1. Who can apply?

The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music (NCETM) is open to secondary school age students resident in Scotland, who play or sing traditional music to a high standard, or show genuine potential to do so.  We aim to provide the highest possible quality of tuition and an all-round, in-depth experience of all aspects of Scottish traditional music.

2. What is the best age to come?

You can apply to join the music school if you are a secondary school age student, or will be starting high school in the next academic year. We have, however, found that some entry points are better – or more popular – than others.

Because this is a residential project, and very often people are coming a long way from home, we tend to get more applications from the higher end, i.e. S5 and S6, because that’s when people feel they are ready to move.  It is not impossible for students to come into S1, but unusual. Most students – unless they would be going to a Residence anyway – feel that they are not ready to leave home at this point.

We have often found that people who come to us in S2 or S3 actually do very well, as the relationships they are leaving behind may not be as well formed as those of older students. It is often the case that such students make their lifelong friendships here in Plockton.

The nature of Curriculum For Excellence now tends to suggest that S4 is a good entry point as students change from the Broad General Education curriculum to the Senior Phase, when they choose their certificate subjects.

Entry to do S6 alone is common, and usually successful, but so far every single person (and there have been many) who has done that has wished they had come a year earlier to allow them time to settle in to the lifestyle.

Please feel free to contact the Centre Manager to discuss your particular situation.

3. How many places are there each year?

The number of places available varies from year to year depending on how many students are leaving. The Centre is funded for 23 residential students and we can take up to this number, plus a small number of non-residential students, depending on the number of applicants of the appropriate standard. Most years we audition roughly twice the number of applicants as there are places available.

4. What instruments can I study?

The disciplines offered for First Study at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music are accordion (piano key), Highland bagpipe, clàrsach, fiddle, piano, guitar, flute, whistle, drum kit, Gaelic Song and Scots Song.

All of these instruments are also available as Second Study, and some other instruments may also be offered at second study subject to tutor capacity and availability, e.g. mandolin, bass guitar, bouzouki, banjo, clarinet and saxophone.

If you play an instrument which is outside the range of disciplines presently offered as formal study, you will have the opportunity to use that instrument in group-work, although you won’t get regular lessons on it.  Current and former students have used percussion, double bass, and some of the above-mentioned second study options in this way.

5. Do I have to be able to play 2 instruments already?

No, but it helps.  You have to study two instruments while you are here, so that you will gain a breadth of musical experience, but essentially it’s your ability on your first study instrument that gets you in.  

A good second study, however, is well worth having as it can act as a tiebreaker for the audition panel. You can, however, start your second study instrument from scratch, and although we don’t recommend too much chopping and changing, it can be changed from year to year (but not during an academic session).

6. How good do I have to be?

This is a very difficult question to answer. It’s very difficult to describe, either in writing or verbally, the kind of standard we’re looking for. We look for a high standard of musicianship, but we will take your age into account, and we would look for a lot more from someone hoping to do just S6 than we would from someone entering at a younger age. The best thing to do is to come to the Centre for an Advisory Audition with the Centre Manager, either at the Open Weekend, or by private arrangement.

It’s important to realise that NCETM does not exist as a panacea for people who can’t get regular lessons at home. Our mission is to take the best young people and make them better, not to plug gaps in instrumental tuition in Scotland. We recruit our 20-odd students from the whole of Scotland, and the auditions are very competitive.

7. What’s an advisory audition?

An Advisory Audition is a chance for you to visit NCETM, get a feel for the place, meet some of the people involved, and find out whether you have a reasonable chance of being accepted into the Centre. The Centre Manager will listen to you play, and give you some advice as to whether he considers it worth your while applying. If not, he can often offer some advice as to what you should work on to get to the required standard. Even after doing an advisory audition, you still have to go through the formal application and audition process.

8. What happens at the auditions?

The audition consists of approximately 15 minutes of playing, followed by a short interview with you, and finally an interview with you and your parent or guardian.

You may play on one or more instruments, and you are encouraged to demonstrate as full a range of your abilities as possible at audition.  Admission will mainly be decided on your performance on your 1st study instrument.

The audition panel will consist of the Centre Manager, an NCETM tutor in the relevant first study discipline, a senior member of Plockton High School staff, and a senior representative of Highlife Highland, which provides the Highland Council’s instrumental music instruction service.

The section of the interview involving the parent or guardian is intended mainly for the parent to ask questions of the audition panel, although by the time most applicants get to this stage, they have done an advisory visit or attended an Open Weekend, and many of their questions have already been answered.

9. Is academic ability taken into account?

No. As already mentioned, there is a representative of the High School on the audition panel. This is not to investigate your academic ability, but to try to find out about your ATTITUDE – your ability to integrate into Plockton High School, to cope with the demands and pressures of combining mainstream and music school activities and to be able to make a positive contribution to school life.

10. What happens if I’m not successful?

We will inform you, both by telephone and formal letter, that you have not been successful in your application. If you wish, you can request feedback from the Centre Manager as to why your application was not successful.

