Whats wrong with years of tramping the folk club scene? A theatre director once told me he would rather employ an actor who started their careers with a couple of seasons in Pitlochry and then toured the a play around the western isles than someone straight out of RADA. I have seen and heard some of the graduates of Newcastle and, whilst they may be accomplished musicians and singers, came over to me as wooden, contrived and arrogant. " I have a degree in folk music, I know what I am talking about", just one quote, oh, and "you're a nobody" (maybe that comment was right!) all this because I said that their second set was better than the first and I am glad that I stayed for the second half, I had paid to get in and expected something better, they delivered in the second half but for the self styled "creme de la Creme" it all has to be good. The last time i heard that sort of comment was in a pub in Rawdon (leeds) when someone came up with the most stupid political remark ever followed by "I'm Gary Sprake, I know what I am talking about" (for the uninitiated - the then Leeds United goalkeeper) So, for me ther is no better examination than a paying audience and no better recommendation than word of mouth. My experience of the Newcastle project is that it doesn't work, students need to do a five year "placement" on the folk circuit before attending the course.