Program Overview
Drama
BA (Hons)
Overview
Pursue your passions. Choose to specialise, broaden your skills-base or combine Drama with another subject you love.
Experiment, reflect and innovate. Learn by making, producing, performing, directing and collaborating.
Graduate with a host of skills valued in a range of industries, from theatre to media to education.
What you'll learn
- Theatre practitioners
- Playwrights
- Performance making
- Writing, directing and performing
The course also includes a focus on:
- Play production and theatre performances
- Theatre in education performances and workshops in local schools and community settings
- New plays written by students
- New and existing works devised, directed and performed by students
Course structure
Year one
Build the foundations. You’ll gain skills in working with play texts as part of a theatrical ensemble, performing and directing, theatre production and performance; these will underpin your work in years two and three.
Year two
Apply your skills. You’ll work with local practitioners, collaborate with a range of theatre experts and learn from visiting professional companies and artists. You'll also have the opportunity to apply yourself in a variety of performance projects.
Year three
Develop your specialisms. Increasingly, you'll define and manage your own work, and carry out research into areas of drama or performance of your choice.
How will I be assessed?
We use a variety of assessment tasks across the programme, including:
- Public performance
- Playwriting
- In-class performance of devised or published work
- Oral presentations
- Performance of backstage/technical roles
- Critical reflection
- Working as part of an ensemble
- Script analysis
- Devising
- Individual and group research projects
How will I be taught?
You'll be taught through a range of activities including lectures, workshops, seminars, skills classes, rehearsals, tutorials, work placements and theatre visits.
Course modules
This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen.
Year one (Level 4) modules
- Investigating Theatre and Performance
- Contemporary Theatre
- Building the Ensemble
- Musical Theatre Repertoire
- Theatre Project
- Performance Practices
Year two (Level 5) modules
- Making Performance 1
- Acting and Directing
- Applied Theatre
- Creative Production Skills
- Writing for Performance 1
- Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
- Musical Theatre Workshop
- Puppetry
- Making Performance 2
- Performance and Media
- Writing for TV and Radio
- Musical Theatre Workshop 2
- Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
- Theatre and Social Engagement
- Staging Gender
- Performance Project
- Puppetry Lab
- Staging Shakespeare
- Drama Independent Study
- Musical Theatre Project
- Musicals as Cultural Politics
- Writing and Directing for Performance 1
- Writing and Directing for Performance 2
- Podcasting
Opportunities
- Study abroad
- Work placements, industry links and internships
- Dramafest – a festival of performance that's devised and run entirely by students
Careers
We equip you with creative, collaborative, writing, presentational and communication skills that are useful in many professional and vocational areas.
Some graduates choose to pursue postgraduate study, especially in teaching, or vocational training. Recent graduates have gone on to study Master's degrees at Central School of Speech and Drama, Yale Theatre School and the Royal Academy of Music.
Other graduates launch careers in the creative industries, including working with theatre and media companies. Some of our Drama graduates are now:
- Founder of an award-winning theatre company
- Executive Director of a theatre school
- Principal of an Academy of Performing Arts
- Dramatherapist and Tutor
Facilities and resources
- University Theatre
- University Theatre studios
- Ashton Drama studio
- Commons lecture and seminar rooms
- Michael Tippett Centre: auditorium / practice rooms
- Library
- TV Studios
Fees
2025 entry
- UK full time: £9,535
- UK part time: £4,768
- International full time: £17,670
Professional Placement Year
During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee.
- UK: £1,905
- International: £3,534
Additional course costs
You may need to pay additional course costs over and above your tuition fees, for example, for specialist equipment or trips and visits.
Entry requirements
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:
- A Level – grades BBB-BCC including a grade B in Drama, Theatre Studies or Performing Arts preferred
- BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject, or evidence of experience in Performing Arts
- T Levels – grade Merit preferred in a relevant subject
- International Baccalaureate – a minimum of 32 points are required in addition to evidence of involvement in drama or performing arts
- Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher) together with evidence of involvement in drama and performing arts
If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education.
Interview and portfolio guidance
Suitable applicants will be invited to audition at our Newton Park campus between December and March.
The interview process will focus primarily on your:
- Group skills
- Aptitude for taking part in workshop activities
- Spontaneity and creativity
- Interest in drama practices
More information will be sent via email on invitation to audition. We do not charge an audition fee.