Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) Accommodation

Casita provides you with 30 The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland student accommodation options and Glasgow student halls near the institution and all over the city. All student accommodations feature various room types and a wide range of facilities. The room types include Studios, Ensuites, and flats. The facilities and services have Wi-Fi, all-bills inclusive, on-site laundry, communal spaces, bike storage, and 24/7 Security and CCTV.

Why Study at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and is now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, is a dance, drama, music, production, and film conservatoire in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. 

It was founded in 1847 and has since grown to become Scotland's busiest performing arts venue, with over 500 public performances each year. Jeffrey Sharkey, an American pianist and composer, is the current principal, and Sir Cameron Mackintosh is the current president. Prince Charles is the patron. 

Since its inception in 2016, Quacquarelli Symonds' (QS) Performing Arts ranking has consistently placed the RCS among the best schools in the world. The Conservatoire has been in the top ten for five years in a row, finishing third in 2017 and 2021. 

Departments and Divisions

RCS offers undergraduate programmes, postgraduate programmes, doctoral degrees, short courses, courses for children and young people, and adult courses. 

Undergraduate Programmes: undergraduate programmes at RCS are offered in dance, music, drama, education, production, and film. 

Dance: BA Modern Ballet and Professional Graduate Diploma in Modern Ballet.

Drama: BA Acting, BA (Hons) Contemporary Performance Practice, BA Musical Theatre, BA Performance in British Sign Language and English, and Professional Graduate Diploma in Musical Directing.

Music: Bachelor of Music (Honours), BMus Brass, BMus Composition, BMus Guitar and Harp, BMus Jazz, BMus Timpani and Percussion, Keyboard, Strings, Traditional Music, Traditional Music: Piping, Vocal Studies, and Woodwind. 

Education: Bachelor of Education (Music) with Honours and Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Music).

Production: BA Production Arts and Design and BA Production Technology and Management. 

Film: BA Filmmaking. 

Postgraduate Programmes: postgraduate programmes are available in drama, music, and education.

Drama: MA Musical Theatre - Choreography, MA Musical Theatre - Musical Directing, MA Musical Theatre - Performance, and MA/MFA Acting/Directing Classical and Contemporary Text. 

Music: Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Music, Artist Diploma, Conducting, Guitar and Harp, Historically Informed Performance Practice, Keyboard, MA Psychology In The Arts (Music), MMus / MA Timpani and Percussion, MMus Guitar and Harp, MMus Opera, MMus/MA Brass, MMus/MA Chamber Music, MMus/MA Composition, MMus/MA Jazz, MMus/MA Piano For Dance, Performance and Pedagogy, Piano Accompaniment, Strings, Traditional Music, Vocal Studies, and Woodwind. 

Education: MEd in Learning and Teaching in the Arts, MEd Pathway 1 - 2nd Subject Registration in Dance (GTCS Accredited), MEd Pathway 2 - Career Long Professional Learning (GTCS Accredited), MEd Pathway 5 - Initial Teacher Education in Dance (GTCS Accredited), and PhD/MPhil. 

Facilities and Resources

Students can get the most out of their learning experience at RCS, which has facilities spread across two buildings in Glasgow's city centre, including more than 90 practice rooms and rehearsal studios. 

The School of Music, as well as five professional performance venues such as The New Athenaeum Theatre and Stevenson Hall, the Whittaker Library, recording studios, film edit suites, and the Alexander Gibson Opera School, are all located on the Renfrew Street campus. 

Our production arts and design facilities, ballet studios, and a variety of large ensemble rehearsal rooms are all located at Wallace Studios, which is a ten-minute walk away. The National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Opera are among our neighbours. 

Performance Venues: performance venues at RCS include five performance spaces which are The New Athenaeum Theatre, Stevenson Hall, Alexander Gibson Opera Studio, Ledger Recital Room, and Chandler Studio Theatre. 

Stevenson Hall: The Stevenson Hall is named after Sir Daniel Stevenson, an ex-Lord Provost of Glasgow. He was instrumental in RCS’s development as the Glasgow Athenaeum. It’s the main concert performance venue and it seats 355 people, equipped with a full lighting rig and high specification sound system. 

The New Athenaeum Theatre: It’s the main performance theatre, it seats an audience of 344 people, and has a stage the size of the London Palladium.

The Ledger Recital Room: With sycamore panelling and a minstrels' gallery, the Ledger Recital Room has a striking, open design. Many of the workshops and masterclasses, as well as Blue Monday Jazz concerts, are held in this recital hall, which seats up to 108 people. 

