Everyone who auditioned this year should now have received a letter from us.

The offer packs have been sent out those people selected for the various projects. 

At this point, you will get a good idea of the commitment, possibly with more than one rehearsal period. You will need to be able to attend all the days of rehearsal and performance and be able to raise a course fee.

The offer pack will include exact details of dates and times of the course, where the residential accommodation will be, who the artistic teams are, how much your course will cost and a handbook on how to set about raising the funds. Remember that there will be about 25-35 other young people on the project, most of whom will not have met each other before and some of whom may be going away from home for the first time - so you will not be on your own! Of course, there will also probably be one or two old hands on the course who can help you get used to it. We also have trained pastoral staff on the projects to whom you can go if you have any worries.

The course fee this year will be £795 which includes your two week accommodation, food, tuition, pastoral care and a free DVD of the show once it has been presented. Although the course fee may seem like a lot of money to raise, you will be surprised how many ways there are to raise the funds, starting with getting advice from your parents and school or college. The fundraising pack we produce and issue with the offer letter, "Putting the Fun into Fundraising", will give you lots of ideas and we are constantly updating it with the experiences of previous company members. We find that many schools and some local authorities make contributions ; there are numerous trusts and foundations, many of them small and local, who will contribute; the Rotary and Lions Clubs are often sponsors, as are many local businesses. If you or your family find it particularly difficult to raise funds, we also run a Buddying Scheme which pairs one of our volunteers or fundraisers with your family to help you raise the money locally. Finally, we also run a number of Hardship Funds which support young people who are in particlaur need; many of these are regional specific - we have funds from the Scottish Arts Council, Help a London Child, the Laura Ashley Foundation and a number of other organisations in order to help those most in need. So - DON'T DESPAIR - take up your offer of a place and then work with your new found friends in the company and with our staff to raise the funds.

The course fee is also paid in four  instalments so you do not have to find it all at once. The offer pack contains an agreement which you, or your parents if you are under 18, will need to sign and return. This commits you to finding the course fee and attending on the dates required.

If you have any queries you can call the office on 0870 240 5057. Nearer the time of the project there will also be a mobile phone number for the Pastoral Team Leader on each project, which you can call if you have any queries about food, accommodation and pastoral matters. You should also at this time look into travel arrangements. The courses are likely to be some way from where you live; they take place across the country and you could be going to Scotland or England or Northern Ireland. This is the time to check out air fares with Easyjet, flybe.com or Ryanair and see if there are any cheap deals. The trains can be cheaper if booked in advance as well and note that it is often cheaper to get two single tickets raher than a return - some times you can even get First Class cheaper than standard rate! For trains go to www.thetrainline.com .

There is a check box on the agreement form which allows us to pass on your contact details to other young people and parents on the same project. This means that you can then contact them and see if you can travel together if there is someone in your area.

About one month before the rehearsals start you will receive another information pack with more details of the project and of anything you may need to bring. This could include some research materials (such as books or CDs), the results of some research you have been asked to undertake in a library or on the internet, an odd item of costume such as a practice skirt or bowler hat or a red nose, and occasionally a small prop or two. These will vary depending on the project. Final details about accommodation will be given to you and also details of the final presentation so that your parents or friends can make arrangements to get to the venue.

If you have a musical instrument, please feel free to bring it, as it will quite probably get incorporated into the production and there are also evening events at which you might want to play. But remember that you MUST have insurance cover for your own instrument and any valuables you bring with you. Normally, this will be covered by your parents house contents insurance, even if you live away from home or have left to go to college or university. But you should check this out.

After that it is a short countdown to the day the project starts....

For details of what happens in an audition click here

For details of where and when auditions take place click here

For instrumental musicians information click here

For Stage Management click here

For Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) click here

If you don't want to audition but still want to join YMT: UK click here