Press Story

18 Jun 2025

Ten national dance organisations, including The Place, have welcomed the decision by the Department for Education this week to continue funding student bursaries for the National Centres for Advanced Training in Dance (National Dance CATs) for the 2025–26 academic year.

Clare Connor, Chief Executive of The Place and London Contemporary Dance School, says: “We are pleased to see government have listened. This is an encouraging step in the government’s commitment to safeguarding the pathways to careers in dance, and a positive signal of the recognition of dance’s contribution to our thriving and growing creative sector.”

The National Dance CATs is the only scheme of its kind, delivering pre-vocational dance training to 10-18 year olds in ten regional centres across England. The scheme provides means-tested bursaries funded through the Department for Education, to ensure every young person with potential has access to world-leading training, alongside mainstream education.  Currently 68% of participants receive bursaries, supporting the Government’s pledge to “spread opportunity far and wide.”

The confirmation of standstill bursary funding follows months of lobbying and cross-sector advocacy in response to the Department’s decision in December 2024 to end supporting grants under the Music and Dance Scheme. For the National Dance CATs, this meant the loss of outreach funding, which at a cost of just £300,000 per year, enabled engagement with over 16,500 children and young people across England in 2023–24. The decision prompted serious concern over the future of the scheme and sparked renewed efforts by providers to showcase its vital role in opening up opportunities for young people in dance and securing the future of the UK’s cultural and creative workforce. The scheme has strong public backing from across the sector, with prominent figures including Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, Dame Arlene Phillips DBE, Sir Alistair Spalding CBE and Anthony Van Laast MBE speaking out in support.

This week, providers were informed that core funding for student bursaries will continue for the 2025–26 academic year. However, the supporting grants that were previously used to fund outreach activity have not been reinstated. This strand is central to CATs’ success, enabling the centres to identify promising young dancers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, and support them in taking their first steps into training. Without it, the long-term future of the programme, and the pipeline of talent it supports, is at risk.

Over the past two decades, the National Dance CATs have become a principal pathway into the UK’s professional dance sector. Former students now perform with over 80 leading companies and organisations, including Hofesh Shechter Company, Jasmin Vardimon Company, Company Wayne McGregor, Akram Khan Dance Company, BalletBoyz, ZooNation, Punchdrunk, Northern Ballet and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures. Many also work across the wider cultural sector, choreographing major productions, appearing in the West End, touring with international music artists and contributing to film, television and theatre.

Dance plays a vital role within the performing arts, which collectively generate £11.2 billion a year. As the Government sets out positive plans to support the arts and develop a National Centre for Arts and Music Education, campaigners are calling on ministers to safeguard and continue investing in the National Dance CATs, a proven, world-class training model.

“The national network of National Dance CATs is world-leading and the envy of international dance companies. It is painful to imagine a world where this amazing achievement and investment goes to waste; a world with no more Billy – or Betty – Elliots.”
— Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, Artistic Director, New Adventures

“Without the National Dance CATs, we won’t find or nurture the dance artists, choreographers and leaders of tomorrow. The future Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells is very likely amongst today’s CAT students.”
— Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director & CEO, Sadler’s Wells

“Every child should have the right to pursue the arts and dance and the opportunity to reach their potential, regardless of their background or where they live.”
— Dame Arlene Phillips DBE, Choreographer, Director and Presenter

Access and Opportunity

Since 2004, National Dance CATs has trained thousands of young people, many from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds, helping to improve access and diversity across the UK’s dance and creative industries. The programme now supports over 900 students each year, with 52% of bursary holders coming from low-income households.

CATs is a cornerstone of the UK’s dance infrastructure. Its ten regional centres work across county borders to ensure that high-quality training is never out of reach for aspiring young dancers, wherever they live. The network currently serves students in 394 parliamentary constituencies, many in areas with little or no comparable cultural provision. With GCSE Dance now absent from 84% of schools, and A-Level entries halved over the past decade (Cultural Learning Alliance), CAT's is a significant and successful route into professional dance.

“My family wouldn’t have been able to give me the opportunity to go to CAT if it had not been for the financial support. I would have never found the love for dance that I have now.”
— Joey Barton, performer with BalletBoyz

“Point blank, I would not be where I am today without the financial support I received from the Department for Education… It took me out of my small town and broadened my horizons. Quite simply, the support was life-changing—and I know I’m not the only professional in the industry who would say the exact same thing.”
— Ruben Brown, performer with Nordens

Driving Growth

“The CAT programme IS a pipeline, a thread. But if you pull on it, it will unravel and then, without realising, we will have dismantled over 20 years of work that underpins the sector we are all so deeply proud of.”
— Anthony Van Laast CBE, Choreographer & Director

Dance is a vital part of the UK’s cultural exports and a driver of economic growth. The National Dance CATs are essential to nurturing young talent at a regional level, sustaining the dance sector nationally, and ensuring the UK retains its position as a global cultural leader.

Funded through the Department for Education’s Music and Dance Scheme (MDS), the programme costs an average of £1.9 million annually, around 6% of MDS total expenditure. It delivers exceptional value, impact and return on investment, playing a crucial role in the talent pipeline that feeds directly into Higher Education and culture sectors. In the past five years alone, 67% of CAT graduates progressed into specialist dance training, including conservatoires, vocational schools, universities, contributing an estimated £11.59 million in higher education tuition fees.

“CAT didn’t just train my body, it shaped my future. From Laban to Rambert to fashion weeks and the Royal Opera House, none of it would’ve happened without that first step.”
— Hannah Joseph, Company Wayne McGregor

In 2024–25, CAT alumni made up between 25% and 48% of new UK-based students at London Contemporary Dance School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Rambert School and Trinity Laban. These students bring talent, diversity and dedication, enriching training environments and enable institutions to meet access and participation goals. At these four conservatoires alone, CAT graduates contribute an estimated £1 million in annual tuition fees. If the scheme were to cease, institutions would face a significant drop in student numbers and income.

Beyond education, CATs is embedded in the UK’s wider dance ecosystem. The programme supports 550 artists annually, commissions 84 new works from 70 choreographers, and generates nearly 50,000 hours of creative work.

Protect the future of British Dance

While the sector welcomes the continuation of bursary funding, providers, artists and educators are calling on the Government to go further, to restore outreach provision and commit to safeguarding the full scheme for the long term.