In the National Student Survey 2021, ArtsEd was ranked the top drama school for overall student satisfaction with over 91% of ArtsEd students satisfied with their training. In the same year, every ArtsEd Acting graduate secured an agent prior to graduation.
These results testify to the quality of ArtsEd’s contemporary and inclusive actor training. Our tutors are committed to supporting each student to develop a broad range of skills, preparing you for an intensively competitive industry.
We take pride in creating a nurturing environment, with student wellbeing at the heart of everything that we do. Timetabled tutorials, one-to-one sessions and an open door policy provides essential support to students. Whilst our well-being team provides practical assistance and advice that maximises the support available for students with additional needs that impact on their learning e.g. dyslexia, mental health conditions and physical disability.
In addition, our full time Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity Coordinator and our partnership with Diversity School initiative confirms our commitment to valuing all student regardless of colour, class, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.
ArtsEd is a thriving, creative community that is passionately dedicated to investing in the individual.
In your first year we create an environment in which you will feel able to take creative risks at the same time as developing the technical vocal and physical skills that you will need to express and enhance your artistic vision. Skills classes and workshops will focus on exploring and exercising your individual imagination and creativity through structured play.
Throughout the year you will explore various acting approaches such as Michael Chekhov, Uta Hagen, Freddie Hendricks, Suzuki, Mike Alfreds, and Stanislavski, as well as the improvisation methods of Lecoq, Viewpoints and Mike Leigh. We will inspire and motivate your learning to be practical, active and reflective. A process deepened by applying what you have learnt within explorative performance projects.
In addition, you will develop performance and craft skills to enable you to train confidently and effectively in film and television, working to create authentic characterisations who communicate directly with an audience.
Throughout the year there will be an emphasis on the individual creative potential of each student actor and the development of their capacity for self-expression. This will be carried through all learning opportunities including self and independent study, collaborative classes, rehearsals and project settings. You will be supported to:-
Acting for TV & Film modules will include apprenticeship style crewing opportunities in various technical roles. This practical experience of crewing a location film set will give you an understanding of
| Module BA1 | Year 1 Projects |
| Credit value | 15 |
| Core components | World Stories Contemporary Physical Theatre Chekhov |
| Module BA2 | Year 1 Acting |
| Credit value | 30 |
| Core components | Acting Acting for TV & Film Improvisation |
| Module BA3 | Year 1 Voice |
| Credit value | 30 |
| Core components | Voice Singing |
| Complementary components | General British Sound and Sound Recognition Recorded Voice (Radio) |
| Module BA4 | Year 1 Movement |
| Credit value | 15 |
| Core components | Movement Intimacy Training Stage Combat Rhythm (Dance for Actors) |
| Module BA5 | Contextual Studies |
| Credit value | 10 |
| Core components | Contextual Studies Year 1 Project Journal |
Autumn Term
World Stories
This story-telling devising project will facilitate the inclusivity and openness required to build an authentic ensemble. Students will choose fables, myths and fairy tales, guided by their own cultural references or heritage background, which you will then weave together in a creative collaboration. This project will introduce shared meanings and vocabulary and stimulate the exchange of diverse cultural influences and references. The project culminates with students working in small groups to create a cross cultural, 40-minute piece of creative, modern world storytelling.
Spring Term
Contemporary Physical Theatre
The aim of this module is to explore and develop the practice of the acting, movement and vocal skills techniques to which students have been introduced in their first term. Working on a contemporary play, chosen to stimulate a response to the themes and motifs of the narrative (which narrative?), the focus will be on telling the story through an embodied physical theatre approach.
Summer Term
Chekhov Play
During this performance project, students will thoroughly explore the text and subtext of Chekhov applying, in a rehearsal process, the techniques learned in skills classes.
You will be taught how to analyse and annotate a text, work to embody the text and how to realise character physicality in order to develop a fully rounded characterisation. In addition, you will be guided to reflect upon the value of systematic rehearsal techniques and the ways in which they can inform the development of your own individual acting processes.
Rehearsals will take place throughout the Summer term, culminating in the presentation of a piece of text-based theatre.
The second-year is structured to enable you to participate with a direct, dynamic awareness of the rehearsal process, enabling you to freely engage with the flow and endless recurrence of stage behaviour.
The focused nature of this training, that relates and combines in the moment experience with skills and techniques learnt in the first year, inspires a deep seated connection to the work and encourages the continual nurture of your emerging individual acting process.
