We might do an hour’s yoga and then some dancing – normally jazz or

We might do an hour’s yoga and then some dancing – normally jazz or modern, but we have done the polka, waltz and flamenco.12.35pm-1pm Lunch break. We work on expanding my repertoire and also fine-tuning the songs I’m working on.11.05am-12.35pm Movement class To sing well, you have to limber up your body. I might do a bit of Alexander Technique as well, if necessary.10am-10.30am I spend half an hour with my repertoire coach, John Blakely. My instrument is my voice, so it’s important to warm it up before the day starts. “Even at this stage, you could still get a place.” DIARY: THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSICLaura Mitchell, 23, has just completed a Bachelor of Music degree at the Royal College of Music 9am I arrive and practise for an hour. On the technical side, they offer BAs in costume production, lighting design, music technology and stage management.

They also run part-time evening courses in acting.Applicants should have A-levels, but talent is seen as more important than grades and aspiring students are judged on their personal suitability and their potential to develop. Rose Bruford “welcomes anyone to come along if we have places left”, says press officer Jackie Winmill. The college focuses on the acting craft rather than the glitz and glamour of show business and its new £9.5m redeveloped campus includes two theatres and a host of studios.Its BA courses include acting, actor musicianship, directing, European theatre arts and American theatre arts (which includes a year’s study in the States). It aims to recreate the atmosphere of a working theatre with an emphasis on practical work. It has 600 students and offers the only opera studies degree course in Europe – but only by distance learning.Its famous alumni include plenty of popular TV stars such as EastEnders’ Pat (Pam St Clement) and Duffy in Casualty (Cathy Shipton). But those who were admitted include the late Lord Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave and, more recently, Rupert Everett, Zo?anamaker and James Nesbitt.Rose Bruford College is a relatively modern drama school, founded in 1950. It claims to have the widest range of courses in theatre arts, including England’s first BA in puppetry, as well as a two-year circus degree which combines theory with “exciting placements”.The acting course is not easy to get onto – even the late Sir John Gielgud was turned down.

It offers BAs in digital music, music and visual art, and music production.If drama is more your thing, then how about the Central School of Speech and Drama? Only a few years away from its 100th birthday, the school has about 600 students and offers BAs in acting, drama, applied theatre and education, performance arts, and theatre practice. Students can also combine music with drama or film studies.The University of Brighton, meanwhile, says it’s not in the business of traditional music courses, but sees itself at the cutting edge of innovative and modern approaches. But for those determined to study and perform music, there are 1,345 university music courses available nationwide.Kingston University has a three-year BMus degree which is a modular course and allows students to specialise in one area – for example creative music technologies, or jazz and popular music. Its alumni include singer Katarina Karneus and jazz musicians Mark Nightingale and Martin Speake. The college is headed by trumpeter Gavin Henderson.None of the institutions above recruits through Clearing, as they are not (as yet) in the UCAS scheme.