Support your studies

Our postgraduate awards offer support to students who wish to complete their instrumental studies at leading UK conservatoires and performing arts colleges. 

You could be awarded between £1,000 and £5,000 to go towards the cost of a postgraduate course starting in September and associated living costs and expenses.

Please note: all vocal students should apply through the Sybil Tutton Award

To apply for our postgraduate awards, you must:

• Be studying or are intending to study a postgraduate music performance degree (ie. MMus, MA, PGDip, Artist Diploma), starting in September, at one of the UK conservatoires listed below
• Be aged 18 or over
• Have the legal right to live and work in the UK, and currently live in the UK
• Not have more than £10,000 savings
• Have a UK bank account
• Demonstrate that you have the musical potential and ambition to create a successful and sustainable career in music
• Have lived and studied in the UK for at least 3 years
• Not have received student support from Help Musicians within the last 2 years

If you are not sure if you are eligible, please contact support@​helpmusicians.​org.​uk.

• Guildhall School of Music and Drama 
• Leeds Conservatoire
• Mountview Academy (musical directors only)
• National Opera Studios (répétiteurs only)
• Royal Academy of Music 
• Royal Birmingham Conservatoire 
• Royal College of Music 
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 
• Royal Northern College of Music 
• Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama 
• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

To be eligible you must not have more than £10,000 in savings, or have a second or other additional property.

However, some exceptions apply to unavoidable financial obligations. These are as follows:

• Money held aside for a tax bill
• Purchase of primary home you will live within and in the process of buying
• Purchase of required medical or care equipment
• Up to £15,000 of care home fees
• Up to £10,000 in savings towards music education fees
• Essential maintenance on property
• Up to £15,000 in parental leave savings if you are due to stop work for parental leave within the next six months

Some further capital eligibility guidelines apply, including on assets you expect to receive from a Trust Fund or dividends, and any gifts, loans or awards that exceed £3,000. Please get in touch if you require further information.

We are unable to support the following through these awards:

• Undergraduate courses
• PhDs, MPhil, DMus, Doctorates
• Non-music performance degrees such as composition, music technology, music education, music therapy, arts administration, and music business
• Vocal performance students are not eligible for the Postgraduate Award and should apply instead for the Sybil Tutton Award
• Study from the previous academic year

Auditions will be held from 7 – 17 April 2026, at various London venues.

Dates for individual instruments will be announced in due course.

Should you be shortlisted for audition, you must provide us with your proposed audition programme. For most instrumentalists your programme must consist of at least two contrasting pieces by different composers and your whole programme should last no longer than 10 minutes. We are able to provide an accompanist for brass, upper strings, lower strings and woodwind. Please indicate on the form if you require the services of our in-house accompanist. 

Accompanists, répétiteurs, musical directors, jazz and pop applicants will receive information about additional audition requirements when they are invited to audition.

The Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Awards offer support to students who wish to complete their studies at certain leading UK conservatoires and performing arts colleges (listed below).

You could be awarded between up to £5,000 to go towards the cost of the final year of an undergraduate course or a postgraduate course and associated living costs and expenses. Support is available for the next academic year starting in September.

To apply for our Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Awards, you must: 

• Be intending to study Musical Theatre in either your final year of your undergraduate course, or a postgraduate course at one of the UK conservatoires listed below from September
• Be aged 18 or over
• Have the legal right to live and work in the UK, and currently live in the UK
• Not have more than £10,000 savings
• Have a UK bank account
• Demonstrate that you have the musical potential and ambition to create a successful and sustainable career in music
• Have lived and studied in the UK for at least 3 years
• Not have received student support from Help Musicians in the last 2 years

• ArtsEd
• Guildford School of Acting
• Leeds Conservatoire
• London School of Musical Theatre
• Mountview Academy
• Royal Academy of Music
• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
• Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
• Urdang Academy

We are unable to support the following through these awards:

• Undergraduate courses (apart from those in their final year)
• PhDs, MPhil, DMus, Doctorates
• Non-music performance degrees such as composition, music technology, music education, music therapy, arts administration, and music business
• Study from the previous or current academic year
• Musical Directors are not eligible for the Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Award and should apply to the Postgraduate Awards

To be eligible you must not have more than £10,000 in savings, or have a second or other additional property.

However, some exceptions apply to unavoidable financial obligations. These are as follows:

• Money held aside for a tax bill
• Purchase of primary home you will live within and in the process of buying
• Purchase of required medical or care equipment
• Up to £15,000 of care home fees
• Up to £10,000 in savings towards music education fees
• Essential maintenance on property
• Up to £15,000 in parental leave savings if you are due to stop work for parental leave within the next six months

Some further capital eligibility guidelines apply, including on assets you expect to receive from a Trust Fund or dividends, and any gifts, loans or awards that exceed £3,000. Please get in touch if you require further information.

Audition date and venue will be confirmed when applications open. 

Due to our audition schedules this date is fixed and we are unable to offer an alternative.

