Outcome of Young RWCMD consultation

The College has been undergoing a staff consultation process which ended on 20 June 2024. It has carefully reviewed and considered a number of staff responses, as well as feedback from students, parents and other stakeholders. However no immediate viable financial solution has been put forward and so, after careful assessment, the College has concluded that the current model of weekly activity with Young RWCMD remains financially unsustainable and therefore will not continue in September 2024. The College has kept the Welsh Government fully briefed and will continue to update the Cabinet Secretary for Education of Wales and others, as new proposals are developed.

Like many organisations across the arts and in Higher Education (HE), the College is facing financial challenges due to a range of external factors.

3 years of high inflation, undergraduate student fees have been capped at £9,000 for nearly 10 years and, in Wales, HE will see a 6% reduction in the next academic year. More widely, the HE-sector in the UK is grappling with similar challenges and more than 50 universities have already announced redundancies, with over 50% forecasting a deficit this year. Conservatoires and Drama Schools, which also operate in the context of additional financial pressures on the performing arts industries, are not exempt from these challenges. RWCMD has already developed detailed proposals which look to reduce its costs from the 2024/25 academic year.

Weekly term time Young Acting and Young Music work currently receives a considerable subsidy from the College, and it receives no direct funding for this provision from either the Welsh Government or the Higher Education Funding Council Wales. The decision to close these weekly activities will mean this subsidy ceases from 2024/25 and the resulting saving makes a material contribution to the overall cost reductions which the College has to make next year.

This decision does not mean that there is full closure of Young RWCMD or complete withdrawal from RWCMD’s work with under 18’s. The College remains fully committed to providing opportunities in music, theatre and drama for young people and to creating pathways into professional training. In 2024/25 it will continue to deliver sustainable project work which has reached almost 2000 young people in Wales, since October 2022.  This will include a series of weekend immersive music workshops, the National Open Youth Orchestra Ensemble Residency (in partnership with BBC NOW and Open up Music) and holiday courses in Production Arts which will continue to be sponsored by Bad Wolf.

A period of review in 2024/25 will enable collective thinking with young people, staff, stakeholders and external UK advisors, as we explore an ambition to develop a national talent programme for Wales that identifies and nurtures top talent, develops their skills and builds pathways through to professional training.  RWCMD is determined to play its part in supporting outstanding talent from right across Wales, in ways that are complementary with other providers including the National Music Service for Wales (NMSW), National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW), the Urdd and Seren as well as with other key organisations throughout Wales.   

The development of all this work would be underpinned by engagement and recruitment strategies that would seek to address the limitations in music and drama education provision where social inequality creates barriers for the young people of Wales. 

The College is committed to supporting students through this transition. Parents have been written to with more information about where they can seek further support and the College is working closely with affected families to provide guidance, resources, and assistance to ensure that students can continue their artistic journeys. 

Learners can speak to the member of College staff that they are most comfortable with. The College’s confidential counselling service remains available to all young learners, and information about this support can also be found in the course handbook.

Instrument loans

Learners currently borrowing an RWCMD instrument will be entitled to apply for an extended loan until Friday 29 August 2025. There will be no hire fee for the period of the loan. RWCMD remains committed to retaining its instrument collection and making these available to young learners in any future provision.