11. Can I apply again?

Yes. We have had students who applied two or three times before securing a place. If you are thinking of reapplying, it may be useful to request some feedback and advice from the Centre Manager first. It is also possible, and indeed desirable, to have another advisory audition.

12. What happens if I am successful at audition?

We will inform you by telephone and formal letter that you have been successful in your application, and will offer you a place at NCETM, dependent on the outcome of the Induction week.

You will then be required to attend an Induction week – usually in early June – where you will get the opportunity to experience a little of the music school lifestyle.  At the end of the week, you will have a short interview with the Centre Manager, and will be able to discuss your experiences through the Induction week.  If you have serious reservations about attending NCETM, you will be able to withdraw at this point.  The Centre Manager also retains the right to withdraw the offer of a place following the induction week.

A formal written offer of a place at NCETM will be sent out to you, and you will need to accept in writing.

13. Do I have to go to Plockton High School as well as the Music School?

Yes. You cannot attend the Music School without being a student at Plockton High School.

Plockton High School is a normal comprehensive state secondary school with a roll of just under 300 pupils: The majority of students do not attend the music school. The students of NCETM are completely integrated into school life, and the Centre is widely regarded as an asset to the school. All our students are encouraged to take as full a part in the general life of the school as possible, although in the case of a clash of interests your music activities take precedence.

You should be aware that the life of a music school student is a very busy one. While it is often tempting to try to become involved in a wide range of activities, we would advise students to be realistic and not over-stretch themselves. Music school activities can often lead to a substantial amount of missed school, and the added workload created can be heavy. This is particularly important for those students in S5.

14. Do I have to move to the Plockton High School Pupil Residence?

All students who live outside the Plockton High School catchment area are expected to be full-time residential students.

For those who are currently students at Plockton High School, most will travel daily. These students use normal school transport in the mornings and an individual arrangement is made with parents regarding travel home after groupwork.  

Students who already go to Plockton High School but who live too far away to travel on a daily basis will be offered a full-time residential place if space permits.  These students will be expected to travel to school using normal school transport on a Monday morning, stay in the Residence for the week, and return home using normal school transport on a Friday afternoon.  They will also be expected to stay in the Residence for Music Weekends (see q15 below).  If parents do not accept this Residential place they will be responsible for the arrangement and cost of transport home after groupwork, and to and from Music Weekends.

You should note that during the week the Residence is also occupied by those students of Plockton High School who live outwith daily travelling distance of the school.  You will be bound by the rules of the Residence, which are available in the Residence handbook, a copy of which can be obtained from the Residence Manager. 

The implications of the residential aspect of music school life should not be underestimated.  The communal nature of residence life can be difficult to adjust to, and you and your parents are urged to give this matter the most serious consideration before submitting an application.  Getting a feel for Residence life is one of the most important aspects of attendance at either the Open Weekend, or Advisory audition, and we strongly recommend to all applicants that they take the opportunity of attending one or the other.

If you have any questions on any aspect of Residence life, please call Mrs Shona McGuinness, Residence Manager, on 01599 544249.

15. Can I go home at weekends?

Our residential Music Weekends are a compulsory, and important, part of the curriculum. They often have specialised themes with guest tutors, e.g. media, creative musicianship, and groupwork skills, but there are also weekends with performance based activities such as concerts, recording, and tour rehearsals.  

The combination of musical activities and Residence staffing means that the Residence is open on a total of 13 weekends during the session, i.e. approximately one weekend in three, all of which are Music Weekends. Due to the fact that the concerts and rehearsal weekends cannot be evenly spread throughout the year, this does not mean that the Residence will be simply be open every third weekend. A calendar of Residence opening dates is issued at the Induction Week in June. 

This is a major consideration for anyone who wishes to attend the Centre, as provision will have to be made for these closed weekends. Obviously, you are able to go home if you so wish, but the feasibility of this depends on how far away your home is, and there are two main issues to take into consideration.

Firstly, long journeys on a weekend are very tiring. We have found in the past that even though, with the best will in the world, people want to get home, leaving here on a Friday afternoon to get home late on a Friday, spend Saturday at home and then do it all again on Sunday to get back here in time for Monday morning can be very hard going, and you may find that you get back here more tired than you were when you left!

The second issue is that it can be difficult to organise public transport to make a long journey after school finishes on the Friday, and public transport in Scotland can be expensive.

Since the current Residence opening times came into effect, it has become common practice for many of our students to stay in the Plockton area on the closed weekends, often at the bunkhouse at Nessun Dorma, local B&Bs or hotels, or friends’ houses. You should, however, be aware that the Bunkhouse is open to the public and no supervision is provided. Another possibility is to stay with a friend, either from the Music School or from High School, and a further common solution is that your parents and other family could visit you here.  There are lots of good hotels and B&Bs in the area, plenty to do, and many worse places to spend a weekend!

You must also be aware responsibility for your welfare on closed weekends does not rest with the Highland Council, and that it is your (and your parents’) responsibility to ensure that suitable accommodation has been arranged on these weekends. 

