Quite rightly, Equity, The Performing Arts and Entertainment Trade Union, has spent much of the last few years attempting to protect its members as the cost-of-living crisis battered them, coming hard on the heels of the depredations caused by the COVID pandemic.

One imagines that almost any trade union would welcome the defeat of an unsympathetic Conservative government, but the jury is still out as to whether its successor will have the resources to be any more generous.

Many of those even quite closely associated with the cultural sector may not realise that Equity has a sizeable cohort of student members. It almost goes without saying that if those at work are struggling to survive, students will find the current economic climate considerably more challenging.

Following a recent survey, the union is now launching a campaign to #AbolishAuditionFees for students under the heading of “Break Down Barriers”. One might imagine that this could be beneficial not only to students but also colleges and the theatre more widely on the basis that over half of all respondents to the survey claimed that they were prevented from applying for training due to audition fees and hidden course costs such as supplies, resources and other expenses. 71% also said that removing audition fees will be the most effective way to break down barriers to the performing arts.

As a result, Equity is launching a petition demanding institutions running creative and performing arts courses abolish their audition fees. They also point out that, while it may not be intentional, charging a material amount to attend auditions is likely to exclude or discourage prospective working-class students and, one imagines, those from diverse backgrounds. It is telling that the survey additionally revealed that 65% said their maintenance loan did not cover living costs, while over three-quarters were obliged to work and 15% incurred debts in order to survive.

According to respondents, audition fees typically cost between £40 and £80, while fewer than 3% were offered reimbursement for expenses such as food, travel or accommodation. As a consequence, many students reputedly spent hundreds and in some cases thousands of pounds on auditions and applications.

To those who have never attempted to enter a drama school or its equivalent, the concept of paying audition fees in an attempt to enter a college course seems outlandish. It is hard to imagine any other sector where prospective entrants would be expected to pay a fee to have the privilege of being interviewed.

Just imagine if every university charged (say) £60 to each student applicant or a bank, large law firm or the civil service demanded a similar amount to someone wanting to have an interview, with no guarantee that they would ultimately get the job. The stance seems even stranger in the technological age, where auditions for acting jobs are typically held online, meaning that the cost of arranging and holding them should be minimal.

Equity’s Student Deputies Committee are calling on people to sign a petition comprising three simple demands:

  1. Scrap audition fees
  2. End hidden course costs
  3. Cover expenses for accessing auditions and open days

The last of these might be the most controversial since, at least in theory, the amounts involved could be substantial, particularly where prospective students are travelling the length of the country or even from overseas.

On the plus side, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama has recently scrapped its audition fees in an effort to combat “elitism” in the arts, while the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts did so a couple of years ago in an effort to increase access and diversity.

In that the costs to institutions in abolishing these costs are likely to be negligible in the overall scheme of things, while the impact on individuals is so stark, it would be pleasing to think that others will follow Central and LIPA and, who knows, maybe even Arts Council England or the government will help to foot the bill.