# UK music colleges



## Jaws (Jun 4, 2011)

I expect that it is well know in the UK that not all universities are considered equal. Some are much more difficult to get into, Oxford and Cambridge for example. Music colleges are the same. I am being told that school careers departments and music teachers know about this. I would like to suggest that anyone considering going to music college or who has a child considering studying at music college finds out which colleges are considered the top ones. At least then if you know, you can work out what sort of career you or your child can expect after attending music college, especially if they don't get into one of the top ones. 

Even if you attend one of the top music colleges, a playing career is not guaranteed. A place in an orchestra can only be obtained if a player retires. If no one who plays your instrument retires the year that you leave college, this drastically reduces your chance of ever getting a place in an orchestra. The reason for this is that by the time someone retires there may be another year of good people just about to leave college who are more likely to be in practise than you, because they haven't had to earn a living for a year.

It is also quite possible to get a playing job in an orchestra after studying at university. There are professional players in the UK who studied at univesity and who didn't study music. 

In order to avoid problems it is a very good idea to do a lot of research before deciding whether to study at music college or not.


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