Junior RNCM is the Saturday department of the Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD. Ages 8 to 18, with Year 12 the last point of entry. Only 2025-26 fees are published: £4,751 Standard, £3,368 Foundation. Audition fee £30.

The Junior Conservatoire is the Saturday department of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 200 Jennens Road, Birmingham B4 7XR, running 30 Saturdays a year for ages eight to 18. No junior fee amount and no audition fee are published. Auditions run mainly in April and May.

The Junior Conservatoire is the Saturday department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G2 3DB. Ages 11 to 18, audition only, no minimum grade requirement. 2026-27 fees from £2,760 for 30 weeks. The 2027-28 application form opens 27 October 2026.

The Music and Dance Scheme is the Department for Education’s means-tested funding for specialist music and dance training in England. It covers eight specialist schools and the Centres for Advanced Training, which is the category the conservatoire junior departments fall into. A school place requires two years’ ordinary residence in the British Islands; a Centre for Advanced Training place requires three. Applications are made to the school or centre, after the audition. The 2026/27 contribution figures are set out in full. Every figure sourced and dated.

Junior Trinity is the Saturday department of Trinity Laban at King Charles Court, Greenwich, founded in 1906. The Main Programme takes ages 10 to 19 at £4,212 a year for 2026-27, with String Time and Band Time from age 3. The published standard is at least Grade 5 on the first study. Auditions for 2027 entry are in person during March and April; the closing date is not yet published. The page headed Centre for Advanced Training on the Trinity Laban site is the dance programme. Every figure sourced and dated.

Junior Guildhall teaches at Silk Street in the Barbican on Saturdays, 8am to 6pm. The Music Course takes ages 8 to 18 and costs £4,359 a year for 2026/27. The published entry standard is about Grade 5 distinction at the age of 10 and Grade 8 distinction by 16. Applications for September 2027 open in January and close at 11.59pm on 1 March 2027. First study piano applications are screened on paper before an audition is offered. Every figure sourced and dated.

The Royal College of Music Junior Department teaches musicians aged 8 to 18 on Saturdays in South Kensington, 9am to 5pm across 30 teaching weeks. The published entry standard is Grade 5 by the age of 11. The core curriculum fee for 2026-27 is £5,188 a year. The first audition round is by video and portfolio; the second is in person. Information about September 2027 applications is due in January 2027. Every figure sourced and dated.

A junior department is a part-time specialist music programme attended one day a week during school terms. Six English conservatoires run one, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland runs one, and the Royal Welsh College discontinued weekly junior provision in September 2024. Published annual fees for 2026/27 range from £2,760 to £5,188. Auditions are held in March and April in most cases. Department for Education funding at the English departments requires three years’ ordinary residence in the British Islands. Every figure sourced and dated.

RNCM has the widest mainland China audition coverage of the four — Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai and Shenzhen, plus Hong Kong — the lowest application cost at £114.50, and the only four-year tuition figure that can be stated exactly: £30,700 a year, £122,800 in total, flat across all four years. It is also the only one that normally requires music among the A-levels, and the only one that does not accept TOEFL or Duolingo. Offers are distributed on 24 December 2026. Every figure sourced and dated.

Guildhall is the only one of the four conservatoires that does not use UCAS Conservatoires — it is a separate application, a separate £129 and a 16:30 deadline. Scholarships are applied for only after an offer is accepted, so the net cost is unknown at the point of paying the 15% deposit, and the School states they are open regardless of domicile. Its overseas exclusion list is the longest of the four. International tuition for 2026/27 is £31,790; the 2027/28 rate is not yet published. Every figure sourced and dated.