Wherever you choose to study there are two main costs involved: the cost of your tuition and your living costs.
Tuition fees for 2012 entry
For 2012 entry, the tuition fee for the LIPA Foundation Certificate in Performing Arts (Acting, Dance or Singing) and Popular Music and Sound Technology is £8,950, regardless of your nationality.
We do not receive any funding from the government for providing the Foundation Certificate courses so (regardless of nationality) you have to pay these tuition fees and your living costs and will be unable to get loans or grants from the UK government to cover either of these.
We request a 25% deposit of the tuition fee, which is likely to be payable at the end of May 2012, depending on the date of your offer. This is paid online. The remaining tuition fee is also payable online prior to the start of the teaching year in September. Depending on your funding arrangements, an instalment agreement may be available.
Cost of living
Wherever you choose to study, you'll have to budget for accommodation and other everyday living expenses, such as food and bills. While the last two items roughly cost the same no matter where you study, the amount you pay for accommodation will vary significantly. The good news for our prospective students is that Liverpool accommodation costs are low in comparison with other places in the UK, particularly in comparison with those in South Eastern England.
Other good news is that, as Liverpool has a large student population, many shops and entertainment facilities here also offer student discounts. For many, this will be your first time living away from your parental/guardian's home so it's the first time when you will have to pay for your accommodation, bills, insurance, TV licence, food and laundry, clothes, books and so on. Added to that are the costs of your travel and socialising. In terms of overall living costs, we usually recommend you budget for spending around £6,500 per year, although all of this is completely personal. There is lots of advice available online about budgeting, including a very helpful calculator on the UCAS website. Once you enrol here, you can also get free and confidential help with planning your finances from advisors at Liverpool John Moores University.
Because of the intensive nature of our courses and our busy seasons of student public performances, options can be limited in terms of gaining part-time work during our teaching periods.
However, many do gain flexible part-time work, sometimes in city performance venues but also in high street retail outlets, restaurants, bars and other employers of casual staff. We also provide casual work opportunities for our students, such as working as stewards on our productions.
Free places for UK students on Foundation Certificate courses
We have up to two free places available on our Foundation Certificate courses in 2012. However, as these courses are not eligible for government support, students still need to pay for their living costs themselves. They will not be eligible to take out loans or grants from the government to cover these costs.
The free places are for UK students from a household where the gross annual income is less than £25,000, who have been offered a place on one of our Foundation Certificate courses.
To be eligible, students must:
1) Be a UK student from a household where the gross income is less than £25,000
2) Be prepared to pay a £500 deposit before enrolment (this is refundable on successful completion of the course) and able to pay their cost of living expenses
3) Be interested in continuing onto study a degree at LIPA after completing the course
4) Not already have taken part or all of a course of higher education such as a degree or postgraduate qualification.
Places are awarded to those who demonstrate that they are in the greatest financial need and who also match criteria that enable us to widen access to our courses, such as living in a neighbourhood where participation in Higher Education is low.
As we have a limited amount of free places available, in circumstances where students’ financial circumstances are judged to be the same, the final decision may need to take the students’ ability into consideration.
Students need to complete a Free Place Application Form and submit this with appropriate supporting evidence. This can be found in the downloads box on the left hand side of this page.