It is registered as a company under the name LAMDA Ltd[2] and as a charity under its trading name London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

[6][7] LAMDA Examinations in the fields of speech, drama, musical theatre, communication, and performance are taken by external students and are recognised by Ofqual, the regulator in England, and its counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland.

[8][9][10][11][12] The London Academy of Music was established by Henry Wylde in 1861 in St. James's Hall; there were separate sections for men and women.

[13] However, singing has remained integral to LAMDA's actor training and in 2023 it introduced a new MFA Musical Theatre programme.

It left the Conservatoire on 31 July 2019 to become an independent institution, and now receives funding directly from the Office for Students and Research England.

[20][21] LAMDA is a member of Conservatoires UK - an elite group of drama and music schools in the United Kingdom.

[24][25][10] In 2003, LAMDA decided to move its teaching school and theatre to its current location in Hammersmith in West London.

The move to the Talgarth Road enabled LAMDA to develop a campus with new training facilities designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects.