Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

The RAD is one of the world’s most influential dance education and training organisations, with its global headquarters in London. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn to dance.

The RAD’s patron is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and our President is Dame Darcey Bussell, DBE. With 13,000 members in 89 countries and offices in 36, we have an incredible global network of passionate and skilled employees, teachers and members, each shaping and influencing the future of dance.

Our higher education programmes are regulated and a recent Ofsted inspection found the RAD to be an ‘outstanding’ provider of initial teacher education. The RAD’s examinations are recognised by Ofqual and contribute to UCAS points.

There are currently over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time dance teacher training programmes and each year the RAD’s renowned classical ballet examination syllabus is taught to thousands of young people worldwide, with around a quarter of a million pupils per year going on to take our exams.

Established in 1920 by a group of eminent dance professionals representing the leading ballet styles of the period with the aim of improving the standards of dance teaching, initially in the UK, our founders would be proud of their legacy.