Coronavirus FAQs - for Students, Applicants and Staff

No. ICMP is currently open – just in a different way. Our existing students continue to engage with us and are being properly supported to complete their courses and assessments and achieve their goals. Our new students are taking auditions, talking to their tutors and undertaking other aspects of the admissions process.

Yes. We’re currently planning for ICMP to be open and operating as normal in September and we’re looking forward to welcoming you then. Depending on future UK Government advice regarding the ever-changing coronavirus pandemic, however, we may be operating in a slightly different way.

To ensure we can adapt quickly to any eventuality, we’ve planned to deliver our full suite of programmes in a range of flexible ways. This will see us ready to meet UK Government advice moving forwards, whatever this might look like. It may be that we’re required to deliver some of our teaching and learning in an online blended model, for example.

Our flexible approach means we’re confident we can operate effectively, providing a safe and professional learning and teaching environment, whether you’re joining us for the first time or continuing your studies. We’ll work with you to find a specific study path that suits your individual situation and circumstances.

ICMP is a ‘face-to-face’ school based in London, and as soon as the pandemic eases and restrictions are relaxed, we’ll be returning to our normal model of delivery.

To ensure we’ve planned for a number of potential scenarios, though, we’re preparing to deliver your teaching and learning in a range of ways dependent on your circumstances, including:

• Fully face-to-face, as normal at ICMP.
• Blended delivery, where some components are provided remotely, and others contain a mixture of content and experiential events provided online with some face-to-face teaching.
• Full distance learning, where all your study will initially be done remotely for those unable to join us immediately.

Even if you initially have to undertake some or all elements of your study virtually, you won’t undertake the rest of your degree in this way, and we’ll welcome you physically at ICMP as soon as it’s possible and safe to do so.

Further detail, outlining to our approach to delivering higher education during the pandemic, can be read here

The team is already planning for this and the building is being modified in readiness. If social distancing and other associated measures are required, it may be necessary to deliver part of each course remotely or in a blended manner to reduce the number of students in the building at any one time. If this occurs, timetables may need to be rearranged, but support will be available to ensure you can learn, develop and progress in your course as normal, and that building access is fair and equitable.

If you’re unable to physically join us for your course, you can commence your studies virtually. The learning pathway will be very similar to face-to-face education, so you can join your classmates with minimal disruption once restrictions have lifted. Where necessary, we’ll provide additional support to enable students to join a course physically at a later date, and will deliver typical student experiences, such as Freshers and other face-to-face activities, later in the year when it becomes possible to do so. This means you won’t miss out on the full experience of being a student!

If you are, or will be, a tier 4 student, please see our dedicated guidance and advice pages. ICMP follows UK Government advice regarding tier 4 students. This is currently being updated as the situation evolves, so please make sure you review this guidance regularly. If you have any concerns or additional questions, please contact our Admissions team for assistance either by email on enquiries@icmp.ac.uk or by phoning +44(0)20 7328 0222.

ICMP student assessments will run as normal. If social distancing restrictions are in place, assessments may look a little different to enable some tasks to be completed remotely. They may be held virtually or at different times, but we guarantee you’ll be properly assessed in line with ICMP’s module and programme learning outcomes and you won’t be disadvantaged.

We’ll ensure all students have equal access to the support and guidance you need to help you achieve your goals, including those students with disability or disadvantage. If you feel your studies have been affected due to remote learning, we’ll give you access to ‘catch up’ support services so your education can quickly return to normal.

We’re working on making a suite of bursaries and financial support packages available to help students who may have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps you’re unable to join us and require some extra help to study in a virtual way, or maybe your health has impacted your studies. We’ll be providing more detail on our support packages in the coming weeks. If you’re a current student, and have any immediate financial needs ,you may be able to access funding from our Hardship Fund. Please contact studentwellbeing@icmp.ac.uk to find out more or visit the Hardship Fund page on My.ICMP to start your application.

We’ve been busy implementing measures to help you keep a check on your personal wellbeing. We’ve also designed an in-depth communications programme informing you of ways to protect your mental health and details of the wellbeing services you have access to as an ICMP student. We look forward to providing further information on this in due course.

Using our amazing learning resources for rehearsal and practice is undoubtedly important to you, so we’ll be sure to give you flexible access as quickly as the UK Government’s official guidance allows. To make this happen, we may be required to change our delivery models and timetables so social distancing measures can be observed when accessing our facilities.

We’re currently supporting students with loans of equipment and resources where we’re able to. Although we don’t usually lend laptops or computers, we’ve made additional funds available so we can an exception to help if you don’t have access to a computer or the internet for your academic work. If you’re a current student, and require this type of support,you may be able to access funding from our Hardship Fund. Please contact studentwellbeing@icmp.ac.uk to find out more or visit the Hardship Fund page on My.ICMP to start your application.

Yes. As long as official UK Government guidance is adhered to, you’ll be able to access all of ICMP’s facilities to study, use the library, practise, record or engage in distance learning activities remotely.

We already have the facility to provide flexible distance learning if we have to, but over the summer we will be investing in a significant upgrade of our internet network to make working remotely even easier for our ICMP community. This will be ready before September and will, for example, see a ten-fold increase in bandwidth. ICMP also has a large number of computers and other resources which you’ll be able to access outside of class time as long as you adhere to any social distancing measures that may be required. For students unable to visit ICMP in person, we’ll shortly be sending surveys so we can understand what resources you currently have at your disposal. We will then see how best we can provide additional IT assistance and, if necessary, financial support where it’s needed.

Your rights are protected under UK law and our refund policy applies as normal. We’re doing everything we reasonably can to deliver what we have committed to and ensure you can continue your course and achieve your goals regardless of the coronavirus restrictions that have been imposed on us. If you think you haven’t received the right level of service or support from us, we’ll examine your individual situation and make sure we resolve any issues you may have. And if we’re unable to do so, we’ll consider your case under our refund policy.

We subscribe to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), so if you have already studied with us and feel we haven’t applied our policy fairly and appropriately in your specific case, you can ask them to review our decision. The OIA is completely independent and there’s no charge for you to use this service. 

Your rights are protected under UK law. We’re doing everything we reasonably can to deliver what we have committed to and ensure you can continue your course and achieve your goals regardless of the coronavirus restrictions that have been imposed on us, but we acknowledge that things will be different from what you originally expected when you applied to us. If you think our approach won't work for you, we’ll examine your individual situation and make sure we resolve any issues you may have. And if we’re unable to do so, we will support you to look at other options.

We subscribe to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), so if you have already studied with us and feel we haven’t applied our policy fairly and appropriately in your specific case, you can ask them to review our decision. The OIA is completely independent and there’s no charge for you to use this service. If you are an applicant who has not yet joined ICMP then unfortunately you are out of scope for the OIA Scheme, but we will still do everything we reasonably can.