The second year includes a thorough exploration of verse and contemporary theatre using text analysis and active analysis. You will continue to develop the technical and artistic skills necessary for acting for stage, film, and TV and you will continue to explore a variety of acting techniques.
Classes in Audition Technique for Stage, TV and Film, Accents and the Recorded Voice are also given along with weekly Self-Taping and Professional Practice masterclasses, essential elements of your progression as a student actor.
Throughout the year you will participate in Performance Projects, some of which will be led by external professional directors. All the projects will give you the opportunity to work on the practical application of your training in a variety of styles and genres. Throughout the project work you will:-
| Module BA6 | Year 2 Projects |
| Credit value | 50 |
| Core components | Acting for TV & Film – Location Filming Contemporary Theatre Iconic American Theatre Comedy of Manners Shakespeare |
| Module BA7 | Year 2 Acting |
| Credit value | 30 |
| Core components | Acting – M. Chekhov, Hagen, Alfreds Technique Acting – Meisner Technique |
| Module co-requisites | Acting Shakespeare’s Text |
| Module BA8 | Year 2 Voice |
| Credit value | 30 |
| Core components | Voice Singing |
| Module co-requisites | Recorded Voice (Radio) Accents |
| Module BA9 | Year 2 Movement |
| Credit value | 15 |
| Core components | Movement – Laban, Butoh Technique Stage Combat |
| Module co-requisites | Dance |
| Module BA10 | Professional Practice |
| Credit value | 15 |
| Core components | Professional Practice Seminars and Workshops Interview Technique/Role play Year 2 Project Journal |
Autumn Term
Screen Acting One
This covers all aspects of screen craft – from understanding vocal levels of intensity, mastering continuity and shooting out of sequence, to acting preparation, character choices and revealing thoughts on screen. This module will enable students to work confidently and effectively in front of a TV or film camera.
Contemporary Theatre
Students will be cast in a contemporary piece in which they will be motivated and guided to make bold choices, commit to utilising the skills and techniques learnt and continue to explore their acting process. The plays will be directed by visiting professional directors.
Spring Term
Iconic American
Students will be cast in an Iconic American play from the 20th and 21st century cannon, a range that allows a broader choice that will be informed by the year group. Potential playwrights include Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, August Wilson, Tennessee Williams, Sophie Treadwell and Clifford Odets. The rehearsal process will sit alongside American accent development in Voice classes and rhythm dance in Movement classes.
The plays will be directed by visiting professional directors.
Summer Term
Comedy of Manners (Stage & Screen)
This term will be an intensive rehearsal period exploring aspects of comedy of manners: rhythm, timing, language and play, whilst examining how we can relate the themes and topics to the world today. Using classical text, such as Restoration plays, students will be introduced to breaking the 4th wall, direct address to the audience and encouraged to explore exaggerated stereotypes or archetypes in order to explore bold characterisation choices. This project will also be used to practice how we transfer fundamental comedic skills to screen comedy.
Shakespeare
A comprehensive and detailed rehearsal of one of Shakespeare’s plays and the influence that his plays continue to have on theatre today. This project will motivate each student to discover how their heritage and background can be practically employed as valuable tools in exploring the language, rhythm, themes and motifs that bring Shakespeare’s characters to life. This approach stimulates an embodied response to the work, with the aim of gaining a thorough understanding of the complexities of Shakespeare.
The plays will be directed by visiting professional directors.
By the third year, you will be prepared and eager to present the skills you have learned, both on stage and in front of the camera.
Alongside film screenings, you will perform to the public through a series of theatre productions, directed by visiting professional directors, in our Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre. Recent directors have included Lynette Linton, Deborah Bruce, Rikki Beadle Blair, Jennifer Tan Tom Wright and Ameera Conrad. Your showcase will be performed in a central London theatre. Audiences include agents, casting directors and other industry figures as well as the general public.
During this period it is essential to keep your training active, and so voice and movement coaching will continue and one-to-one sessions will be timetabled as appropriate. Regular lectures, practical workshops and masterclasses from industry professionals will ensure your knowledge and understanding of all elements of the business grows. One-to-one mock interviews for both stage and screen, designed to develop your marketing and self-promotion skills, are an invaluable element. Both Hannah Miller, Head of Casting at the RSC and Gemma Hancock, Head of Casting at the BBC, have recently worked with us on this module.
