A Guide to St Mary's Music School Admissions

Written By Dr Xiaoyun Peng

Inchwise Research · Independent Schools Policy Unit

Data current to 15 October 2026. Applies to entry in the 2027–28 school year.

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In brief

St Mary’s Music School is at Coates Hall, Edinburgh. It was founded in 1880 as the choir school of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral and became a specialist music school in 1972. It takes instrumentalists from P5 to S6, singers from S2 or S3, and cathedral choristers from age seven or eight. It is in Scotland and is not part of England’s Music and Dance Scheme; its funding scheme is the Scottish Government’s Aided Places Scheme.

  • The school states that it can accommodate up to 80 pupils. The inspection report records 64 pupils in October 2024; around a third board.

  • Instrumentalists apply in stages: a recorded first submission, a written application and advisory audition, a full audition with interview, and an in-person two-day stay.

  • There is no closing date for applications. Application and audition fees are not published.

  • Published 2026/27 fees for UK instrumentalists run from £40,041.60 (junior day) to £61,458.00 (senior boarding), including VAT.

  • The Aided Places Scheme is means-tested and can cover up to 100 per cent of tuition and boarding fees. It carries a published residence condition, and the fees page states that it is not open to pupils from outside the United Kingdom.

01 About the School

The school is at Coates Hall, 25 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EL. It was founded in 1880 to educate the choirboys of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, established its specialist music school in 1972, modelled on the Yehudi Menuhin School, and moved to Coates Hall in 1995. The cathedral choir has admitted girls alongside boys since 1976. The school describes itself as one of nine specialist music and dance schools in the UK.

The school states that it can accommodate up to 80 pupils; the inspection report of February 2025 records 64 children and young people in October 2024. Around a third of pupils board, with full, flexi and occasional boarding offered. The minimum boarding age is given as 12 on the instrumentalist page and as the start of S1 (age 11) in the FAQ. The age range is given as 9 to 19 in the FAQ and 8 to 19 on the About page. The school is run by St Mary’s Music School Trust Ltd, Scottish charity SC014611.

02 Who the School Admits

  • Instrumentalists — P5 (age 9 to 10) to S6 and a Senior 6 extension year (age 18); new pupils may join in any year. For international pupils the school lists the usual entry points as S1 to S3, S5 or S6.

  • Singers — Changing Voices in S3 to S4 (ages 13 to 16) and a Senior Vocal Programme in S5 to the S6 extension year (ages 16 to 19); the admissions page gives S2 as the first entry year for first-study singers.

  • Choristers — boys and girls aged 7 and 8, for a five-year commitment from P5 to S2.

Entry is based on musical ability and potential, on the same basis at every age and for UK and international candidates. No grade requirement is specified; the school states that this is not a programme for beginners. It teaches the full range of orchestral instruments, piano, organ, clarsach, accordion, recorder, saxophone, guitar and bagpipes, and states that it will accept applications for any instrument. Composition can be taken as a first study. Jazz or traditional music as a named first-study programme is not published.

03 How to Apply

For instrumentalists the stages are a preliminary recorded submission, a written application, an advisory audition, and a full audition with interview, followed by a two-day stay. The first-stage recording is a video of two performance-standard pieces on the first-study instrument, plus one for each additional instrument, submitted with the Stage 1 enquiry form as an unlisted YouTube link; practice recordings are not considered. The Headteacher and Director of Music reply by email within ten days.

Singers follow four stages: a digital enquiry, an advisory audition, a full audition in person and a two-day stay in person. Chorister applicants meet the Organist and Master of the Music before an audition, with a result emailed within five days.

There is no closing date for applications; the school advises applying early in the academic year for September entry. Application fees, audition fees and the deposit are not published. An Instrumental Taster Day is held on Sunday 25 October 2026 for pupils from P4 to S2 with at least twelve months of lessons.

04 The Audition and Two-Day Stay

The instrumental audition consists of two short contrasting pieces on the first study, one piece on any second instrument, work with an accompanist where needed, an interview and simple aural tests. Scales and sight-reading are not listed. The two-day stay includes assessed lessons, academic lesson reports and ensembles or choirs, and the decision is emailed within two days.

