be on one system and the drama schools on the other, there wouldn’t be any conflicts between the two and people like me would be able to apply to all the schools that they wanted to, with university as a separate, viable option in the likely event that applying to drama school doesn’t work out.

They should really put me in charge, shouldn’t they?...