Practical Teaching Placements

Several of our programmes have one or more practical teaching placements. For some programmes, we arrange the placement for you, and for others, you are asked to find a placement, usually with a mentor, in an appropriate dance school yourself.

The BA (Hons) Ballet Education (BABE) has several practical teaching modules at Level 5 and 6 where students travel to placement schools to teach under the supervision of a mentor. We arrange the placements on behalf of our students but will try to match your availability in the evening and weekends with the timetables of our placement schools. You will need to be prepared to travel to and from the school and are expected to make use of your student Oyster card for journeys within Zones 1 to 6 of London public transport. For travel outside Zone 6, the Faculty of Education has a small fund and you can apply to the fund for financial assistance with your placement travel cost. For further information, please contact registry.

The Certificate in Dance Teaching (Ballet)* (CDT) has practical teaching placements where you suggest a suitable mentor and placement school to us. The mentor has to have a ballet teaching qualification. The school should give you access to the required number of teaching hours and offer ballet classes at different levels with at least four pupils in each class. If you are not already teaching or assisting in a dance school when you apply, you should have a potential placement school in place by the time the programme starts. Please ensure that you submit your mentor recommendation form to the Programme Officer on time. If you do not meet the deadline, you may not be able to undertake the placement and your studies may be put on hold.

*The placements for CDT should not be paid. If you are already working for the school that you propose for your placement as a paid employee, you will need to ensure that the hours you teach for your placement module are not part of your employment contract and therefore are not paid.

The Professional Dancers’ Graduate Teaching Diploma has a practical teaching placement in a dance school/teaching context of your choice, where you are supported by a Mentor and RAD Practical Teaching Tutor over a 10 week period.