TIMES are changing at Ripon Cathedral’s famous Choir School.

The 50-year-old rule that boys who join the cathedral choir have to be full boarders at the school has finally been relaxed.

Boys and their parents will now be able to choose whether the choristers board at the school or attend as day pupils.

The Cathedral authorities have made the decision because of the many social changes that have happened over the last decades.

Director of music Andrew Bryden said: "We have often had enquiries from parents of boys who would like to sing in the cathedral choir but who are deterred by the need to be full-time boarders.

"By relaxing the requirement and offering this new flexibility, we are confident that we shall be able to attract more boys to sing in the cathedral and to benefit from the musical training and opportunities that being a chorister offers."

The choristers, who join the choir between the ages of eight and ten, receive scholarships to Ripon Cathedral Choir School that pay half their fees. As well as singing during the cathedral’s services, they are involved in recordings, radio and television broadcasts and concerts.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Reverend Keith Jukes, said: "Our choir is one of the glories of the cathedral, and has established itself as one of the leading choral groups in the country.

"For some time we have recognised that social needs have changed and that insisting on full boarding for our choristers has affected family life.

"Our decision to relax the condition for our boy choristers to board has been made so we can open up the possibility of being a chorister at Ripon Cathedral to a wider group of young people."