Frequently Asked Questions

General questions

  • NYDS is an 8-day residential performing arts school held in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.

    Founded in 1991, NYDS is now in its 35th year and attracts over 200 students from around the country. Workshops are taught by industry professionals, active in their creative field and passionate about sharing their skills and experience.

    You can find out more, and watch a video at About NYDS

  • NYDS is for ages 14-19. This includes students who have left secondary school.

  • NYDS is held in Havelock North and Hastings (Hawke’s Bay) in the April school holidays. The dates for NYDS 2026 are Saturday 4th April to Sunday 12th April.

  • NYDS runs for nine days. Students are expected to attend every day, including all scheduled evening activities. NYDS starts on the afternoon of the first Saturday of the April school holidays, and runs until midday on the middle Sunday.

  • NYDS attracts students from Cape Reinga to the Bluff – a truly national event! We also have a sizeable amount of Hawke’s Bay students, many of whom play an important role hosting other students from round the country as part of our billeting programme.

  • Yes! We have a Code of Conduct, and rules to keep you and other students safe. For your application to be accepted by NYDS, you must agree to abide by the code.

Applications

  • If you’ve attached a letter of recommendation you can expect to hear from us within 2-3 weeks of submitting your application (add another week around Christmas and New Year). If you haven’t uploaded a letter of recommendation, timing will be dependent on how quickly we can make contact with your referee.

  • If you applied before February 28, we will send you your class placement by March 20th. If you apply after March 1st, we will send you your placement as soon as we are able to. Please be patient as we work out the best class placements depending on age, gender, experience etc.

Timetable

  • You need to be at school by 9am every day except the final Saturday and Sunday which will start slightly later (you will be told the exact time for the final weekend in the information pack we email out in late March).

  • NYDS runs an evening programme on four days which all students must attend as part of the NYDS experience. Tickets to all shows are included in your tuition fees.

    Approximate finish times for the week are as follows. (Note that more exact times will be included in the information pack we email in late March, once programming has been finalised).
    Saturday     (registration and opening ceremony) 6pm
    Sunday / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday 8:30pm
    Thursday 5pm
    Friday 8:30pm
    Final Saturday 10:30pm (Disco night)
    Final Sunday at midday (if you are flying/bussing home, please book your ticket for after 2pm)

  • 5-7pm.
    Hostel students return to the hostel to eat dinner. Unless staying close by, most billeted and local students either stay at NYDS to eat dinner they’ve brought with them, or walk into Havelock North to get takeaways/supermarket food. You’re welcome to use the staff microwave if you need to heat up dinner brought from home (please arrange this with the NYDS office), and you can hang out in the NYDS chill-out room.

  • We have a long dinner break for a number of reasons:

    • NYDS staff need time to “tech in” the evening shows (sound, lighting, testing etc.) This takes a bit of time!

    • This is when hostel caterers want to serve the evening meal.

    • Students need ample time to walk back to the hostel, or into Havelock North village to get dinner.

    • It works well for most students to have a solid break after a full day of class to relax and unwind before the evening activity.

Costs, money and payment

  • You can find out the fees for this year’s NYDS at our Costs page.

  • Yes, you will need money for lunches, and depending on your accommodation – for dinners too. Find out more at our Pocket-Money and Meals section.

  • NYDS funds the school by charging fees, applying for grants, and receiving donations. Fees charged cover less than half of what it costs to fund NYDS so grants and donations are important. We couldn’t run NYDS without them. You can see who our main funders are on our Supporters page (coming soon!).

  • Absolutely, we would love that! Our account for donations is ANZ Bank 01-0646-0246667-00. As we’re a charity, you’ll get a 33% tax credit on the donated amount at the end of the tax year. Send us an email to let us know you’ve donated – we’ll send you a receipt so you can claim your tax credit from the IRD.

  • Yes, we have a scholarship programme for students who need help to attend NYDS. We also encourage students to organise fundraiser events and/or seek sponsorship from local businesses in their region. Find out more at Scholarships.

