Does anyone know? And are they harder than the others to get in to? Are there any other conservatoires that aren't part of CUKAS?

The CUKAS scheme didn't used to exist- there was just UCAS, if you wanted to go to a conservatoire they had their own application forms.

I'm guessing the reason it was set up was to make the application process easier for them? It's more manageable to have everything online where it is easily accessible than how they used to do it which involved physically going through form after form.

It's nothing to do with difficulty of getting in, it's as simple as those two, for whatever reason, decided to remain independant of the new system. I must admit I am surprised that RAM didn't join considering the rest of the ABRSM group did. Actually, I am more surprised they didn't all remain independant- would make more sense in my eyes for the ABRSM group to remain seperate and the "others" to collate under this system.

Anyway, it's down to the choice of the institutions- probably the choice of the admin who deal with the forms etc rather than the professorial staff.

Thank you for your reply. It seems a bit awkward that they are not part of the scheme.

Of course, the advantage is that it gives you more choices, because you can add Guildhall and RAM in addition to your maximum number of CUKAS choices, if you want to and don't mind more auditions!

Very true The trouble is, the more auditions you do, the more expensive it gets...My son is still very unsure which ones he's going to apply to.