During your final year you will:
We will also support you in the rigorous transition from individual development to career-focused development, with the aim of thoroughly preparing you for your first job. This will include providing advice and guidance on promotional photography and CV presentation as well as the creation of a post-graduation action plan. Training in how to create effective showreels and voicereels will further support the development of your self-marketing skills.
| Module BA11 | Public Productions and Films |
| Credit value | 100 |
| Core components | Film Production 1 – Showreels Theatre Production 1 Showcase Film Production 2 – Original Screenplays Theatre Production 2 – New Writing |
| Module BA12 | Professional Employment Skills |
| Credit value | 20 |
| Core components | Seminars and mock auditions Production Journal Professional Practice Portfolio |
In the Autumn term each student is cast and performs in one of four plays in our autumn season.
In the spring term students are cast and perform in one of two plays, specially commissioned for our third year students. Previous writers have included Roy Williams, Deborah Bruce, Lucy Sheen, Vivienne Franzmann, John Haidar and D K Fashola.
All plays are directed by professional freelance directors, who audition and cast the students. They are performed in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre and are open to the general public as well as invited industry professionals.
You will have two opportunities to showcase your screen acting skills:
Showreels
Each student is cast in scenes from existing scripts and given roles which showcase their casting. The two-minute scenes are filmed on location under industry conditions, directed by a professional director. These are then edited to a professional standard and sent to agents and casting directors.
New Writing Short Films
Each student is cast in an original short film (chosen from submissions to an open call) which is shot on location, directed by a guest industry director. These films are screened at an industry showing and become part of the student’s body of showreel material.
Click here for the Screenwork page.
All students perform in a showcase of short scenes. This is presented at a Central London theatre for agents, directors, casting directors and all industry professionals.
Students are given a thorough, all round professional training in how to succeed in this competitive industry. You will have regular lectures from industry professionals to gain knowledge and understanding of all the business and behind-the-scenes aspects of the profession. You will also receive extensive training in.
All designed to prepare you thoroughly you for a career in a demanding industry.
Each year is taught in three terms:
You will be taught through a combination of workshops, acting classes, technique classes, rehearsals, lectures, seminars, screenings and tutorials. Most sessions will take place in groups of 10-15 students and some tutorials are offered on a one-to-one basis.
When not attending timetabled classes you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study:
Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, some independent study and performance/assessments.
The following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each level of the course:
| Year 1 | |
| Teaching, learning and assessment: | 910 hrs |
| Independent learning: | 290 hrs |
| Year 2 | |
| Teaching, learning and assessment: | 998 hrs |
| Independent learning: | 202 hrs |
| Year 3 | |
| Teaching, learning and assessment: | 924 hrs |
| Independent learning: | 276 hrs |
Staff will provide academic support in the following areas:
Our Disability Officer is also available to help students with learning difficulties, organisation skills and mental health. Additionally, students may contact our Health & Wellbeing Officer, and Equality, Inclusivity & Diversity Officer when required.
You will be taught by a highly professional teaching team with industry experience. You can learn more about them on our staff profiles.
Feedback is given continually throughout your training. You will have opportunities to test your understanding informally before you complete the formal assessments/performances that count towards your final mark.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Each year you will be required to submit one piece of written work in the form of a Project Journal. In Year 3 you will also complete a Professional Practice Portfolio. Written assignments are assessed as pass/fail – you are required to pass them, but no marks are awarded, and the written work carries no weighting in your final degree mark.
In Year 3, the plays take place in the evenings, and usually run from Tuesday to Saturday evenings with a matinee performance on Thursday afternoons.
In Year 1 you will be expected to be a front-of-house usher for some of these performances.
All modules are compulsory. The minimum pass mark for each component or module of the course is 40%.
In order to qualify for the award of BA (Hons) Acting, you must satisfy the pass requirements for all modules within the programme and achieve 370 credits overall.
The overall aggregate degree marks for the Honours degree will be calculated as follows:
The class of the award of an Honours degree shall normally be:
| BA (Hons) Acting | Minimum Overall Aggregate Mark |
| Class I | 70% |
| Class II upper division | 60% |
| Class II lower division | 50% |
| Class III | 40% |
An award of Ordinary Degree is not available for this programme.
You will receive regular feedback on all classes and projects, either verbally or in writing. Feedback is intended to help you learn and you are encouraged to discuss it with your module tutor. After assessed projects and final performances we aim to provide written feedback within three weeks.