  • Yes, but there is a surcharge. We recommend paying your invoice by bank transfer.

  • If you selected the Earlybird fees option, your fees are due in full by 31 December.
    Standard fees are due by 27 March.

  • You can read our cancellation policy here.

Classes

  • Read about our classes at Classes.

  • NYDS is an intensive, immersive performing arts school. You will attend one class over the NYDS week, rather than a range of classes. When you apply to NYDS you will select your top seven choices and we will place you in a class accordingly. Some classes allow for the opportunity to try out one other class for two afternoons during the week. We call these Afternoon Tasters and placement will be based on your class choices on the application form.

  • Students placed in a “Home Group” class will try out one other class on Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. We call this a Taster class as you’ll get a taste of what this other class is all about. If you like it, you could apply to be placed in that class for your Home Group at NYDS the following year!

  • No, the nature of these classes doesn’t fit the home group/taster model.

  • We do our best to place you in your first or second choice, but this is not always possible. We consider many factors in allocating classes, including applicant experience, class size and mix of age and gender. While class placements are NOT made on a first-come-first-served basis, the earlier you apply, the more chance you will have of getting one of your top choices.

  • We will email you a fortnight before NYDS begins if you need to prepare or bring anything for your class. Advanced Acting and Directing classes are usually asked to prepare something (see the class descriptions page).

  • If you applied before February 28, we will send you your class by March 20th. If you apply after March 1st, we will send you your class as soon as we are able to. Please be patient as we work out the best class placements depending on age, gender, experience etc.

Transport

  • Yes! In March we ask all non-local students to let us know how they are arriving in Hawke’s Bay. If you are flying in on Saturday, the free NYDS shuttle will be there to pick you up. Our drivers will be wearing NYDS lanyards and name tags. We transport students in groups, so you may have to wait for more students to arrive before the shuttle leaves the airport. We also drop students back to the airport on Sunday after the Closing Ceremony.

  • Please aim to arrive in Hawke’s Bay by 2pm at the latest, otherwise you will miss the Opening Ceremony and other orientation activities.

  • Any flight departing after 2pm on Sunday is good. NYDS will transport you to Hawke’s Bay airport after the Closing Ceremony and you will wait with all the other NYDS students. No doubt there will a number of other students on the same flight as you.

  • Please contact our Production Lead – you and your parents will be given all necessary phone numbers in your pre-NYDS information pack. We’ll look after you and make sure you can get back to the airport as soon as you can get on another flight.

  • If you are billeting an out-of-town NYDS student, you and your billet(s) will be picked up each morning by the NYDS shuttle, and dropped home each evening (unless you are walking distance from the school).
    If you are not hosting a student, you will need to find your own way to NYDS, or find other students to carpool with. Unfortunately NYDS does not receive sufficient funding to provide a shuttle for non-hosting students.

Food and meals

  • The school canteen sells lunch options for $4 – $10, including pies, wedges, nachos, burgers, sandwiches and mini-pizzas. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items are available.

  • Hostel: breakfast every morning, dinner on every night except the last Saturday when you’ll be in Hastings town centre over the dinner break. Lunch is NOT provided.

    Billeted students: breakfast every morning, dinner on first Saturday and Thursday evenings. The other days you will attend NYDS evening activities and will buy your own dinner in Havelock North (New World supermarket, takeaways, kebab shop etc.) Lunch is NOT provided.

Accommodation

  • NYDS offers two accommodation options:
    – Hostel (sleeps 80 students, gender-segregated dormitories)
    – Billeted with a local host family.

    You can also organise your own private accommodation.

    Read more at Accommodation.

  • Both hostel and billet accommodation options are from Saturday night to the following Sunday morning (8 nights). If you are arriving earlier, or staying later, you will need to arrange your own accommodation for the extra nights.

  • We wait until the beginning of April to finalise billet placements. Due to unforeseen circumstances, some students or hosts need to pull out so we have found it easier to wait until close to the start of NYDS to match billets with hosts.


If you think there’s something missing in our FAQs, you can contact us to let us know.