Working at Italia Conti

Founded in 1911 by the actress Italia Conti, initially to prepare children for a production of Where The Rainbow Ends, we are one of the world’s oldest recorded theatre arts training schools.

Over the past 112 years, we have maintained a leading position in the sector with our pioneering, all-round ‘triple threat’ training in the three art forms of acting, singing and dance. This approach has characterised our training from the outset, the fundamental underlying principle being that graduates entering the profession have more opportunity to work if they are trained in all three disciplines.

Italia Conti established the school to train children, and up until September 2021 we offered a full-time academic and vocational education for 11-16s. Our secondary school (the ‘Juniors’) closed at the end of the 2020-21 academic year and our focus henceforth will be on our offering of post-16 degree and diploma courses in dance, acting and musical theatre, and the training of younger performers on Saturdays and during the holidays through our network of Associate Schools that operate nationwide on a franchise model.

We are proud of our alumnx who are based all over the world and have included some of the biggest names on stage and screen over the past 100 years: Noel Coward, Bonnie Langford, Naomi Campbell, Pixie Lott, Sharon Osborne, Martine McCutcheon, Karla Crome, James Nelson-Joyce, Dwane Walcott, Carla Langley and Russell Brand are just a few of our famous former students – and, most recently, Sam Tutty, who has come to prominence in the title role in the West End production of Dear Evan Hansen for which he won an Olivier Award in 2020. We celebrate the achievements of our alumnx on social media using the hashtag #CONTInuedSuccess which gives a good indication of up-to-date news from our former students and the range and breadth of their work.

September 2022 marked a new chapter for Italia Conti. We moved from sites in Barbican, Clapham North and Guildford, to one, brand new, purpose built campus in Victoria Place a few minutes’ walk from Woking mainline railway station. Designed by architects Benoy as part of the new mixed-use development, the new site occupies a prime location in the new shopping centre adjacent to the New Victoria, Rhoda McGaw and Buzz theatres and all of the amenities of central Woking. The campus itself covers 48,000 sq ft and includes a new theatre and state-of-the art studios and facilities for the Italia Conti students of the 21st century.

We currently have 35 support staff and 83 teaching staff working at our Woking campus in support of our 550 students. Our faculty comprise established, salaried Course Leaders, Deputy Course Leaders, Head Tutors (of each discipline) and full-time and part-time teachers (36 staff in total, some of whom work year-round and some of whom work term-time only) and hourly paid ‘sessional’ teachers who combine teaching for us with working in the industry more broadly and typically teach fewer than 2 days-per-week at Italia Conti (46 teachers in total). This combination of established teaching staff who are dedicated to the institution and staff who are active in the industry offers the optimal balance for our students.

We recognise the benefit derived from investing in people through training and development to constantly improve efficiency and quality of service.