More than 9,100 students were enrolled in drama, dance and music classes during the academic year 2012-2013, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office.

The figures emerge from a survey among 188 schools and tutors teaching performing arts.

Out of the 9,135 students, 50.1 per cent were enrolled in dance classes, followed by 25.2 and 24.7 per cent in music and drama respectively.

Females totalled 6,956, accounting for 76.1 per cent. The overall majority of students were under 17 years of age.

A total of 150 respondents (schools and private tutors) offered tuition to 50 students or less and the remaining 38 had the possibility of accommodating more than 50 pupils.

Some institutions were specialised in one discipline while others offered a more holistic approach through a combination of the three main forms of performing arts: drama, dance and music.

The majority of musical institutions were relatively small, the NSO said, with 116 units (out of 120) enrolling not more than 50 students during the academic year 2012-2013.

Dance and drama schools had a more even distribution.

Although performing art classes were generally considered as an extra-curricular activity, 5,415 students sat for examinations, the NSO noted. The ratio of exams per student was 1.0 in drama, 1.3 in dance and 1.5 in music.

During the scholastic year, 377 performances were organised by the various institutions.

The average number of students per performance varied according to the type of art taught, with drama accounting for 47 students per performance, compared to 13 students in music.

About 11,000 individuals participated in student performances, indicating that some pupils took part in more than one event.

Full-time employees accounted for 17.4 per cent of the total, compared to 63.9 per cent for part-time employment. In addition, voluntary workers stood at 18.7 per cent.