In 1833, actress
Frances Maria Kelly managed the
Royal Strand Theatre where she funded and operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England. In 1840 she financed the building of the
Royalty Theatre in
Soho which opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School. The
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) remains both the UK's oldest drama school still in existence and was established in 1861.
Federation Membership The
Conference of Drama Schools was an organisation that comprised Britain's 22 leading Drama Schools. CDS existed to strengthen the voice of the member schools, to set and maintain the highest standards of training within the vocational drama sector, and to make it easier for prospective students to understand the range of courses on offer and the application process. Founded in 1969, the 22 member schools continue to offer courses in Acting, Musical Theatre, Directing and Technical Theatre training. Graduates of CDS courses are currently working on stage, in front of the camera and behind the scenes in theatres and studios across Britain. In 2012, CDS was merged with the
National Council for Drama Training to create a single national authority Drama UK responsible for both the provision of Drama Training and accreditation of official courses. In 2017, Drama UK was replaced by the
Federation of Drama Schools. Top drama schools in the UK are members of the mission group
Conservatoires UK, which also includes the country's world-leading music schools.
Funding In the UK, funding varies from drama school to drama school. Historically drama schools were not part of the mainstream academic system, and therefore were not funded on the same basis as universities. Some drama schools are now part of a university, such as
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which is part of the
City University of London, and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, which is part of the University of Manchester, and these tend to charge similar tuition fees to universities. Student loans, drama awards and scholarships may help to provide students with their funding. The most prominent funding scheme for performing arts education in the UK are the
Dance and Drama Awards. This is a government scheme which subsidises the training offered at a selection of the leading performing arts schools in the fields of dance, drama, musical theatre and stage management. ==Ireland==