Supported Application Scheme

All successful applicants to the scheme will receive:

• A free application for the undergraduate course they are applying to
• Invitations to workshops and events, both online and at the School, including the Festival of Support
• Free tickets for a Guildhall School performance or access to digital performances (dependent on availability – each participant will be invited to at least one show, with a choice of dates available)
• Advice and guidance from the Access and Participation Team
• Travel booked by our team if travelling to an on-site audition from outside of Greater London

In addition:

• Music offer-holders on the Scheme may receive one funded consultation lesson
• Production Arts applicants on the Scheme will receive one free ticket to a theatre show local to them - the team will liaise with them directly about this
• Where an offer is made, support with scholarship applications and transition to the School will be offered
• Scheme participants who enrol at the School in September 2025 will receive a £400 Access Start-up Fund award, to help them buy anything they need to start their studies (providing they also apply for a relevant Student Loan and Guildhall Financial Awards).

To be eligible for the 2025 Supported Application Scheme, you must:

• have no previous experience of university.
• be applying for an eligible undergraduate programme (listed above).
• be UK-Domiciled
• be living in a household with a gross annual income of below £35,000 OR which receives means tested state benefits OR in receipt of Free School Meals or a 16-19 bursary OR in receipt of a means tested bursary for a Guildhall Young Artists centre

You must also meet at least one of the below criteria:

• Have a home postcode which is classified as Quintile 1 or Quintile 2 in the POLAR4 data (visit the Office for Students website to find out, using the postcode checker tool*).
• Have a home postcode which is classified as Decile 1-4 in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Government dataset (visit the IMD website to find out, result is in a downloadable spreadsheet, found in column F.)*.
• Be Black, Asian or ethnically diverse.
• Be in care, care experienced, a recent care leaver or estranged from your family.
• Have a disability, which will be declared on your undergraduate application.
• Have attended a state school or college for the entirety of your education, and able to provide evidence for this.
• Have a full bursary to attend a fee paying school or home educated.
• Be a previous or current participant in an Access and Participation funded activity, or a student in a Guildhall Young Artists' Centre.

*Alternatively, email access@gsmd.ac.uk with your home postcode and we will check eligibility for these criteria for you.

Further information on the eligibility criteria can be found in the detailed instructions for applicants and teachers/advisors, in the further information section of this webpage.

You can apply to the Supported Application Scheme HERE.

You can either apply directly to the programme, or be referred by your school, college, theatre group or youth organisation. You should read the instructions for applicants before submitting an application.

You must apply, or be referred, before you submit your online application to the School – application fees already paid cannot be refunded*. You will be contacted by email if your application to the Scheme has been successful, with instructions on how to proceed with your application to the School. A successful application to the Scheme is not an application to the undergraduate programme.

*If you have already submitted an application to the School, you may still apply to the Scheme and benefit from the support, minus the free application.

• Scheme applications are considered as soon as applications open for each programme. Places are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so an early application is recommended. Please note that we cannot process a free application for a programme until applications are open for it.
• We cannot refund application fees once they have been paid, so please do not submit your online application to the School until you have email confirmation of a place on the Scheme. This email will provide instructions on how to submit your free application.
• The Supported Application Scheme is subject to the eligibility requirements above, and we regret that we cannot offer the Scheme to applicants who do not meet them.
• The application deadlines for the Scheme are final, and late applications will not be processed.
• Places on the Supported Application Scheme are in high demand, particularly for the Acting course. We ask that all applicants to the Scheme are seriously pursuing their application to Guildhall School, and intend to engage in the Scheme as much as possible.

Detailed guidance can be found in the below instructions for applicants and teachers and advisors:

You can also find the Guildhall School’s policy on the Supported Application Scheme below: