Course Award: | Duration: | Application Deadline: | In Person Audition Dates: | Places: |
CertHE | 1 year Full-time | Midnight 29 March 2026 | December 2025, February & April 2026 | 30 |
Foundational Training For Aspiring Dance Artists
The Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) in Dance is a course of study designed as the first step in a student’s education and training towards becoming a professional dance artist, performer, or choreographer. As a programme of study, it encompasses the physical, technical, expressive, creative, and artistic nature of dance performance informed by contextual and theoretical aspects of the discipline, including cultural perspectives.
The uniqueness of this course is the ability to choose from one of two distinct pathways, allowing students to develop and specialise in either: Contemporary or Street Dance Styles.
Students are enriched by a range of technical, creative and performance experiences in various contexts, all of which support them at the start of their journey towards a career in dance.
*This programme is also suitable for 16/17-year-olds as a full-time alternative access route to Higher Education.
NSCD is a Higher Education Institution and our Home fee-paying undergraduate students are entitled to the same financial assistance as students at UK Universities. This support includes government-sponsored loans and grants. Most Home fee-paying students are able to apply for a course fee loan to pay for fees and a maintenance loan to contribute towards living costs from the Student Loans Company.
Other types of financial assistance are available for applicants of low income households, care leavers, and refugees.
For detailed information on tuition fees, financial support, and associated costs for all courses, visit our Fees and Finance page here: www.nscd.ac.uk/study/fees-finance/certhe
Home | Overseas |
£ 9,270 | £19,570 |
In this module, students will encounter the foundational principles of dance practices relevant to either 1) the current contemporary dance sector, or 2) the street dance industry.
Dependent on the chosen pathway, students will be introduced to a broad range of dance practices/forms, through an integrated approach which ensures that students can gain understanding of traditional techniques, whilst also being introduced to more current and diverse approaches to dance training, as is fitting for this level of vocational training.
In this module, students will receive instruction in the core principles of devising and developing choreography and composition. The main focus will be upon giving students a core set of skills and a fundamental understanding of key practices and practitioners from which to develop an in-depth understanding of choreography and movement language.
In this module, students will investigate the history, cultural perspective and current context of dance from multiple angles. This will include integrating theory and practice to generate an inclusive and multifaceted learning environment.
This module will build on the skills and embodied knowledge acquired in the Dance Practices: Foundations of Movement module, further enabling the development of curiosity, physical versatility and an understanding of the stylistic and artistic concerns within each movement language explored.
As with Dance Practices: Foundations of Movement, this Dance Practices module will be split into 2 distinct pathways; Contemporary Dance and Street Dance Styles, with the opportunity for integration and cross-over as appropriate, combining the study of a diverse range of dance forms.
In this module, students will examine and interpret repertoire drawn from a broad range of dance works. Students will be given a broad overview of a number of works and aesthetics before focusing on a specific work to rehearse and perform.
In this module, students will integrate learning from multiple perspectives, connecting theory learnt in other modules and practice, to generate an inclusive learning environment in which concepts are explored using a broad range of teaching methods. Students will be introduced to the specific creative and technical demands of a rehearsal and performance process through working collaboratively with a choreographer to create, rehearse and perform a piece of dance work.
The school is well equipped to facilitate students’ work in state-of-the-art facilities not shared by any subject area other than dance.
88% of students who completed the CertHE Dance course at NSCD in 2025 progressed to further dance training on NSCD’s BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance Performance course, or a similar dance degree course at another conservatoire or university.
Entry is through a successful application and audition.
Additionally, candidates should usually have gained five GCSE passes (Grade C/4 or above), which must include English Language, and two A Level passes or an L3 BTEC National Diploma or professional/vocational training at an appropriate level.
Exceptions are made for 16-year-olds who are offered a place on the CertHE course, who would therefore not have completed A Levels or a full National Diploma etc.
Equivalent qualifications may also be accepted depending on the strength of the grades achieved. Equivalent level overseas qualifications are also accepted.
Students with English as a second language will need a 5.5 ESOL level (with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and 5.5 in speaking and listening) or equivalent.
In some cases, applicants who don’t have the standard entry requirements will be required to complete the School Matriculation Task as part of their entry requirements.
Any questions about any of the above can be directed to/further details can be obtained from admissions@nscd.ac.uk
How to applyFirstly, you will need to submit an application via our online application portal.
The application will include:
For more information, visit the How to Apply page.
Please note: Video auditions must be submitted at the same time as applications.
In order to qualify for admission to this course, candidates are required to pass an audition process.
Applicants can choose to audition in-person at NSCD, or via video submission. Please note: video auditions must be submitted at the same time as applications (Step 1).
Audition procedure:
For more information, visit the How to Apply page.
Regardless of experience or training background, we seek dancers who demonstrate the physical potential to be trained to achieve the necessary level for progression onto a BA course.
Individuals who are curious about themselves and the world around them, who are playful and open to developing their artistic practice.
Self reflective individuals who demonstrate the capacity to form views in relation to dance, art, performance and the various contexts in which they happen.
Dancers with the ability to communicate physically, and express intention through movement.
At NSCD, we understand that the dance industry is demanding, that’s why 100% of students requesting wellbeing support are seen within a week, demonstrating our commitment to student resilience. Student support is important because it directly affects academic success, wellbeing, and long-term development.
Learn more about how NSCD’s Student Services can assist you with academic, wellbeing, disability, and injury support: www.nscd.ac.uk/study/student-life/student-services
Student SupportAs part of your decision-making process, we appreciate you will want to research potential programmes of study ahead of application deadlines. To enable you to do this, we work hard to ensure that our website is as up to date as possible.
Although we try to ensure that this is as current as possible, there are always changes we make to ensure that the course is as vibrant and up to date with sector requirement as possible. Dance is a dynamic, fast-moving sector and our courses evolve to ensure they reflect and respond to the industry’s needs.
Sometimes it may be necessary to change course content, delivery and entry requirements, if we believe it will enable us to improve the high-quality experience we offer. Changes sometimes comes because of student feedback/consultations, external examiner feedback and consultation with industry partners.
All reasonable care has been taken to ensure course information is accurate, however NSCD cannot guarantee all courses will be available in exactly the form and detail described here. We encourage you to regularly check the pages of the course(s) you are interested in. At Open Days, Auditions, and Interview Days we will take the opportunity to inform you about any proposed changes and will also notify you if any changes are made after you have accepted an offer.
Our courses are made up of a series of modules. Some are compulsory and some optional, however, we may not be able to offer the full list of modules every year. Option availability will depend on how many students choose a particular option. For an option to run we usually stipulate that 13 students have chosen to take the option. When you accept your offer, please bear in mind that on rare occasions, we may not be able to offer all of the optional modules. Before each year’s teaching starts you will discuss your preferred options with the Head of Faculty and Curriculum Leads who will try to ensure you are able to take them but cannot guarantee it.