You are required to notify Residence staff of your weekend arrangements through the usual Residence permission procedures. Although we appreciate as much advance notice as possible, we are able to accept short notice changes by telephone or (preferably) e-mail, provided that the appropriate paperwork is received as soon as possible afterwards.

For the purpose of clarification, a “closed weekend” lasts from 2:00 p.m. on a Friday, when the Residence closes, until 1:30 p.m. on a Sunday, when the Residence re-opens.

In the interests of the safety and welfare of our students, and the reputation of the Centre and the Residence, failure to arrange suitable accommodation on a closed weekend has been incorporated into the Centre’s Disciplinary Code, and treated as a serious offence, with the standard penalties of three days’ exclusion or a first offence, one week’s exclusion for a second, and withdrawal of the place for a third offence.

16. What’s the Music School curriculum like?

All NCETM students receive one period per week of individual instruction in both their first study and second study instrument.  These are two classroom extraction periods, and every effort is made to minimise the disruption this inevitably causes.  You will have to catch up on any work you have missed in your own time.

We have a modular approach to second study, with students having the option of taking two disciplines over the course of a year. All students are required to do at least one half-year module in an option with some emphasis on music theory, whether this is the straight theory option, or a module in what we call “Creative Musicianship”. This is designed to develop your musical ear through listening and playing, so that you will be able to recognise and play or sing along with popular chord sequences, work out what scale notes will sound good with the chords, and play, sing and improvise creatively and confidently, enabling you to make a valuable contribution to a wide variety of musical situations.  

Once this is completed, you have the option to take the same second study for the whole academic year, although we recommend developing your theoretical knowledge as much as possible during your time here. 

Groupwork is an integral part of the Centre’s activities, and takes place from 4-5 pm, Monday to Thursday.  It is important that you realise the degree of commitment to other students that this involves, and are willing to treat Groupwork with the same level of importance as your individual study. This means allocating at least part of your practice time to learning your tunes and parts for Groupwork.

You are expected to do a minimum of one hour’s practice, split between your two studies, each night from Monday to Thursday. This is part of the Music School curriculum, but it cannot be overemphasised that this is a minimum amount. Most people who have reached a standard good enough to gain a place here already practise at least that amount anyway.

We attempt to spread performance opportunities as evenly as possible amongst all
students.  The final decision as to who does any given performance rests with the Centre Manager and is dependent on a number of factors, including amount of school missed, suitability for the performance, etc.  You should again note that the onus is on you to catch up on any school work or work given to you by your tutors.

In S6 the weekly time in the Music School doubles from 10 to approximately 20 hours per week, with one full day and a period on each other day spent in the Centre. For the last 6 years, S6 students have been required to undertake a National Certificate (NC) in Music, consisting of twelve units.

In 2018 we moved to a less rigid form of academic provision for our S6 students, with a greater emphasis on Skills for Work. We offer a number of smaller qualifications, including 2 National Progression Awards, which include several of the units previously taught on the NC. This more flexible approach serves to better equip any students wishing to move on to work in the Creative Industries, as well as giving the option for students who have a high academic workload to spend slightly less time in the Music School.

As well as recording a commercial CD every year, there are various ways in which you can make use of our in-house recording facilities, one of the most common being making your own album as an S6 project. 

We encourage students to become as familiar as possible with recording, and many students say this is the most enjoyable part of their experience here.

Perhaps the most important thing we expect from our students is that they have the ability to manage their own time responsibly, and to inform the NCETM office of any planned absences.  The timetable system used varies from week to week to take account of tutors’ and students’ other commitments.  This means that the timetable must be very flexible, and depends heavily on good communication between you and the office.

17. Who will be teaching me?

We have a team of regular lead tutors, details of whom can be found on the web site. All our tutors work for us on a freelance basis, and are involved in other professional music activities, either as performers or in some other capacity. This means that at times, they are unable to come to Plockton. We have experienced depute tutors for each discipline who we can call upon in this event. This enables you to experience different teaching styles, and to have a range of influences on your playing. Our regular tutors and deputes communicate with each other to ensure continuity.

18. What about my present music commitments?

We encourage students to maintain their current musical commitments as far as possible, but you should note that in the event of a clash of interests, your music school activities will normally take precedence.

19. What will all this cost?

Essentially, nothing. All places are fully funded by the Scottish Executive Education Department. The only major expense you would have is travel to and from the Music School in Plockton.

20. When do I apply?

You can enquire any time you like, and Advisory Auditions can be arranged at more or less any time during the school session. However, there is a timeline for applications, which starts with our Open Weekend in mid-February. The closing date for applications is in early March, with auditions in late March and an induction week in June leading to a start at the Centre in August.

21. What do I do now?

First, let us know who you are, and that you are interested in applying to the music school, if you haven’t already done so. Head to the contact page to make your initial enquiry.

Next, come and visit the centre. We have Open Days in February each year, which offers an opportunity for you to visit the centre, meet some current students and staff, and to have an advisory audition with the Centre Manager. Individual visits and advisory auditions can be also arranged at a mutually convenient time throughout the year.