Scholarships for black & minority ethnic musicians at Royal College of Music

(Photo Chris Christodoulou)

UK black and minority ethnic musicians are currently under-represented across the performing arts, and the Royal College of Music is to fund three UK students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds for the BMus course beginning 2018/19. The scholarships will be awarded on merit and will be up to the value of full fees (currently £9,250 a year) and can be used to cover tuition fees or help with living costs.

A UK Music survey published in January 2017 found that in the wider UK music industry, black and minority ethnic people represent 15.6% of the workforce (which is a higher figure than that for the UK population as a whole, 12.8%). For those working in the industry under a year, the figure rises to 27.5% which suggests that either the efforts to increase diversity are working, or that black and minority musicians have a greater tendency to drop out of music into other occupations. (Full details of the diversity survey on the UK Music website).

All UK black and minority ethnic applicants for the Royal College of Music's BMus course will automatically be considered for the new scholarships when they apply for admission, there is no separate application needed just a declaration of ethnicity on the application. Applications open 19 July 2017 and the deadline to apply for the 2018/19 course is 2 October 2017.

Further information from the Royal College of Music website.