5 Best Music Schools in London (2026)

Guildhall School of Music & Drama trains musicians, actors and production and design students from its home in the City of London, and was ranked in the top three in the world for Performing Arts and top four for Music by the QS World University Rankings 2026. It runs undergraduate through doctoral programmes plus short courses and training for under-18s, and its research output is described as the highest of any UK conservatoire. Reviews split sharply by who's writing them: several current or former students describe a competitive, pressured culture that some found more taxing than nurturing, while other reviewers, including concertgoers who attended events in its venue, describe an excellent, well-run space.

London College of Contemporary Music (LCCM) is a specialist music college in Southwark offering industry-focused degrees in performance, production and music business, currently running a VIP Clearing service for its 2026 intake. The college leans into contemporary and commercial music rather than classical conservatoire training, and reviewers describe modern studio facilities and a welcoming first-week experience. One visitor also came specifically to view the college's Reggae Museum collection, on display as part of a Black History Month exhibition.

The Royal College of Music is a long-established conservatoire in South Kensington offering undergraduate through doctoral training across instrumental performance, composition, conducting and more. Alongside its degree programmes, the RCM runs a public museum housing one of the world's more significant collections of musical instruments, and much of its public review activity centres on that museum and its events rather than student coursework. Visitors describe engaging exhibitions, including a Nirvana Unplugged retrospective featuring Kurt Cobain's guitar and cardigan, and consistently friendly front-of-house and security staff.

The Royal Academy of Music, based near Marylebone, has trained musicians since its founding in 1822, making it one of the oldest music schools in the world. It offers pre-professional through postgraduate training across more than 20 musical disciplines and awards over £5 million a year in scholarships and bursaries to the large majority of its students. One detailed reviewer highlights the school's alumni, including Elton John, Karl Jenkins and Annie Lennox, and its museum's collection of historic instruments from makers like Stradivarius.

London Singing Institute is a Fleet Street studio focused specifically on adult singing lessons, open to complete beginners through more advanced students preparing for graded exams. Lessons are one-to-one and matched to a student's genre preference and current level, with named teachers like Áine, Antonia, Kallen, Emmi and Lucia running the actual instruction. The institute's manager, Stefan Joubert, personally replies to reviews, and students describe a supportive, low-pressure environment aimed specifically at adults who may feel self-conscious starting out.