I'm not sure what the entry process is like at Newcastle but I expect it is pretty tough. I know that for the contemporary music performance degrees at Napier it was quite tough. As well as the normal CVs you had to send videos etc of yourself playing just to get an interview. Then only 20 out of about 200 potential guitarists actually got an interview which involved a musical theory test as well as a quite intense audition. Only 5 then got a place. My son got into the final 20 but feels his music theory test let him down a wee bit and he didn't make the final 5 places. He got into a similar course at West of Scotland though and was offered a place at Highlands & Islands too. I suspect that anyone at Newcastle will need to be of a certain standard of playing already though. And I add it is potentially costing the poor buggers £9K a year to study there.