The China Mail - From Adele to Raye, the UK school nurturing future stars

Singers Amy Winehouse, Adele and Raye, as well as actor Tom Holland -- better known as Spiderman -- are among the alumni of the state‑funded school, which prides itself on being free.

2026 started strong, with former pupils Olivia Dean and Lola Young both honoured at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Dean was named best new artist of the year, while Young won Best Pop Solo Performance with her soaraway hit "Messy".

Both artists also triumphed at the Brit Awards, the UK's flagship music ceremony.

"It's incredibly humbling," said Chris McInnes, their former teacher and deputy head of music at the BRIT School, which specialises in performing and creative arts.

"We would never take credit for any of their success ... we want to make the best place for those students who are going to be that successful," he told AFP.

About 1,500 students, aged between 14 and 19, attend the BRIT School, where they study for and sit the regular UK curriculum exams, including GCSEs and A‑levels.

Teenagers arrive for their day smiling, greeting teachers and the headmaster as they make their way through the corridors.

Some sing snatches of songs. Others work quietly in recording studios.

Behind one door, a group was rehearsing a number from the musical "Six".

- Cultural diversity -

Keyboardist Luke Crown, 18, and singer Naomi Simon, 19, were practising for a May concert.

"It's a very unique place. There's nowhere else that really you can study popular music to this intensity," said Crown.

Naomi Simon has already had "a really big opportunity" thanks to the school -- singing in the choir that backed chart-topper Raye on her latest album.

None of it would have been possible if the school charged fees, she said.

"My family doesn't come from a place which has lots of money ... so to come to a place where finances isn't an issue for me is amazing," she said.

The school is funded about 80 percent by the state. The rest comes from supporters, including companies, said headmaster Stuart Worden.

"The world needs diverse voices ... and so, every background should be able to talk about how they feel about the world using the arts," he added.

"Why should only people who can afford ballet lessons and ballet shoes be our dancers?"

Worden has worked at the school for 32 years, after it opened in the early 1990s in a low-income part of Croydon, a culturally diverse south London district.

In the reception, photos of former pupils are displayed: one is a stunt coordinator for movies, another a lighting technician at Eurovision.

- 'Be nice' -

McInnes recently organised a reunion for former students who left the school a decade ago.

"Whether they were making huge amounts of money or whether they were household names ... 10 years after they left they were still working in the industry," he said.

Artists such as Adele, Raye and Dean regularly speak about the BRIT School. Raye still tests new songs with Worden.

"I had the time of my life there. It's not a stage-stage school, but of course there's kids doing pirouettes and going 'Aaaaaahhhhh!' in the hallways," Adele told BBC 4 radio in 2022.

"It was such a melting pot of every single type of teenager ... It was absolute heaven."

During lockdown in 2020, "Tom Holland was one of the first students online giving actor classes from his bedroom," Worden recalled.

One piece of advice McInnes gives his students is simple: "Be nice to each other."

"There's so many people with amazing talent, but if you're not an easy person to work with, if you're not reliable, if you're not kind and empathetic, no one is going to want to work with you."

The pupils are also encouraged to step outside their comfort zones. Even if it is their passion, they cannot spend two years just writing R&B songs or playing heavy metal.

Teachers still remember Adele performing on stage at the end‑of‑year show.

"I remember everybody came out of that show going, right, that was something else that we just saw there," said McInnes.

O.Tse--ThChM