Exams and shows
Every date, a term ahead.
The exam sessions, the show and the summer school for the year, with the entry deadlines, mocks and exam days listed and the next one marked from today. Exams are optional and entered on the teacher's recommendation; the show has every class in it and no participation fee.
Key dates
The year, date by date.
Next up: RAD November session: mocks, Saturday 7 November 2026, in 18 days. Dates that have passed are greyed.
- 9 Oct 202611 days ago
RAD November session: entry deadline
RAD balletFees paid and entries submitted; teachers confirm readiness in the fortnight before
- 16 Oct 20264 days ago
ISTD November session: entry deadline
ISTD tap and modernFees paid and entries submitted
- 7 Nov 2026In 18 days
RAD November session: mocks
RAD balletSaturday, in class slots; parents may watch
- 14 Nov 2026In 25 days
ISTD November session: mocks
ISTD tap and modernSaturday, in class slots; parents may watch
- 21 Nov 2026In 32 days
RAD November session: exam day
RAD balletSaturday, Studio 1, Pre-Primary to Grade 5; timetable sent a fortnight before
- 28 Nov 2026In 39 days
ISTD November session: exam day
ISTD tap and modernSaturday, Studio 1, Primary to Grade 6
- 15 Jan 2027In 87 days
RAD March session: entry deadline
RAD balletGrades 4 to 8 and Intermediate Foundation
- 27 Feb 2027In 130 days
RAD March session: mocks
RAD balletSaturday
- 13 Mar 2027In 144 days
RAD March session: exam day
RAD balletSaturday, Studio 1
- 30 Apr 2027In 192 days
ISTD June session: entry deadline
ISTD tap and modernAll grades
- 1 May 2027In 193 days
Show tickets on sale to families
The showTwo per dancer guaranteed until 1 June
- 5 Jun 2027In 228 days
ISTD June session: mocks
ISTD tap and modernSaturday
- 19 Jun 2027In 242 days
ISTD June session: exam day
ISTD tap and modernSaturday, Studio 1
- 4 Jul 2027In 257 days
Show technical rehearsal at the Riverfront
The showSunday, all day, all classes
- 10 Jul 2027In 263 days
Tempo: Lights Up at the Riverfront Theatre
The showSaturday, 2:30pm and 7pm
- 27 Jul 2027In 280 days
Summer school, five days
Summer schoolMonday to Friday, 9:30am to 3:30pm, eight to sixteen
Exam fees
What an entry costs, and what it includes.
The examining body\'s fee plus the pianist and the examiner\'s travel, shared across the session. Paid at the entry deadline. Two extra rehearsal classes per grade between the mock and the exam are included.
RAD ballet
Pre-Primary to Grade 3£48 an entry
March and November sessions, examined in Studio 1 with Rhodri at the piano. Results in about five weeks with a mark sheet.
RAD ballet
Grades 4 to 8, vocational£72 an entry
Grades 6 to 8 and Intermediate Foundation carry UCAS points. Intermediate and above by arrangement with Nerys.
ISTD tap and modern
Primary to Grade 3 / Grades 4 to 6£42 / £64 an entry
June and November sessions, each style entered separately. Marked out of a hundred, distinction at eighty.
The show
Tempo: Lights Up. The Riverfront, Saturday 10 July 2027.
Two performances, 2:30pm and 7pm, every class from Pre-Primary to the adults on stage, the Seniors\' commercial routine closing the first half and the crew the second, with the year\'s medals and certificates presented between. No participation fee: two tickets per dancer guaranteed from 1 May (£14 adults, £10 children and concessions), a costume hire of £35 a routine returned afterwards, and a costume fund for any family that asks. Technical rehearsal at the theatre on Sunday 4 July.
The summer school
Five days, four guest teachers, 27 to 31 July 2027.
9:30am to 3:30pm for eight to sixteen-year-olds, £165 for the week and £140 for a sibling: contemporary, musical theatre, acro and Bollywood from visiting teachers, a daily technique class, a choreography project the group makes from nothing, and a sharing for parents on the Friday at 3pm. Thirty-six places, a third of them to dancers from other schools, usually full by Easter.
Ask for a summer school placeQuestions about exams
What if my child fails?
In the last two sessions two entries out of a hundred and twelve did not pass, and both took the grade again at the next session and passed. A fail is a mark sheet that says what to work on, nothing more, and the teacher will say so. A child entered on recommendation almost never fails.
Can we watch the exam?
No; the examining bodies do not allow it. Parents wait in reception, and the dancers come out in their groups. The mock the fortnight before is open to parents and is a better watch anyway.
Do the grades count for anything?
RAD Grades 6 to 8 and the vocational grades carry UCAS points, and all the grades are regulated qualifications. More usefully, a dancer with a run of grades has learned to prepare, to be examined by a stranger and to read a mark sheet without crying, which is a transferable skill.
The first class is free. Any class, any age, nothing to buy.
Tell us the dancer's age and the style you are curious about, and the office rings back the same day with a class that has a space. Come in anything you can move in, stand at the back if you like, and decide afterwards. Or ring Bethan in the office.