Acting

This exciting course will equip you with the fundamental tools that all actors require as performing arts practitioners.

You will explore a wide range of acting styles such as naturalism, absurd, comedy, tragedy, physical theatre and many more. You will also learn how to develop techniques and transferable skills such as vocal expression, physical movement and body language, interpretation of characters, communicating to an audience and emotional range.

You will investigate and develop knowledge of the work of key acting practitioners which will inform your work and help develop research, critical analysis and extended writing skills. These include Frantic Assembly, Brecht, Artaud and Stanislavski.

Explore and develop technical performance skills in a range of styles leading to numerous practical performance opportunities in our well-equipped performance spaces. You will collaborate with others to create devised performance work using all your skills and techniques. 

Entry Requirements

Grade 4 in GCSE Acting OR Merit in BTEC Level 2 Acting

Curriculum

  • Unit 1: Investigating Practitioners Work
  • Unit 2: Developing Skills and Techniques in Live Performance
  • Unit 3: Group Performance Workshop
  • Unit 19: Acting Skills

Diploma

  • Unit 4: Performance in the Community
  • Unit 5: Individual Performance Commission
  • Unit 6: Performing to Live Audience
  • Unit 22: Movement in performance or Unit 27: Musical Theatre techniques

In addition to EC units

 


Extended Diploma

  • Unit 7: Employment Opportunities in the Performing Arts
  • Unit decided based on the learners

Assessment

You are assessed through a mixture of internally and externally assessed units.

Approximately 60% are externally marked.

Enrichment Opportunities

For information on all our enrichment opportunities, please see our enrichment programme here.

Studying Subjects Together

Diploma: Acting & Dance/Dance & Musical Theatre/Acting & Musical Theatre

Equivalent to two A Levels, this course will allow you to deepen your Performing Arts knowledge base and skills even further.

Whilst covering the content of our Extended Certificate course, you will gain the specialist knowledge and practical experience of two performing arts disciplines in combination.

You will have the opportunity to explore performance in the community by applying specialist skills and techniques to a community performance project. You will undertake an individual performance project responding to a special commission and developing an exciting piece of individual performance work in response to your brief. You will put all your skills together in a final large scale group performance to an invited audience in the Fells Theatre, our largest and most well-equipped performance space.

Extended Diploma: Performance (Acting, Dance & Musical Theatre)

This course is equivalent to three A Levels and is perfect if you wish to fully commit to a career in the performing arts industry.

You will cover all the content of the Extended Certificate and Diploma course, developing your skills in all three disciplines of performance – acting, dance and musical theatre. You will develop your skills in all three areas and have many varied opportunities to perform throughout the duration of the course; working on scripts, devising pieces and putting on full scale exciting musical theatre productions in our Fells Theatre in front of an audience. As a committed performing arts practitioner you will also be equipped with the knowledge of how the performing arts industry works, how organisations function and how to promote yourself to potential employers.

Our Extended Diploma course will also offer you the widest choice of additional units to develop more specialist skills.

Further Education and Careers

Courses you could study at university include:

  • Drama and Theatre Studies
  • Journalism
  • Media Studies
  • Photography and Film

Careers which require an Acting qualification include:

  • Actor
  • Broadcast Presenter
  • Drama Therapist
  • Runner
  • Theatre Director
  • Theatre Stage Manager

Career Card

Independent Learning

If you would like to further your knowledge, you can access independent learning work here:

Preparation Work

You need to complete these tasks over Summer to prepare you for your studies.


Alumni

Our previous students have progressed to further study at various Performing Arts schools, universities and conservatoires around the world, before starting a career in the industry. 

See below for examples of where our students have studied and where they have appeared!

Leeds Conservatoire Ackley Bridge PO Cruises Mountview Bird College Rock and Chips Game of Thrones Northern School of Contemporary Dance Jamie Institute Arts Arden Northern Ballet Peel Fiver Yank Emmerdale Rose Bruford College Laine Butlin Rent SLP College Jersey Boys