A Guide to Junior Trinity Admissions
Inchwise Research · Conservatoire Admissions Unit
Data current to 28 September 2026. Applies to entry in September 2027.
In brief
Junior Trinity is the Saturday department of Trinity Laban, at King Charles Court in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. It was founded in 1906 and states that it was the first junior department of a UK conservatoire. Over 400 young musicians attend across all its programmes.
The Main Programme takes 10 to 19 year olds. The 2026-27 fee is £4,212 a year. String Time and Band Time run from age 3.
The published standard is at least Grade 5 on the first study. The department states that being of the right standard alone is not a guarantee of acceptance.
The page on the Trinity Laban site headed Centre for Advanced Training is the dance programme. The version of the Main Programme that includes GCSE and A Level classes costs £4,834, and the department describes it as a reduced main programme course.
01 What Junior Trinity Is
The Saturday music department of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, teaching at King Charles Court, Old Royal Naval College, London SE10 9JF.
The department's wording: it was the first junior department of a UK conservatoire to open its doors to school children on Saturdays, in 1906.
The day starts around 09:00 and finishes around 17:00, depending on the student's age and timetable.
The department as a whole covers ages 3 to 19 across four strands: the Main Programme, String Time, Band Time, and GCSE and A Level Music.
An A Level Music course is delivered online and is open to students outside the UK. It is a distance course and not a route into the Saturday department. No other of the seven junior departments publishes an online strand.
02 Two Programmes of the Same Name
Trinity Laban runs two separate programmes that both appear on the government's list. One is music and one is dance.
The page on the Trinity Laban site titled Centre for Advanced Training is the dance programme: ages 12 to 17, at the Laban Building, Saturdays 10:30 to 17:00 plus Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for local students, at an annual cost of £4,344. Its audition is a practical class covering contemporary technique, hip-hop technique and creative tasks.
The music provision is Junior Trinity. It is funded through the Music and Dance Scheme as a music Centre for Advanced Training. Trinity Laban does not use that name for it.
gov.uk lists Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance twice: once under music Centres for Advanced Training and once under dance. They are different programmes at different addresses.
03 Ages and Strands
Main Programme: 10 to 19.
String Time: 3 to 11, Nursery to Year 6. Bowed strings.
Band Time: 3 to 11, Nursery to Year 6, with possible extension to Year 7. Recorders in Years 2 and 3; wind and brass from Year 4.
GCSE and A Level Music, in person on Saturdays at Greenwich.
A Level Music online, distance learning, open to UK and international students.
04 Standard of Entry
Applicants are expected to be at least Grade 5 standard or equivalent on their first study instrument.
The department adds that decisions take account of several factors, including the instrument and the applicant's background of formal training. There is no age-linked ladder of the kind Junior Guildhall publishes.
On its audition fee page the department states: Places at Junior Trinity are limited and being of the right standard alone is not a guarantee of acceptance to the department.
05 What the Main Programme Includes
A 40-minute individual lesson on the principal or first study instrument.
Musicianship class, 50 minutes. Choral Ensemble, 40 to 60 minutes. Chamber music and large ensembles — or in some cases a performance class — 40 to 60 minutes.
Choral Ensemble is part of the core for every student, whatever the instrument.
Composition is available as individual lessons.
Jazz is available as ensemble provision: jazz ensembles can be available for students wanting to work on jazz repertoire. No jazz first-study pathway is published.
The department publishes no list of first study instruments. Voice and organ as first studies are not confirmed on its pages.
06 Fees, 2026-27
Main Programme, core curriculum: £4,212 a year.
Main Programme including GCSE or A Level: £4,834 a year.
First study extension to 60-minute lessons: £891. Second study, 30 minutes weekly: £1,352. Alexander technique, 30-minute group: £676.
The exam variant costs £622 more than the core programme. The department describes it as a reduced main programme course with classes focused on exam preparation.
String Time, yearly: Trinity Teenies, Nursery and Reception, £449 group classes only. String Starters, Year 1, £874 group only or £2,226 including a 30-minute lesson. Stepping Stones, Years 2 to 3, £960 / £2,312 / £2,768 for group only, 30-minute or 40-minute lessons. Rhythm Runners, Years 3 to 4, £1,132 / £2,484 / £2,940. Fast Fiddlers, Years 5 to 6, £1,279 / £2,631 / £3,087.
