• Thanks to generous support from the Clore Duffield Foundation, the Academy announces the first fully funded Foundation Year course for a UK music conservatoire, with the first cohort of students to commence their studies in July 2026.
• Selected students will have access to one year of specialist training, with the cost of tuition and accommodation covered entirely. They will also receive a cost-of-living bursary.
• The course seeks to support talented students from under‑represented backgrounds by providing financial assistance and tailored training, removing the barriers that can prevent promising young musicians from progressing to conservatoire study.

The Royal Academy of Music announced today the first fully funded Foundation Year for a UK music conservatoire, underlining a clear commitment to widening access to world-class music education. Thanks to the generous support of the Clore Duffield Foundation, which has funded the course’s set-up and first three years of delivery, the Academy invites applications for the first cohort, which will commence in July 2026.

This new programme will provide a targeted pathway to conservatoire training for talented young musicians who, following decades of decline in state music education, have previously faced significant obstacles to advanced musical training. The Academy will be undertaking a focused recruitment effort to find talented, state‑educated musicians aged 18–20 who’ve experienced financial or other barriers to opportunity, with at least 50% to be recruited from outside London.

Five students each year will undertake an intensive year of one-to-one tuition, ensemble training, mentoring and academic support. The course provides structured preparation for undergraduate applications and auditions, with the core focus being to prepare students for progression to undergraduate conservatoire or university study. The course will be led by Carla Rees, currently Professor of Low Flutes and Contemporary Flute at the Academy.

All Foundation students will receive a bursary to cover living costs, and free accommodation will be available in University of London halls of residence. Financial assistance will also be offered for students who need to buy musical instruments.

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music said: ‘The Academy has been growing its Widening Participation work with increasing energy, investment and output in the last decade. A focused Foundation Year gives us the chance to do what we always dreamt of: to identify talented and committed young musicians where a shortage of access to teaching and opportunity, has often left them on the cusp of what is needed for tertiary-level music study and pre-professional programmes. This course offers us a chance of bridging the gap for those who desperately need and deserve it.’

Dame Vivien Duffield, Chairman of the Clore Duffield Foundation said: 'The Foundation Year will give talented young musicians conservatoire-level specialist training and resource, which many have not had the opportunity to access. This programme will give time, space and expert guidance to bridge that gap and to fully realise potential. The Academy pairs the highest musical standards with a long‑standing commitment to nurturing talent wherever it is found. The Clore Duffield Foundation is delighted to widen the pipeline of exceptional young musicians and ensure that ability, not circumstance, determines how far a young person can go.'

This new course is a significant development for the Academy’s Widening Participation Department, which exists to develop pathways into higher and further music education. Currently, this team delivers 50 interconnected projects reaching nearly 600 young people annually, from short-term workshops to sustained mentoring. The new Foundation Year will support the conservatoire’s aims to increase the proportion of UK undergraduates from state schools and lower income households, as well as more generally to encourage greater diversity in music education across the board.

The Academy is well placed to support students from a range of backgrounds, combining outstanding artistic standards with an established framework of financial and pastoral care. Last year, the Academy distributed nearly £5.8 million of financial support to students, and the dedicated Student Services team offers one-to-one wellbeing and mental health services. The Foundation Year will build on this strong basis, ensuring that every participant is financially secure, emotionally supported and artistically inspired to realise their full potential.

The Foundation Year is intended for students aged 18-20 who demonstrate the potential to succeed at undergraduate conservatoire level. Applications are welcomed across all principal studies taught at undergraduate level at the Royal Academy of Music. The application deadline is Friday 8 May 2026, with successful students commencing studies from July to allow sufficient preparation time for the audition period.

For more information visit ram.ac.uk

Notes for Editors

The Royal Academy of Music moves music forward by inspiring successive generations of musicians to connect, collaborate and create. It is the meeting point between the traditions of the past and the talent of the future.

The Academy has had an inestimable impact on British and international musical life by training outstandingly talented musicians for fulfilling careers for over 200 years. From its outset, Britain’s oldest conservatoire has been associated with some of the greatest names in music including Mendelssohn, Liszt and Sir Henry Wood. More recent alumni include Sir Elton John, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Edward Gardner, Max Richter, Lucy Crowe, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Jacob Collier.