ESDS News: 2025/2026 Academic Year Success!
The 2025/2026 academic year has been nothing short of an absolute triumph. Every single time our students set their minds to a goal, they excel completely. We are incredibly proud to share the phenomenal achievements of our dancers over the past year.
100% ISTD Exam Success & Major Distinctions
We have officially maintained our 100% pass rate with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). [1]
A massive congratulations to our five Intermediate Modern students, who all achieved a Distinction! We want to give a very special shout-out to Lilith Norris, who received an incredible score of 96% in this major vocational exam.
All of these girls have trained tirelessly. Having trained them from day one, we are absolutely delighted to watch them take their first steps toward becoming qualified dance teachers as they now transition into teacher training.
Celebrating Our ISTD Ballet Award Finalists!
We are absolutely delighted to celebrate two of our incredible dancers who qualified as finalists for the prestigious ISTD Ballet Awards in London, held over the weekend of 6th–7th June 2026. Both girls traveled up to London to compete against the absolute best dancers in the country within their respective grades, and it was a truly wonderful day watching them shine up on that stage.
A huge congratulations to Lottie Everall, who danced beautifully in the highly competitive Grade 3 category, and to Phoebe Chaplin, who represented us phenomenally in the Intermediate Vocational class. An extra-special well done goes to Phoebe, who came away with the Class Prize in fourth place, alongside a special commendation for her beautiful work. What an absolute honour it was to see you both up there representing ESDS so brilliantly!
Our Most Successful Competition Season Ever!
To say this competition season has been busy would be an understatement—it has been absolutely mental! We are thrilled to announce our record-breaking medal and trophy haul for this season alone:
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- 197 Gold Medals 🥇
- 155 Silver Medals 🥈
- 93 Bronze Medals 🥉
- 27 4th Place Medals 🎖️
- 92 Trophies 🏆
Heading to the All England National Finals!
The All England Dance Competition is the most prestigious dance festival of its kind in the UK. Bringing children through to this elite level of competition is an insane achievement, and we are ecstatic to announce that we have 14 dances qualified for the National Finals in Eastbourne this summer!
Off to the Dance World Cup 2026 in Dublin!
We are also absolutely delighted to be representing Team England once again at the Dance World Cup 2026 in Dublin this July! We have a talented team of 13 dancers flying out to compete on the world stage. [1]
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- Ballet Duets: Bailey Bishop and Martha Bootland will be representing England in both the Ballet Duet and the Ballet Repertoire Duet categories. They came home with a fantastic bronze medal last year, and we wish them the absolute best of luck again this year!
- Musical Theatre: Our wonderful small children’s musical theatre group, The Railway, will also be flying the flag for Team England. [1]
Beautiful Industry Collaborations
In addition to our own team entries, we have been incredibly fortunate and delighted to collaborate with other dance schools that we hold very dear to our hearts. Several of our students have been asked to represent these schools—and ESDS—by joining their group routines for the World Cup.
A massive thank you to The Performance Hub in Medway and Firefly Dance School in Tunbridge Wells for taking our students with you. It is a truly amazing opportunity, and we love seeing the dance community support one another like this!