Band Time, yearly: Teenies 1 and 2, £449. Foundation Year 1, £449. Recorders 1, Year 2, £873. Recorders 2, Year 3, £953. Wind and Brass 1 to 3, Years 4 to 6, £1,279.
No per-term figure is published for any programme. Fees are payable in advance or by instalment plan through Trinity Laban's online payment system.
2027/28 fees are not published.
07 The Audition Fee
£35, non-refundable.
Applicants already in String Time or Band Time are exempt. No other of the seven junior departments publishes an equivalent exemption.
No separate application fee, registration fee or deposit is published.
08 Applying
Applications for 2027 entry into the Main Programme open in early autumn. No closing date has been published. The 2026 deadline was 28 February 2026.
Auditions for 2027 entry take place in person during March and April, at King Charles Court.
No video or pre-screening round is published. The department specifies in-person auditions.
The department's Audition Requirements and its Application Form Notes for Guidance are linked from the course page but are not publicly readable; the files return an error. The audition content is therefore not published on the site.
The younger strands are not auditioned in the same way. Band Time entry at Nursery is by random selection from the applications received, with 15 new Teenies 1 places a year. String Time has a strict application period, to 31 March, for children entering as Teenies at age 3; children who already play submit an expression of interest and are then asked to play to the String Time Programme Manager to check they match the group they would join.
09 Money
A limited number of bursaries covers fees or a proportion of fees. They are fully means-tested and available to Main Programme students.
Funding comes from the Department for Education's Music and Dance Scheme together with trusts, foundations and individual donors.
Awards are based on household income for the financial year ending directly before the academic year applied for.
No maximum or typical award is published, and no deadline is published.
Where Music and Dance Scheme money is in play, the scheme's own residence condition applies: three years' ordinary residence in the British Islands immediately before the grant is taken up, for a Centre for Advanced Training place. That is a funding condition. Junior Trinity publishes no residence requirement for admission.
The income thresholds published on the dance programme's page — free below £35,262.46, full fees above £77,578.92, against an annual cost of £4,344 — belong to that programme and carry no academic year label.
10 Distance
Junior Trinity publishes the following on long-distance travel; no other of the seven does: Late start may be possible for students travelling long distance.
It is a timetable provision rather than an eligibility rule.
Nothing else is published about residence, travelling distance, applicants outside the UK, or visas — on the Junior Trinity hub, the Main Programme page, String Time, Band Time or the fees documents.
11 What the Department Does Not Say
No list of first study instruments. Voice and organ are unconfirmed.
No audition content on the public site; the document that holds it cannot be opened.
No 2027 application deadline, no 2027/28 fee, no per-term figure, no bursary amounts, no bursary deadline.
Nothing about progression to Trinity Laban's senior programmes, on any of its pages.
12 Points to Confirm Before Applying
The 2027 application deadline, once applications open in early autumn.
The Audition Requirements document and the Application Form Notes, by email.
Whether the child's first study is offered; there is no published list.
What the GCSE and A Level variant omits from the core curriculum.
Whether any remote audition is possible for a candidate who cannot travel in March or April.
The bursary deadline and what an award is typically worth.
For String Time and Band Time: the ballot dates, and the 31 March application cut-off for three-year-olds.
Sources
Junior Trinity: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/junior-trinity/
Junior Trinity · Main Programme, ages 10–19: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/courses/junior-trinity-ages-10-19/
Junior Trinity · String Time: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/courses/string-time/
Junior Trinity · Band Time, ages 3–11: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/courses/band-time-ages-3-11/
Trinity Laban · Children and young people, music: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/children-young-people-music/
Trinity Laban · Centre for Advanced Training (dance): https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/courses/centre-for-advanced-training/
Trinity Laban · Junior Trinity audition fee: https://shop.trinitylaban.ac.uk/product-catalogue/children-young-people/junior-trinity/audition-fee
GOV.UK · Music and Dance Scheme (last updated 24 September 2026): https://www.gov.uk/music-dance-scheme
Inchwise · A Guide to UK Conservatoire Junior Departments: https://inchwise.co.uk/guides/a-guide-to-uk-conservatoire-junior-departments
Cover photograph: King Charles Court, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, by The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Charles_Court,_Old_Royal_Naval_College,_Greenwich_-_2022-04-24.jpg The cover is a derivative of that photograph and is released under the same licence.
