They’re often described as the UK’s answers to Fame - the 1980 film that featured a New York school for performing arts. But in truth, Croydon’s Brit Performing Arts and Technology School and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts play down their star-making roles, despite some illustrious alumni.
Both institutions aim to give youngsters a background in the arts, with the Brit School taking in 14- to 19-year-olds and LIPA providing higher education programmes for those 18-plus.
the Godfather of BRIT and LIPA was George Martin
Ironically, the man behind both establishments tells M that Alan Parker’s film is the reason for their existence: ‘The idea first came about when I saw the film Fame in 1980,’ recalls Mark Featherstone-Witty, who founded the Brit School in 1991 before five years later helping to create LIPA, where he remains principal and CEO.
Far from accepting the plaudits, Featherstone-Witty states: ‘The Godfather of both schools was George Martin. He was the first person I ran the idea past who was from the music side of the performing arts and because he studied at the Guildhall School of Music, he was sympathetic to the idea.
‘George introduced me to Richard Branson, who was our figurehead behind the Brit School, but he also provided me with a contact to Paul McCartney and that’s how LIPA came about.’
With the current trend for reality TV and many in the nation’s youth looking for a route to becoming famous, applications to both schools are at an all time high:
By April 24 this year, LIPA had 4,814 applications for 242 places, while the Brit School receives more than three applications for every place.
Brit School principal Nick Williams reports: ‘We’ve become very attractive to both students and parents as our 
exam results have improved.’
The Brit School counts some 900 students, one third of which are in the 14-16 age group. ‘In addition to covering all the national curriculum subjects, pupils are admitted into one of our six strands: broadcast & digital communication, dance, music, theatre, musical theatre and visual arts & design,’ explains Williams: ’Post-16, we add another strand - technical theatre. Students are also encouraged to take one or two additional AS or A Level subjects.’ That emphasis on education has reaped enviable results. Last year 93% of pupils gained five or more GCSEs at A to C grades.
However, it was the switch to a more academic timetable which led to Featherstone-Witty’s departure: ‘The Conservative government brought in a very demanding national curriculum where the maximum time for the performing arts amounted to just 27%,’ he says, explaining his drive to set up a higher education institute.
With the simple slogan, ‘LIPA is for performers and those that make performance possible’, the institute not only nurtures talent, but teaches the mechanics and economics of the entertainment industry.
applications to both schools are at an all time high
Sir George Martin is a fan of the concept: ‘If a recording engineer and a musician have appreciation of what each other does, then they’ll work better together,’ he notes.
Featherstone-Witty’s visionary partner could not be more high profile, but Sir Paul McCartney’s role as LIPA’s lead patron and co-founder came about simply because the campus is on the site of his old school. ‘When I saw for myself the state it had reached as an abandoned building,’ he says, ‘I wanted to save it. Then the idea arose that there was a need for a performing arts institute.’
McCartney adds: ‘initially I had misgivings about the ability of any institution to teach the stuff we had to learn the hard way – by going in front of the public and just doing it. Since then, I have seen what LIPA students can do; they have proved to me that they can stand up and deliver.’
And deliver they have. LIPA has turned out professionals across all its disciplines - Acting, Dancing, Music, Management, Sound Technology and Theatre Performance & Design. Among its high profile music successes are Arctic Monkeys producer Mike Crossey and Sandi Thom, who last year claimed LIPA’s first Number one single and album and has nothing but praise for her time in Liverpool.
‘Coming from a small community in Scotland into such a creative environment like LIPA where there are so many like-minded people was key for me,’ says Thom. ‘It equipped me with so much knowledge about the music industry. I became a lot more media savvy, aware of recording and publishing contracts and all of that has been of great benefit to me. The advice I’d give to students at LIPA is to listen to your peers to learn how to write a great song. I was always taught during my time there to analyse what other people have done.’
The Brit School has also seen a number of its alumni achieve charts success, including Katie Melua, Amy 
Winehouse, The Kooks, Athlete, Floetry, Dane Bowers, The Feeling and the 2006 Christmas Number one holder, Leona Lewis.
Brit School patron Sir George Martin says: ‘I have been involved with the School since it was built. In all that time I have continued to be impressed by the combination of technical skill, enthusiasm and personal maturity that is the hallmark of a Brit School student.’
Recalling her time at the Croydon campus, Melua says: ‘I definitely wouldn’t be here if I didn’t go to the Brit School. I think it’s good if you really want to study your craft and you want to develop as a person as well.’
Current Brit School student Laurie Belgrave (16) agrees: ‘The school prepares you for life in the music business: some people find out they are not suited for it, which is a good thing, as they can then concentrate on something else they enjoy. The teachers really push you to write your own material. They teach us how to compose songs, but there is a lot of emphasis on developing on your own. A number of teachers write their own songs as well and at least one is in a band, so we always have people who we can ask for advice.’
Principal Williams reports that about 90% of Brit graduates go into some kind of creative industries-related setting after leaving the school. And Featherstone-Witty sees similar results: ‘every year at LIPA we try to contact the students who graduated three years earlier. We usually find about 80% of them and of that number about 75% are still working in the performing arts.’
if a recording engineer and a musician appreciate each other, they’ll work better
One LIPA student just about to step out into the working environment is Dan Higgott (21), who is close to finishing his BA Hons in Sound Technology:
‘ I want to go into live music so it’s great to have been at LIPA where all the departments are linked together so closely. You get to see other people using their skills as part of your work and I think that’s what makes it different from other drama schools.’
Featherstone-Witty sums up the ethos of both establishments: ‘To concentrate on just one skill is a high risk strategy, so the key is versatility,’ he states. ‘The best we can do is to replicate what will happen when students leave LIPA. One of the main things we try to achieve is to make sure that everyone has parity of esteem.’
Williams concludes: ‘We give people a terrific education in creative thinking and even if they do not pursue a life in the arts, we know that will be useful in whatever they do.’