BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology

The BRIT School stands in Selhurst, Croydon, a secondary school specialising in performing and creative arts. It opened in 1991 under the City Technology College programme and remains separate from the local education authority. About 90 per cent of its students come from London. The school receives 71 per cent of its funding from the Department for Education, with the rest raised through fundraising and commercial income. Contributions come from the British Record Industry Trust and proceeds from Brit Awards broadcasting rights. Former principal Sir Nick Williams was knighted in 2013 for services to education. The school has produced alumni who have sold a combined 125 million albums by 2017. It was founded by Mark Featherstone-Witty, inspired by the 1980s film Fame, with support from figures like Sir Richard Branson and George Martin. The Knebworth Festival in 1990 raised £2.5 million for the school, featuring performances by Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, and others. Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2002. In 2022, the school received a PRS for Music heritage award for shaping UK art and culture over 30 years. Visitors find two professional theatres: the Obie Theatre seats up to 324 with standing room for 500, and the BRIT Theatre, opened in 2012, seats up to 280. There are dance studios, musical theatre studios, and TV and radio studios. A £5 million expansion in 2012 introduced new courses in Production Arts, Digital Arts, and Applied Theatre. YouTube Music funded a Television Studio in 2019 for Film & Media Production students. The school also runs a student-led show, The BRIT Live, broadcast on its YouTube channel.