Trustees missed the warning signs in 2020, reporting a "very low risk" of closure just six months ago.
ALRA, the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, has closed today to the shock and sadness of the theatre industry.
The drama school first reported financial concerns to the Office for Students (OfS) in November, having determined itself to be at "very low risk" of closure just two months earlier.
OfS said it "has only been confirmed in recent days that ALRA will definitely have to close on 4 April, 2022" after attempts to sell the college failed.
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Teaching ceased immediately, a statement posted on the conservatoire's website says. All 284 ALRA students have been offered places at Rose Bruford College, which plans to continue classes at the ALRA North Site, and validating universities St Mary's Twickenham and Arts University Bournemouth are contacting students to discuss the alternatives.
Students learned of the change in between their classes on Monday, sparking criticism of their "disgraceful" treatment.
ALRA South students, for whom plans for a new campus are less concrete, said they are "heartbroken" by the decision and a lack of information from ALRA. The school's website and social media channels have been deleted, and its Wikipedia page already updated to note the closure.
Industry partners, many of them ALRA alumni, have leapt in with performance opportunities and offers of career support. Thirty-four staff will be made redundant, which they learned over Zoom on Monday morning.
Performers' union Equity says freelancers working on student productions were not notified and some remain unpaid.
Founded in 1979, ALRA's notable alumni include Miranda Hart, Stephanie Chambers, Clive Ashborn, Jimmy Akingbola and Mark Pegg.
A quick decline
Efforts to keep the institution afloat were not enough to compensate for losses sustained during Covid.
A restructure last spring aimed to stabilise finances by cutting about nine full-time equivalent jobs, ALRA's statement said, but "the lack of any significant new income streams in 2021/22 meant the organisation was not financially viable".
Income grew by 6% in the year to September 2020, and the school posted a small surplus of £32,204. Trustees believed ALRA was in good financial health heading into 2021. A five year financial plan forecast a return to surplus by the middle of 2025.
A student protection plan published last September said "the risk that we are unable to operate due to a material change is very low", in part because it received 15 applications for every place at the school.
Despite record enrolments, debts and staff costs each grew by more than £200,000 in 2019/20, the last year for which public accounts are available.
OfS said it had tried protect students' interests since learning of ALRA's difficulties in November: "Its circumstances have subsequently deteriorated and it has now decided to close", the regulator said.
It defended not having told students about the uncertainty before Monday, saying it wanted to secure options to continue their studies first.
Chief Executive Nicola Dandridge said Rose Bruford's courses were "a good match" for ALRA's but acknowledged the anxiety this will cause.
"This will be a difficult time for ALRA students, who have invested significant time, effort and money into their studies. We will... ensure students are able to continue with as little disruption as possible."
Clarie Middleton, Principal of Rose Bruford College, said: "We are preparing to welcome all students who wish to join us and to support them in reaching their full potential.”
Tumult towards the end
Last year was a challenging one for ALRA, which faced allegations of sexual misconduct by former staff.
It launched an internal investigation that has not been completed.
A separate review, published in May, found the school to be institutionally racist, cultivating a "humiliating, hostile and exclusive" environment for students of colour.
It changed its recruitment processes as part of an anti-racism action plan it had intended to deliver over the 12 months to May.
ALRA said at the time that new staff positions it added were to improve inclusivity, and not related to its financially motivated restructure.