LIPA: what it's really like
Learn all about Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts copy
If you’re looking to start a career in any element of the performing arts, then LIPA may just be the uni for you.
LIPA at a glance:
| Founded | 1996 |
| Location | Liverpool |
| Undergraduate course length | Three years |
| Faculties/schools |
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| Students | 1,000 |
| Great for | Students interested in the creative and performing arts, including drama, dance, music, film and TV, design and production. |
| Not for | Those who want a more traditional, theory-based, academic experience – LIPA’s a place where you’re likely to be involved in a lot of hands-on, practical work. |
Chiara, a third-year acting student at LIPA, tells us about the opportunities available at LIPA, how they can help you to further your career, and what it's like to live in Liverpool.
What’s LIPA like?
Here at LIPA, you’re encouraged to work with students from other courses. And because we offer such a wide range of arts subjects, you’ll have everyone you need to bring your ideas to life. Our courses include acting, dance, music, design, technical production, filmmaking, and management.
Our links to industry are at the heart of what we do, and all our courses are designed with industry partners. Our lecturers are industry-experienced, and many of them are still active practitioners. Alongside them, visiting professionals often run workshops, masterclasses, and Q&As. You’ll work with some of the UK’s brightest up-and-coming writers, directors, designers, and choreographers. And towards the end of your time with us, you can benefit from mock interviews and auditions.
LIPA was co-founded by former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. We’re based on the site of his old school, which bandmate George Harrison also went to. The old Liverpool Art College, part of our campus, was John Lennon’s former college.
We’re based in the heart of Liverpool city centre, opposite the Anglican cathedral in the Georgian Quarter. The city is a popular tourist spot and a former European Capital of Culture, known for producing great art and music. There are plenty of ways for students to get involved with the culture, whether that’s theatre, dance, music, comedy, or art.
Home to around 60,000 students, Liverpool is also well known for its nightlife, with a wide range of bars, clubs, pubs, and dance warehouses. And it has a thriving Pride Quarter, cafes, restaurants, and plenty of green spaces if you want to relax. 
LIPA doesn’t have its own student halls. However, Liverpool is a student-friendly city with plenty of safe and affordable student options.
You can find out more about these on our website, including halls of residence style rooms, which are often favoured by first-year students. All our listed accommodation is within walking distance of our campus.
What facilities does the institution have that make it stand out from other institutions?
The Sennheiser Television Studio is our multi-camera, ultra-high-definition broadcast studio. There's a gallery and control room, live sound studio, motion capture suite, green screen, and post-production facilities. It’s mainly used by our filmmaking students, and also by those studying sound technology, music, and acting.
The largest of our four dance studios is fully equipped for aerial work, including hoops, silks, and aerial bungee. Our second- and third-year dance students are taught aerial skills by renowned dance company, Wired Aerial Theatre.
The Paul McCartney Auditorium (PMA) is a traditional theatre and the largest of our performance spaces. It's equipped with professional lighting, sound, and rigging equipment. It can seat around 350 people. It stages theatre, dance, musical theatre, gigs, and cinematic productions and performances.
LIPA was one of the first major performing arts institutes to get rid of audition fees. All of our auditions are free. We also offer travel grants to interviews and auditions for applicants from an area in the UK where participation in higher education is low.
We offer a LIPA Bursary of £575 per year to all UK students who receive the full maintenance loan allowance. And we also offer a Care Leavers Bursary of £1,000 per year to students under the age of 25 who were in care before their 16th birthday. 
You may be surprised to learn that we offer degrees in management. The programme teaches transferable management skills to help you work across the creative and performing arts. Or if you know what part of the industry you want to work in, you can follow one of our specialist pathways (Live Events, Music Industry Management, or Theatre and Screen).
In your third year, you can do a three-month placement in a role that reflects your ambitions. Students often do so well that they’re offered jobs by their host organisation!