Acting and Performance - BA (Hons)

On this course you will:

• focus on intensive stage and screen actor training with additional options that allow you to expand your skills to include areas such as community theatre, playwriting, directing, devising and creative entrepreneurship;
• experience practical and practice-led teaching methods to explore the ways in which the skills you already have can be developed and enhanced to embrace the demands of theatre, media and performance;
• deepen your knowledge of the fundamental skills of acting, voice, movement, textual analysis and interpretation, examining the ways in which they are deployed and synthesised to create character and performance, on stage, screen and in media work; and
• engage with current industry professionals and organisations.

Structure

This course enables you to convert an appropriate existing qualification into a degree and is equivalent to Years Three and Four of an honours degree.

All students enrol onto the honours degree, but you can choose to exit with an ordinary degree after Year Three.

Teaching, learning and assessment

A large portion of your course will be delivered through skills-based workshops. You will have the opportunity to undertake student-led research projects, perform in professional standard productions, prepare a personal portfolio to support your career after graduation and showcase your work to industry professionals. You will be assessed through a range of performances, viva, workshops participation, reflective portfolios and reports.

Teaching staff, class sizes and timetables

You can read more about the teaching staff on this course at the bottom of this page. Please note that teaching staff is subject to change.

For more information, please also visit ‘How we teach and how you’ll learn’.

Facilities

Our fully resourced studio theatre and smaller black box studio are fully kitted out with sound, lighting and projection equipment for your use. In addition, we have a scenic workshop for building sets and props, a scenography studio for set design, and a costume studio and store. You will have access to five bookable rehearsal studios (two with sprung floors), as well as to our dance studio and gym hall.
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Year Three

You will:

• build an expressive set of voice and movement skills;
• explore characterisation and in-depth character development;
• discover the dynamics and performative structures of a wide range of contemporary and historical texts; and
• understand and develop a range of film and media techniques for acting in front of, and working behind, the camera.

Modules

• Advanced Acting: Skills: In this module you will be building strong voice, movement and imaginative skills and techniques to underpin all forms of acting practice. There is emphasis on developing and applying a range of physical and vocal warm-up conditioning skills to enhance your own performance quality, and those of your peers. You will also explore the differences vocally and physically between types of spaces and live or recorded performance whilst honing your creative writing and devising skills from a stimulus or theme.
• Advanced Acting: Text and Techniques: This module asks you to engage creatively and imaginatively with contrasting texts from a wide range of historic periods. In order to develop these texts towards performance, a range of analytical skills is deployed to unlock subtext and reveal ‘meaning’. These skills are expressed and tested through practical workshops, which require individual work, as well as pair and group work. Text is also interrogated by using different acting methodologies and approaches. Characterisation, character relationships and ‘given circumstances’ are investigated and revealed by applying the acting theories of major acting practitioners, such as Stanislavsky, Uta Hagan, Stella Adler and Michael Chekhov. 
• Advanced Acting: Screen and Media: The training is focused on developing screen craft and the skills required to play and sustain narrative and character relationships on screen and other media. Acting for camera and acting for radio/digital media are essential elements within this process. This module will provide you with the knowledge, skills and working practices to enable you to make a short film or digital media product. It is also expected you will work collaboratively to technically support classmates on film, radio and media projects.

Year Four

You will:

• create an audition portfolio and audition for a range of industry specialists;
• create a showreel and a voice reel;
• perform in a piece of live theatre and make a film;
• perform in both a live and digital showcase; and
• learn about the industry and how to market yourself within it.

Modules

• Professional Performance: In this module you will develop your understanding of a range of performance practices in both a live and digital environment.  You will build on your already acquired skills and experience to generate a professional standard of digital material with the creation of both a short film and voice reel pieces, as well as participating in digital audition scenarios.  
• Theatre Performance Project: This module will take you through the process of performing a character from audition to rehearsal to public live performance following typical professional timings and environments. You will be rehearsing intensively, collaborating with a director, deepening your knowledge of and applying technical skills for, working with costumes, props, sound, lighting and set.  You will develop and enhance the voice, movement and acting skills you have explored in previous modules. You will also create a reflective research portfolio, which is a reflection of your independent analysis of the whole process including your research, related acting theories, critical and investigative reasoning, problem identification and solutions relating to a character, narrative and technical issues.  
• Creative Enterprise in the Performing Arts: This module will be of practical benefit in allowing you the opportunity to explore and develop a detailed strategy for your future career in any of the drama, performance, theatre, film, or costume sectors. Aided by a series of guest talks from industry practitioners, the lectures, seminars, and workshops will help students explore just what their future can be. 
• plus options 

Options could include:

• Playwriting
• Writing for Radio
• Creativity with the Community
• Drama and Education
• Directing, Designing and Performing Shakespeare
• Directing, Designing and Performing
• Contemporary Plays
• Devised Physical Theatre
• Performance Art Practices

Successful completion of the course gives graduates the skills necessary to work as an actor or to apply these skills to a wide range of other roles in the performing arts such as playwriting, community outreach, and theatre in education. Many of our students go on to establish their own creative business.

You can read about the careers of some of our drama and performing arts graduates on a dedicated section of our website.

Entry requirements

Direct Entry: HND Acting and Performance/Musical Theatre with A in the graded unit for the second year. Foundation degrees in appropriate subjects considered. Two years of a relevant degree considered.

±õ²Ô³Ù±ð°ù²Ô²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô²¹±ô: IELTS of 6.5 with no element lower than 6.0

Auditions: Final selection will be based on an audition.

Other requirements

A satisfactory criminal records check from the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme will be required if you select the optional module Drama in Education later in your studies.

Disability/health conditions

If you have a disability, long-term physical or mental health condition, or learning disability, it should not stand in the way of your studying at ҹɫֱ²¥. However, if you are not sure whether your disability might be a barrier in your studies or in relation to the professional standards, please contact the Disability Service who will be able to have a conversation with you about reasonable adjustments and supports available to you.

Fee information

Fees: Please follow the link in the 'Course Overview' box for information on fees for 2026 entry.

Other costs:

• The cost of the PVG check is the responsibility of the student. For more information on this, visit the
• You will be expected to cover some additional expenses for equipment etc (circa £500).

Application information

How to apply: Application for this course should be made through . More application information is available in the 'Start your Application' box at the top right of this page.

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Email Admissions

• The delivery of this course is subject to the terms and conditions set out in our 2026/27 Entry Terms and Conditions (Undergraduate).
• The course information on this page is correct at the time of print posting (Feb 2025) but may differ slightly for entry in 2026 following re-validation in February 2025 and it’s likely that the content may change. Please check back here for updates.