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Local Coordinator Close to your School
Your local coordinator visits your child, attends parents' evenings on your behalf and stays in touch throughout your guardianship programme.
British Guardianship at The Royal Ballet School
Nominated Guardian for The Royal Ballet School. Boarding school guardianship for international students.
Are you looking for a Nominated Guardian for The Royal Ballet School? UK boarding schools generally require international students under 18 to have an accredited UK guardian in place throughout their studies. British Guardianship provides a fully accredited boarding school guardianship service for The Royal Ballet School students, including a dedicated local coordinator, safe accommodation with vetted host families during half terms, exeats and holidays, attendance at parents' evenings on your behalf, and 24-hour emergency support.
Guardianship Fees
Our UK boarding school guardianship services for The Royal Ballet School start from £350 per term.
Dedicated Guardianship Manager
As soon as your application is received, a dedicated member of our guardianship team becomes your main contact, managing every aspect of your nominated guardian arrangements.
Local Vetted Host Family
We work with a network of vetted host families across the UK. For exeats and half terms, we aim to place your child with a local host family matched to your preferences, so weekends away from school feel settled and safe.
Our Services
UK Boarding School Guardianship
An accredited nominated guardian for international boarders at The Royal Ballet School, with a dedicated local coordinator, vetted host families for half terms, exeats and holidays, and 24-hour emergency support.
Learn More →Boarding School Placement
Our admissions team supports international families through the application to The Royal Ballet School, from choosing the right year of entry through to an offer and enrolment, with Child Student visa guidance and guardianship arranged alongside.
Learn More →The Royal Ballet School Overview
The Royal Ballet School is an independent, co-educational vocational ballet school in London for students aged 12 to 19, with around 230 pupils, almost all of them boarders. Founded in 1926 by Dame Ninette de Valois, it trains dancers for The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and companies worldwide. Places are awarded on artistic talent and potential rather than academic ability.
The school has two sites. White Lodge, a former royal hunting lodge in Richmond Park and home to the younger students since 1955, teaches pupils up to Year 11, combining daily ballet with a broad curriculum leading to GCSEs and IGCSEs. The Upper School in Covent Garden, for ages 16 to 19, is linked to the Royal Opera House by a bridge across Floral Street and offers a three-year BA (Hons) in Classical Ballet and Dance Performance validated by the University of Roehampton, alongside daily academic study towards A Levels, GCSEs or an Extended Project Qualification.
Boarding at The Royal Ballet School
Boarding is central to the school: more than 200 students board, and all Upper School students live in school accommodation. Students come from across the UK and around the world, and the Upper School alone draws around 100 dancers from some 17 countries.
Boarding Houses and Accommodation
There are four boarding houses. Two are in the grounds of White Lodge, where students sleep in dormitories arranged by gender and year group. Upper School students live at Aud Jebsen Hall in Pimlico, opened in 2016, and in the final year move to Jebsen House in Covent Garden, a supervised setting that prepares them for life in a professional company.
Boarding Life
At White Lodge the weekday begins at 7am, with academic lessons and ballet classes until late afternoon, followed by rehearsals or free time, supper and an hour of supervised homework from 7.15pm. Saturday mornings bring dance classes and rehearsals, and the rest of the weekend offers trips into town, swimming, games and outings planned by staff.
Academic and Pastoral Support
A SENDCO leads learning support, offering in-class adaptations, individual lessons and exam access arrangements. The Healthy Dancer Programme brings together physiotherapy, Pilates, strength and conditioning, nutrition education and a wellbeing lead offering counselling.
Every international boarder at The Royal Ballet School must have a UK guardian. British Guardianship provides AEGIS accredited boarding school guardianship for international students at UK boarding schools.
Facilities & Activities at The Royal Ballet School
Every accredited UK boarding school offers a range of sport, arts and academic facilities for international students, together with an extended programme of activities in the evenings and at weekends. For full details of the facilities and activities available, please visit the official The Royal Ballet School website.
Information for International Students and Parents
The Royal Ballet School recruits dancers on talent and potential regardless of nationality, and welcomes students from overseas at both White Lodge and the Upper School. The school no longer takes full-time students in Year 7, and plans to stop Year 8 entry as well, so international students mainly join White Lodge in Years 8 to 11 or the Upper School at 16. All students start in September. British Guardianship supports international families through every stage of the application with our boarding school admissions service.