Alexander Gibson Opera Studio: The Alexander Gibson Opera School (AGOS) studio, which seats 147 people, was completed in 1998. This high-end studio features full production lighting and a cutting-edge sound system. The School of Opera uses the AGOS studio for rehearsals and development workshops. It's where the multi-award-winning premiere of the original version of War and Peace was made, which was presented in collaboration with Scottish Opera before touring Russia.

The Chandler Studio Theatre: The Chandler Studio Theatre is a multi-purpose studio theatre with seating for up to 125 people in a variety of configurations. Most performance programmes, including Contemporary Performance Practice, Musical Theatre, and Acting, use this black box studio. The Chandler is ideal for devised performances and technical teaching sessions in addition to staging plays, musicals, and small operas.

Production Facilities: 

Wardrobe: The wardrobe department is a brand-new, purpose-built workroom with a cutting table, fabric, haberdashery, pattern, and book storage. Industrial and domestic sewing machines, overlockers and irons, Stockman dummies, and a comprehensive collection of costume books and references are all available in the room.

A fitting room with two large changing rooms is available. We have a fantastic costume and shoe store, as well as a well-equipped maintenance area. The workspace makes it easier to deliver the BA Production Arts and Design programme, which teaches students millinery, pattern cutting, and costume construction. There are four full-time Costume Tutors on staff, as well as a Costume Lecturer.

The Paintshop: It's where the Conservatoire's many in-house productions, such as Drama, Musicals, Operas, and Pantomimes, get their sets and backdrops painted. It is also heavily used in the training of all Scenic Art/Production Arts students in drawing, painting, texturing, faux finishing, and other traditional and contemporary scenic art techniques. When using water-based paints, two industrial sinks with sump are available for the safe use and cleaning of equipment. Spray painting is facilitated by a silent compressor. 

Other production facilities include props, construction workshops, and stage technologies. 

Recording Studios: RCS has three recording studios on campus, a dedicated jazz studio, and three electroacoustic studios. There’s also a high-quality, multi-camera video recording, and streaming system in two of the concert venues, allowing the option to live stream or visually record concerts and competitions. 

The newest recording studio features a 70-square-meter live room, a vocal booth, and a separate control room, all of which are connected by video and talkback and include a full-size Steinway concert grand piano. 

There are also learning and teaching rooms, including dance and gyrotonic studios, Fyfe lecture theatre, drama rehearsal rooms, and music practice rooms. 

Library and IT Facilities: The Whittaker Library has one of the most comprehensive collections of performance materials in the UK and internationally for music, dance, drama, production, and film. Dr. William Gillies Whittaker, the first principal of the Scottish National Academy of Music, was honoured with the Whittaker Library (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). 

Archives and Collections: The archives and collections of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland are an unrivalled resource, both in terms of depth and diversity of holdings. The Conservatoire's archives have amassed many important collections of instruments, manuscripts, artworks, photographs, performance ephemera, and memorabilia since its founding as the Glasgow Athenaeum in 1847, which are made available via the archives search room facility. 

You will also find two cafe spaces run by the culinary experts from “Where the Monkey Sleeps”, serving affordable, delicious, and healthy food as well as excellent coffee. They cater for events as well. 

Within the cafe, there’s the Jack Bruce space which is named after our alumnus and one of the founding members of the seminal Rock supergroup, Cream. The Jack Bruce space, which is always buzzing, is the central hub of all social activity at the Conservatoire. The Jack Bruce space serves as both a venue for informal performances and a shop where you can get the best bowl of soup in town. The main cafe bar, Where the Monkey Sleeps, is located in the opera studio, and another lively student social space, the Wee Chimp, is located in the opera studio and serves tea, coffee, and cake.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Student Accommodation 

The Conservatoire's preferred student hall of residence, Base Glasgow, is located in the heart of Glasgow, just a two-minute walk from the Renfrew Street building. 

There is an en-suite bathroom in each classic room, as well as a shared kitchen/dining area. Studio rooms include an en-suite bathroom and a modern kitchenette with a refrigerator, freezer, microwave oven, and stove. There are also practice rooms, a games room, an on-site gym, and a cinema room at Base Glasgow. 

Base offers a variety of facilities such as an on-site cinema room, soundproofed practice and rehearsal spaces, all-inclusive bills, up to 125mbps Wi-Fi, a state-of-the-art gym, communal study and games rooms, laundry facilities, a courtyard, and a roof garden. 

Nearby Universities

Glasgow Caledonian University is just a minute away from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the University of Strathclyde is 4-minutes away, and the University of Glasgow is 6-minutes away.