Our role in the process

CUKAS provides a central application service for courses at seven conservatoires in the UK.

Our process, tools and guidelines are designed to make applying easy, accurate and timely for your students and for staff at the conservatoires.

How CUKAS works

Six steps to applying

There are six main steps for applicants to follow when applying to study at a conservatoire - we explain these in the six steps section.

Completing an application

Applicants complete an application online using Apply and can choose up to six course choices.

Visibility of all choices

When we receive an application, we send all the information online to each choice of conservatoire at the same time. The data that we send to each conservatoire includes any other choices of conservatoire that the applicant may have made.

Conservatoires can then contact each other to ensure that they all schedule auditions for the same applicant on different days. Conservatoires are expected, however, to make decisions on all applicants independently.

CUKAS does not send any copy paper application forms to the conservatoires.

Decision-making

Applicants will normally need to have auditions before the conservatoires can make their decisions. This usually involves giving a live audition at the conservatoire, but in some cases applicants are allowed to send in recordings or videos. Some conservatoires have audition centres in other countries to cater for international applicants. The time taken to organise and hold auditions is the main factor that determines how long conservatoires need to make their decisions.

Types of decisions conservatoires can make>>

Exam results

We receive exam results for certain qualifications. These qualifications are listed in the students' section. We send these results to the conservatoires, who then confirm or decline applicants' offers based on their results. If an applicant's qualifications are not listed, they're responsible for sending results to their chosen conservatoires.

Fraud

We have a verification unit working to identify fraudulent applications. If any of your students are found to have provided false or misleading information, their application could be cancelled.

How to contact us

If you need to contact us, we have a dedicated Schools Team who can answer your questions. Call 0845 123 8001
(or 0044 845 123 8001 from outside the UK).