Undergraduate courses and admission

Undergraduate courses and admission

Become part of our vibrant and diverse community of highly experienced teachers, performers, scholars and an exceptionally talented student body – all of whom share a passion for music.

Degree options

This group of specialist degrees is the flagship of the Conservatorium’s tertiary programs. Begin your musical career as a performer, a composer, or as a professional educator.

Performance principal study areas available in Classical PerformanceChinese Instrumental PerformanceDrum SetHistorical PerformanceJazz, and Music Theatre.

Combine your chosen principal study with interests from a wide range of interdisciplinary areas in Arts and Social Sciences, Business and Commerce, Engineering, and more. The five-year Performance or Composition combined degree offers flexibility to pursue multiple subject areas, allowing you to stretch your skills beyond music.

Be a part of the next generation in popular music, film, and television, or in the media and tech industry, or gain expertise in understanding how and why music is made by working with innovative musicology researchers – you choose your path by specialising in one of four Bachelor of Music programs.

  • Bachelor of Music:
    • Contemporary Music Practice
    • Composition for Creative Industries
    • Digital Music and Media
    • Musicology

Delve into broad studies of society, culture and performance by taking the Music Major as part of a Bachelor of Arts degree. A BA majoring in Music provides breadth to choose subjects from across a wide range of disciplines, including music electives taught at the Conservatorium and the University's Camperdown Campus.

Begin your musical journey that leads to Bachelor entry or upskill at a high level with a two-year Diploma of Music course. Often used as a gateway to a Bachelor of Music degree, the Diploma of Music is also available as a standalone specialist program in Composition, Composition for Creative Industries, Contemporary Music Practice, Digital Music & Media and Performance.

Entry to the Diploma of Music is via a Bachelor of Music application and audition/portfolio submission.

How to apply

  1. Apply
  2. Register audition and interview
  3. Check email for a confirmation of your audition or interview

Audition dates and requirements

Auditions for live instrumental, voice, and Music Theatre occur in the July and September NSW school holidays for entry into the following academic year.

Interviews for the Contemporary Music, Composition, and Musicology programs are conducted via Zoom during the July and September NSW school holidays for entry into the following academic year.

To learn about the audition process, requirements, and specific dates, read the Undergraduate Audition Guide:

Auditions Guide (English)

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sydney-conservatorium-of-music-undergraduate-audition-guide-2024.pdf
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Auditions Guide (English)
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Auditions Guide (Mandarin)

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sydney-conservatorium-of-music-undergraduate-audition-guide-2024---mandarin.pdf
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Auditions Guide (Mandarin)
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6 MB
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application/pdf
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pdf

Current NSW Year 12 applicants

Domestic students* undertaking a recognised Year 12 qualification (such as the NSW Higher School Certificate) who are applying to one of the courses listed below will automatically be considered for an early unconditional offer through the Creative Arts Special Admission Scheme (CASAS):

  1. Bachelor of Music
  2. Bachelor of Music (Composition)
  3. Bachelor of Music (Performance)
  • No additional application is needed
  • You must submit your UAC application by the relevant UAC round deadlines
  • You need to pass the audition requirement to be eligible to receive an early offer
  • Predicted ATAR data will be obtained through UAC.

*Domestic student is an Australian or New Zealand citizen (including dual citizens), Australian permanent resident or a permanent Australian humanitarian visa holder.

Current interstate Year 12 applicants

Domestic students* undertaking a recognised Year 12 qualification who are applying to one of the courses listed below will automatically be considered for an early unconditional offer through the Creative Arts Special Admission Scheme (CASAS):

  1. Bachelor of Music
  2. Bachelor of Music (Composition)
  3. Bachelor of Music (Performance)
 
  • No additional application is needed
  • Please upload evidence of year 11 and year 12 results to date in the audition portal (acceptd) as part of your audition application
  • You must submit your UAC application by the relevant UAC round deadlines
  • You need to pass the audition requirement to be eligible to receive an early offer
  • Predicted ATAR data will be obtained through UAC.

*Domestic student is an Australian or New Zealand citizen (including dual citizens), Australian permanent resident or a permanent Australian humanitarian visa holder.

Non recent school leavers

Otherwise phrased as a post-school applicant. You are a post-school applicant if you:

  • have never attempted an Australian Year 12 qualification
  • completed an Australian Year 12 qualification in a previous year to the current one
  • completed an International Baccalaureate (IB) in a previous year to the current one

Follow the steps in the ‘How to apply’ section above to make a UAC application. It is important to provide details of previous study to UAC in your application, including all completed secondary (High School) studies, and complete or incomplete tertiary study. Visit UAC for more information.

International applicants

  1. Apply
  2. Register audition and interview
  3. Check email for a confirmation of your audition and interview.

If applying directly to the University of Sydney, please make sure you provide your student number or a valid IPU number in your audition application.

University of Sydney internal transfer students

  1. Make an internal course application (between 1 April-30 Nov)
  2. Register audition and interview
  3. Check email for a confirmation of your audition and interview.

This process also applies to Sydney Conservatorium of Music students.

Creative Arts Special Admission Scheme (CASAS)

The Creative Arts Special Admissions Scheme offers talented Year 12 students a chance to receive an early offer to study music based on their audition and academic performance in Year 11 and 12 so far, prior to getting an ATAR. Find out more.