Singers perform two contrasting songs or arias, one in a language other than their own, to a panel that includes an external voice specialist. The chorister audition includes a song, reading aloud, aural tests and vocal exercises, and a short academic assessment.

Audition dates for 2027–28 entry are not published; auditions take place through the year. The school states that it ideally meets all candidates in person; a procedure for overseas or remote auditions is not published, and the two-day stay is in person.

05 Fees, 2026/27

The fees page, headed Session 2026/27, gives annual fees including VAT at the standard rate, which has applied to school fees since January 2025:

  • UK instrumentalists — junior day £40,041.60; junior boarding £56,727.60; senior day £44,772.00; senior boarding £61,458.00.

  • International instrumentalists — junior day £41,643.60; junior boarding £58,996.80; senior day £46,562.40; senior boarding £63,916.80.

  • Choristers, day only — junior £17,004.00; senior £21,388.80.

  • Lunches for day pupils — £627 a year.

These fees are stated before Aided Places Scheme or Cathedral funding is applied. Fees for 2027–28 are not published.

06 The Aided Places Scheme

The Scottish Government funds the Aided Places Scheme under the St Mary’s Music School (Aided Places) (Scotland) Regulations 2015, as amended. The school administers it, and the Government states that Ministers have no part in the selection of pupils. The 2026–27 impact assessment refers to tuition and boarding fees for up to 51 pupils; the school’s own page, without a year, refers to tuition assistance for 55 pupils and boarding assistance for up to 35 instrumentalists. The February 2025 inspection report states that the scheme provides around three quarters of the funding for places.

The scheme is means-tested on relevant income, normally both parents’ pre-tax income plus the child’s unearned income, less an allowance per dependant, and can cover up to 100 per cent of tuition and boarding fees. Published 2026/27 parental contributions for one child include nil up to £17,103; at £50,000, £3,463 for a day place and £5,555 for boarding; and at £100,000, £10,663 day and £14,555 boarding.

The regulations set a residence condition as part of the scheme: residence in the British Islands throughout the two years before 1 January of the first aided year. The school’s fees page states that the scheme is not open to pupils from outside the United Kingdom.

Choristers may receive Cathedral bursaries of at least a third of fees, which cannot be combined with an aided place. The school also has donor-funded bursary funds; their amounts and criteria are not published.

07 Academic Curriculum

P5 to P7 study the second level of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence in one composite class, and S1 to S2 study levels 3 and 4. From S3, pupils take National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications. Higher Music is taken in S4 and Advanced Higher Music in S5, and all pupils are presented for A level Music in S6. The school states that half of the school week is given to music. English as an Additional Language is available for international pupils.

08 Inspection and Outcomes

A joint inspection by Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate took place in October 2024, with a letter dated 25 February 2025. Education Scotland graded leadership of change, learning, teaching and assessment, and wellbeing, equality and inclusion as very good, and raising attainment and achievement as excellent. The Care Inspectorate graded the boarding service good on each of its three measures. Areas for improvement included improvement planning with the Board of Governors and the documentation trail of concerns.

The summarised inspection findings state that from 2019/20 to 2023/24 all young people achieved grade C or better at National 5 and Higher, and that all move on to a positive destination. The school states that 100 per cent of its pupils have secured conservatoire places to date; the cohort size, years and institutions are not stated.

09 Not Yet Published

  • Application fee, audition fee and deposit.

  • Deadlines, audition dates, fees and term dates for 2027–28.

  • Scales or sight-reading in the instrumental audition.

  • A procedure for overseas or remote auditions.

  • Amounts and criteria for the school’s own bursaries.

  • Destination figures by year.

About this guide

Inchwise is a London education consultancy for families whose children take music seriously. This guide records what the institution publishes, with the date each fact was retrieved. Inchwise is not affiliated with the institution and does not predict admissions outcomes. Where a decision depends on something this guide lists as not published, only the institution’s admissions office can confirm it.

Published dates for this admissions round, institution by institution: 2027 entry: published application and audition dates.

Inchwise offers an online mock audition modelled on the audition format an institution publishes: Mock Audition and Written Report.

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Sources

Dr Xiaoyun Peng
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