Fitting in or standing out? An enquiry into the varied social cultures of UK music conservatoire students

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There are currently nine music conservatoires in the UK (seePerkins & Mills, 2009). The first UK conservatoire, the RoyalAcademy of Music (RAM) opened its doors in 1822 and sincethen, the RAM claims to have successfully trained some ofthe world's most influential musicians (see RAM, 2018). Areport conducted by Polifonia (2007) states thatconservatoires were originally founded to educate and trainelite musicians for a classical music performing career andmany of these institutions still share these values. Thissuggestion is problematic for two reasons. First, it impliesthat the conservatoires are only for elite musicians.Secondly, it suggests that those entering the conservatoiredo so with the understanding that they have to fit into thismodel of elite. Whilst data from UCAS annual reports show asteady rise in applicants throughout the past 10 years, thereports also show a clear correlation between studentbackground and audition success (See CUKAS, 2006, 2013;UCAS Conservatoires, 2016, 2017). For example, studentsauditioning for entry from advantaged backgrounds into theat all 9 UK conservatoires were four times more likely to haveapplied than those from disadvantaged backgrounds (UCASConservatoires, 2015). Furthermore, the way conservatoiresseek to recruit students can be seen to reflect their elitestatus (see Coughlan, 2017). Although conservatoires haveusually been seen as "highly selective" (see Parakilas, 2002)there has been no empirical research done to date withinthese elite institutions which has analysed the socioculturalpractises to help understand the phenomenon ofconservatoire culture. Conservatoires, just like other eliteinstitutions, questionably allow the elites to seamlessly movethrough these spaces and extend their privilege in ways notopen to students from less advantaged backgrounds (seediscussions in Gumport, 2007; Stevens, 2008). This project7 / 11will be the first of its kind to explore the access issuesconservatoires are currently facing and to problematisethese through a Bourdieusian lens to generate a wealth ofnew forms of practises within higher music educationresearch.In my PhD at Kings College London, I propose to carry out anethnographic study on the London conservatoires, all ofwhich have failed to meet their government benchmark forthe recruitment of state schooled students. Furthermore, thetop three conservatoires also admitted less UK stateschooled students out of any other UK HE institution,including Oxbridge (see data in Arts Professionals, 2018).This makes this research more needed than ever before.Therefore, it is important to make sense of the kinds of socialspaces within these institutions if conservatoires arecommitted to continue to improve access to them.