Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts

About LIPA

​Learning for the performing arts

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts opened in 1996 to forge a new approach to performing arts training. It was co-founded by our Lead Patron Sir Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty, Founder, and is housed in his old school, which underwent a multi-million pound renovation to transform it into a state-of-the-art performing arts higher education institution.

Today LIPA is an acknowledged part of the UK's higher education provision for the performing arts, recognised and ranked alongside institutions a lot older. LIPA provides learning for the main skills needed for putting on a show (performers and those who make performance possible), uniquely blending specialist and generic skills.

LIPA offers degree courses in Acting, Applied Theatre and Community Drama, Creative Technologies & Performance (BA (Hons)/MArts programme), Dance, Management of Music, Entertainment, Theatre & Events, Music, Sound Technology, Theatre and Performance Design and Theatre and Performance Technology. We also run full-time one year Foundation Certificates in Acting, Dance and Popular Music and Music Technology.

To further develop your skills we offer full-time one year masters-level degree courses in Acting (Company) and Costume Making.

We train students for a future of sustained work. Most recent figures have shown that over the most recent four year period, 89% of LIPA's graduates are in work four years after leaving, while 78% work in the performing arts. To achieve this, our curriculum is constantly being revised.

Why study at LIPA?

We can help you reach your goals.

Are you the type of person who is committed to developing your skills and so passionate about the performing arts that you can't imagine spending your working life doing anything else?

We're all about training people to follow that dream and make a living from it.

As well as developing your skills, your training needs to provide you with the experiences, contacts, industry insight and interpersonal skills to achieve sustained work.

We provide a creative and inspiring environment where you can experiment and take risks, but also learn how to turn your skills and ambition into a life-long career.

You'll find our graduates doing just this: on stage, on camera, in the studio or making performance possible all over the world.

Facilities

We offer first-class facilities and invest around £500,000 each year to update or improve our learning environment. We have high-end performance and rehearsal spaces, with technical kit which rivals what you'll find in the professional world. As you explore our range of courses, you can find out more about the facilities used by students on each course.

Teaching

Our teaching staff have worked with leading names across the performing and creative arts industries. We also employ part-time Visiting Professionals who are working where you want to be where you leave. You'll find profiles of our teaching staff on each of the course pages, where you can find out more about their achievements and how they could support your development.

On top of this, we welcome notable industry figures each year to deliver one-off masterclasses.

For all courses where industry professional accreditation can be achieved, we've met the standard, so you are guaranteed training which meets industry requirements.

Location

Liverpool is a vibrant city with a world-famous reputation for culture. There are countless opportunities to get involved in the cultural scene here. This means you can put your learning into practice and gain invaluable experience outside of the Institute.

Collaboration

This essential skill is at the heart of our teaching. Collectively, our courses provide training in all of the skills required to put on a show. We are one of the few training institutions in the world to offer making performance possible courses alongside all aspects of performance, enabling our students to gain diverse experience during training.

Enterprise

Some 76% of those working in the creative and performing arts are self-employed, so it's likely you'll fall into this category at some point. That's why business and entrepreneurship skills are built into all of our courses. This includes encouraging you to develop a career plan and learn practical self-management skills.

We encourage you to develop your own projects and back this up by offering funding and support for shows and business start-ups. A number of different funds are available both while you are here and at different stages after you've graduated.