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Hello!  Welcome to the Website of the Purcell School of Music, the oldest specialist Music School in the UK.  I hope you will enjoy browsing.

Is music one of the most important aspects of your life?  Do you sometimes think about it soon after waking up at the start of the day?  Is your instrument or voice really important to you?  Do you often hear music in your head?  Do you enjoy composing your own music?  Can you imagine yourself as a member of a famous symphony orchestra or perhaps as a soloist or conductor?  Are you one of the few really musical people in your present School?

If you have answered “yes” to most of these questions then you might well consider becoming a pupil of the Purcell School, where all the pupils are united by their passion for music.  Pupils here have musical activities and studies at several points during the day, in between academic studies.  Yes, everyone has to take sufficient GCSE and A level courses in order to qualify for University or Music College, but music is very much at the heart of everything we do.  You will not be considered weird for loving classical music – quite the reverse.  There are concerts here every day and several concerts are given outside the School every week.  There are other activities and some sports as well, but fewer than in many general purpose Schools, in order to give time for the huge amount of music we do.

Boys and girls frequently ask me “how good do I have to be to get into the Purcell School?”  This is a difficult question to answer because we look for talent, flair, motivation and commitment, and find it best to judge these qualities during a pre-audition or full audition.  Browsing this site will give you some idea, and if you are perhaps a member of a Youth Orchestra or Saturday Junior College or similar group then you might well be on the way.  But you don’t have to be a member of any group and you don’t have to have passed any exams in music.

Don’t worry if you live far away from North London – the Purcell School is mainly a Boarding School so distance is not a problem – we have boys and girls from all over the world here.  We have local day pupils, too.  Some pupils go home at weekends and some stay all the time – there is a Saturday music programme for those staying here.  Also, some Purcellians go to the Junior Academy or College in London on Saturdays.

Don’t worry if you feel your family can’t afford the Purcell School – some people get the idea that only rich people can afford to come here – this is simply not true.  The Government's Music and Dance Scheme and our private Scholarship scheme allow boys and girls to come here no matter what your family income is.  Some families pay a contribution and some pay nothing.

Do come and see us.  We have open days, but if you can’t manage these, then other times can always be arranged.

In the meantime, please continue to browse the website!

Best wishes,

Peter Crook,
Headmaster,
The Purcell School