Council for Dance Education and Training http://www.cdet.org.uk

Photographs of various dance styles, schools and rehersals including: Bird College, Central School of Ballet, Urban Dance Company, Stella Mann College and The Urdang Academy. Credits from left to right:
1. Photograph by Peter Teigen, courtesy Bird College
2. Photograph by Bill Cooper, courtesy Central School of Ballet
3. Student at the Urdang Academy Photograph, courtesy The Urdang Academy
4. Photograph by Thomas Grey of dancer Michael Joseph, courtesy Urban Dance Company
5. Photograph of Sarah Preston by Peter Teigen, courtesy Stella Mann College
6. Photograph by Bill Cooper, courtesy Central School of Ballet

Recognised School (RS) Status

The Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET) has announced its new mark of recognition for all dance and musical theatre schools working with students under the age of sixteen - Recognised School (RS) status. The Council’s information service Answers for Dancers receives hundreds of enquiries a year from students and parents requesting information on the thousands of pre-and non-vocational schools operating throughout the country. Until now there has been no means of confirming that these schools meet even the most basic standards of professional practice and students have had no indication of the quality of service they can expect. The CDET mark has been introduced to provide that assurance.

Photograph by Roy Campbell-Moore. Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance.

The RS mark is renewable annually and is self-validating – applicant schools will be required to confirm to the Council in writing that they adhere to the nine Requirements of the mark and issue a copy of those Requirements to each and every student enrolling on a course at the school. Should a Recognised School be then demonstrated to have failed in its undertaking, continuation of its award will be reviewed at the time of the next scheduled renewal. Dated Recognised School certificates, which must be prominently displayed at each venue in which a school operates, will be issued annually. Schools applying for the award will be issued with Guidelines supported by Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help put the Requirements in place.

Requirements for Recognised School Status and self-certification application form

Guidelines for Recognised School Status

Frequently Asked Questions about Recognised School Status

Sean Williams, director of CDET said: “A school holding the RS mark will clearly offer much more assurance as to the quality of its service than one without it and we shall be actively encouraging students, parents and carers to ask at the time of enrolment if a school holds the mark and if not, why not. RS is the first stage in the development of a national standard upon which students can rely and to which all pre-vocational dance and musical theatre schools aspire. RSS will cost Recognised Schools just £100.00 per year, it is clearly very important that no school is excluded on financial grounds.”

The names and contact details of Recognised Schools will be published on this website.

Further information on the Recognised School mark is available by clicking on the links on this page or by email - e.klebe@cdet.org.uk by telephone on 020 7240 5703 or by post (A5 SAE £0.45).

CDET, Old Brewer's Yard, 17 - 19 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9UY
phone: 020 7240 5703 fax: 020 7240 2547 email: info@cdet.org.uk