English Language Requirements
The school does not set a fixed English level for entry, but expects students who are offered places to build their English before they arrive. Students need CEFR B2 before joining lecture-based degree sessions or the Extended Project Qualification. At White Lodge, students who need help have small-group or individual EAL lessons and can take Cambridge English qualifications or IGCSE English as a Second Language. In the Upper School, students below B2 receive specialist EAL teaching each morning, and international students may continue their home-country syllabus during academic study.
Child Student Visa
Students coming to the UK from overseas will usually need a Child Student visa. The Royal Ballet School is a licensed Child Student sponsor on the UKVI register, and the visa application itself is submitted by parents. Our Child Student visa guide explains the requirements and process, and families holding a British National (Overseas) visa can contact us for guidance on the BN(O) route.
UK Guardian Requirement
Students on a school-sponsored visa must have a UK guardian for their whole time at the school. A relative or nominated individual must be over 25, and a guardianship company must be accredited by AEGIS or the BSA Certified Guardian Scheme. The guardian hosts the student during school breaks and illness, arranges travel, and students under 15 should travel with an adult.
British Guardianship is AEGIS accredited and a BSA Certified Guardian, and can act as the nominated UK guardian for The Royal Ballet School boarders. Our boarding school guardianship service covers regular contact with the school, travel coordination and safe accommodation with vetted host families during half terms, exeats and holidays, giving parents a single, reliable educational guardian in the UK.
To discuss UK guardianship for The Royal Ballet School, book a free online consultation or apply for a nominated guardian.
Frequently Asked Questions
UK boarding schools generally require international students under 18 to have a UK-based guardian, and British Guardianship confirms The Royal Ballet School's specific requirements as part of your application. The guardian acts on behalf of parents in the UK, is the school's point of contact in an emergency and looks after the student whenever they cannot be at school. We provide this as an AEGIS accredited boarding school guardianship service.
Whenever your child cannot stay at The Royal Ballet School, for example during half terms, exeats or holidays when boarding houses close, they stay with one of our vetted host families. Every host family is visited in their home, provides professional and personal references and holds an Enhanced DBS check for all household members aged 16 and over. British Guardianship remains your child's educational guardian throughout every stay.
We have guardians available and ready to be assigned. The overall timeframe depends on how quickly the required paperwork is completed and communication with The Royal Ballet School is finalised. As every case is different, timelines can vary, but we aim to make the process as smooth and efficient as possible.
Boarding school guardianship is charged per term and starts from £350, with host family stays, travel arrangements and other services added as your child needs them. Full details are on our guardianship fees page.
A UK student guardian must be a responsible adult, usually aged 25 or over, who lives permanently in the UK, speaks fluent English and is close enough to the school to respond quickly in an emergency; many boarding schools set a maximum travel time. The guardian must be contactable 24 hours a day and hold an Enhanced DBS check where they or their household host the student. The Royal Ballet School may also ask for the guardian's details before the start of term and set additional requirements of its own. As an AEGIS accredited guardianship provider, British Guardianship meets these requirements on your behalf, with vetted guardians, Enhanced DBS checked host families and 24-hour emergency support.
Yes. Our boarding school admissions service supports international families through the application to The Royal Ballet School, from choosing the right year of entry through to an offer and enrolment, with Child Student visa guidance and guardianship arranged alongside.
Disclaimer: Logo, images and videos are shown courtesy of The Royal Ballet School and remain the property of their respective owners. British Guardianship is an independent AEGIS-accredited guardianship provider, and this page is not published or endorsed by The Royal Ballet School. School information is provided as a general guide and may change.
SEN Support Explained: SpLD: specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, affect particular areas of learning such as reading, spelling, coordination or working with numbers, without affecting overall ability. ASD: autism spectrum disorder affects how a student communicates, interacts with others and experiences the world around them. SEMH: social, emotional and mental health needs include anxiety, low mood and difficulty managing emotions or behaviour. ADHD: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects concentration, attention, impulse control and activity levels. SLCN: speech, language and communication needs affect how a student understands language, expresses themselves or communicates with others.
