Applicants should normally be of grade 8 standard although you do not have to have taken a grade 8 exam at time of audition. 

You should be aged between 16 and 22, on 31 August 2027. (This means that you may be able to audition aged 15, as long as you will be 16 by this date). 

However, for the instrumental ensembles we may take younger participants into the ensembles on occasions where extraordinary talent is shown. This will be solely at the discretion of NYAW. 

You must either have been born in Wales and/or currently living in Wales or studying full-time in Wales. 

NYAW reserves the right to exclude anyone from taking part in its ensembles at its reasonable discretion, to be exercised by senior staff or trustees.

For any questions about our eligibility criteria, please email us at: nyaw@nyaw.org.uk. 

Once you’ve clicked the Book Now button you will be taken to the application form where we ask for some personal and contact details as well as asking some questions about your school/college and performing experience that will help us at your audition.

The form will ask you to upload a recent headshot of yourself (this can be a phone photo/selfie (Max 4MB). 

 It should take no longer than around 10 minutes to complete. 

 If you are paying the audition fee, you will be emailed a payment link once you have submitted the form. 

 If you have any questions, or problems with the form, please email auditions@nyaw.org.uk

The audition costs £30 – this goes towards our administration; venue hire and panel fee costs. We can offer Free Auditions to all of those who cannot afford this for whatever reason. Applicants can select the fee waiver option on the form.

Once the application deadline has closed, we will email you to confirm your audition venue details, date, time and how to get there. This will generally be at least 2 weeks prior to your audition date.

You will be required to perform pieces of your own choice, a selection of scales and in most cases short-prepared extracts of repertoire. 

Full details of what is required, including instrument specific guidance can be found in our audition packs. 

Our auditions are welcoming and friendly. After signing in with members of the NYAW Staff Team you will be taken to a warm-up room where you will have a short time to finish your preparation. 

There will generally be 2 or 3 people on the audition panel who will guide you through the audition process. 

Our audition panels will decide the results once all auditions are completed and we will aim to inform all applicants as soon as possible after this. 

This year, we intend to send out results emails during the week commencing 14th December. 

£750 + £50 non-refundable bond 

Your membership fee is a contribution to all tuition costs, accommodation, food and board, travel within the residency and social activities. The full value received by each individual is over £1,800 - but thanks to the generous support from our funders and supporters, National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW) subsidises a significant part of the costs of being a member of one of the national youth ensembles.

However, we aim to make sure that money is never a barrier to participation in any of our ensembles or projects. We understand that for some applicants this contribution may be out of reach, which is why we run a generous bursary scheme that supports where support is needed. 

If you have an annual household income of less than £125,000, Our Bursary Fund could help to cover some, or all, of your membership fee.  

We also offer an instalment payment plan.

Our Bursary Fund could help to cover some or all of the membership fees, so that no-one is deterred from applying for the NYAW Ensembles for financial reasons. 

Visit NYAW BURSARY FUND for full information including how to claim help toward audition costs and membership fees.