Should you be shortlisted for audition, you must provide us with your proposed audition programme. Singers should prepare 2 contrasting musical theatre songs and 1 short monologue. Your total programme should not exceed 10 minutes. We are able to provide an accompanist for performers. Please indicate on the form if you require the services of our in-house accompanist. 

Applications will open in April. Please keep an eye on the website for exact dates.

We appreciate the time and effort that goes into every application for support. All areas of our support have high demand, and we generally can only support, at most, one in five musicians who apply to us. As a charity we rely on donations from our supporters and have to prioritise use of their funds where we believe we can best meet our charitable purposes to prevent and relieve poverty amongst professional musicians and deliver most impact by supporting working musicians to keep making music. Regrettably we don’t have the resources to support more of the musicians who apply to us. 

Additionally, with a small team, we are not able to provide individual feedback or enter into any correspondence about decisions on applications for support. We provide guidance and tips on what makes a strong application, which we encourage all applicants to read in detail during the application process. 

We have previously been able to provide feedback but with an increase in complex health and financial support cases we are no longer able to provide this service. 

Ian Fleming founded the Ian Fleming Charitable Trust in 1972, with an initial focus on supporting national charities in the fields of support, disease research, relief and welfare.

However, a performance of The Magic Flute by Scottish Opera gave Ian the idea of extending the support to musicians in 1980.

Ever since, outstandingly talented young musicians have been supported through the Trust with costs towards their higher education studies.

The Sybil Tutton Awards offer support to students who wish to complete their vocal studies at certain leading UK conservatoires and performing arts colleges (listed below). 

You could be awarded between up to £5,000 to go towards the cost of a postgraduate course, and associated living costs. Support is available for the next academic year starting in September.

Please note: répétiteurs should apply through the Postgraduate Awards.

To apply for our Sybil Tutton Awards, you must:

• Be intending to study Opera singing or vocal performance at postgraduate level at one of the UK conservatoires listed below from September
• Be aged 18 or over
• Have the legal right to live and work in the UK, and currently live in the UK
• Not have more than £10,000 savings
• Have a UK bank account
• Demonstrate that you have the musical potential and ambition to create a successful and sustainable career in music
• Have lived and studied in the UK for at least 3 years
• Not have received student support from Help Musicians within the last 2 years

Our Sybil Tutton awards are open to students who are studying opera or vocal performance at Postgraduate level at one of the following: 

• Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• National Opera Studio
• Royal Academy of Music
• Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
• Royal College of Music
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

We are unable to support the following through these awards:

• Undergraduate courses
• PhDs, MPhil, DMus, Doctorates
• Non-music performance degrees such as composition, music technology, music education, music therapy, arts administration, and music business
• Répétiteurs are not eligible to apply for the Sybil Tutton Award and should apply to the Postgraduate Award instead.
• Study from the previous or current academic year

Audition date and venue will be confirmed when applications open. Due to our audition schedules this date is fixed and we are unable to offer an alternative.

Your audition programme

Should you be shortlisted for audition, you must provide us with your proposed audition programme. For most singers your programme must consist of at least two contrasting pieces by different composers and your whole programme should last no longer than 10 minutes. We are able to provide an accompanist for performers. Please indicate on the form if you require the services of our in-house accompanist. 

To be eligible you must not have more than £10,000 in savings, or have a second or other additional property.

However, some exceptions apply to unavoidable financial obligations. These are as follows:

• Money held aside for a tax bill
• Purchase of primary home you will live within and in the process of buying
• Purchase of required medical or care equipment
• Up to £15,000 of care home fees
• Up to £10,000 in savings towards music education fees
• Essential maintenance on property
• Up to £15,000 in parental leave savings if you are due to stop work for parental leave within the next six months

Some further capital eligibility guidelines apply, including on assets you expect to receive from a Trust Fund or dividends, and any gifts, loans or awards that exceed £3,000. Please get in touch if you require further information.

Sybil Tutton had a lifelong love of opera, which in later years was expressed as a passionate interest in the training of young singers.

In 1988 she used her personal funds to set up the Sybil Tutton Charitable Trust to provide financial help for the postgraduate training of outstanding young opera singers.

Sybil died peacefully on 27 November 2002 aged 96, bequeathing most of her residuary estate to the Trust.
Hundreds of singers have been helped since the awards began. Previous winners include Christopher Maltman, Alfie Boe, Ed Lyon, Kate Royal, Katherine Broderick and Karen Cargill.

Applications will open in April. Please keep an eye on the website for exact dates.

We appreciate the time and effort that goes into every application for support. All areas of our support have high demand, and we generally can only support, at most, one in five musicians who apply to us. As a charity we rely on donations from our supporters and have to prioritise use of their funds where we believe we can best meet our charitable purposes to prevent and relieve poverty amongst professional musicians and deliver most impact by supporting working musicians to keep making music. Regrettably we don’t have the resources to support more of the musicians who apply to us. 

Additionally, with a small team, we are not able to provide individual feedback or enter into any correspondence about decisions on applications for support. We provide guidance and tips on what makes a strong application, which we encourage all applicants to read in detail during the application process. 

We have previously been able to provide feedback but with an increase in complex health and financial support cases we are no longer able to provide this service.