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400 students were enrolled for that first academic year but by 1998 when the School astonishingly celebrated its first top twenty hit ( Sexy Cinderella by the late and much lamented Lynden David Hall who was the oldest student on the School ’ s opening day ) numbers began to rise as the School ’ s popularity grew .
Increasing numbers ( 900 by 2007 and 1,400 today ) coupled with rapid advances in technology created space problems . An additional wing was built to rehouse the Music and Dance departments and , later , the Interactive Digital Design Mac suites , to teach the most up to date skills for a digital age . The Music practice rooms house an array of instruments to nurture bands ( The Kooks , The Feeling and recently black midi have formed in those spaces ) and is now named the Nile Rodgers Music Suite due to his support .
A second theatre was opened in 2014 by the Duchess of Cornwall , to house assemblies , theatre and musical theatre shows and exhibitions .
The BRIT School has never stood still – the numbers have grown , buildings have been developed or adapted and the strands on offer were either introduced and / or evolved to meet the changing demands of the creative industries that BRIT was serving . The pandemic saw The BRIT School community of staff , students , parents and friends come together , working tirelessly to ensure no young person was left out or behind as a result of the lockdowns . With the support of our donors and partners - including Arts Council England ’ s ‘ Culture Recovery Fund ’ - we have come through the other side with an even stronger sense of community and a focus on the young people we support . As Stuart says in his opening remarks – “ The BRIT School is a good news story for the country .” Its contribution , in its thirty year history , on a social , cultural and economic perspective can be measured .
And , while transforming lives , and transforming itself , the School has stayed constant to the Northern Star of its principles and values . What BRIT stands for is to challenge every student to consider his / her / their position at the School and in society . There is no more powerful way of opening minds through an education and engagement with the arts . To be inquisitive , to be collaborative and to explore how art forms can be interpreted and reinterpreted – education in the timeless way – promotes both an individual sense of justice as well as a broad social one . The BRIT indeed transforms .