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What makes Theatre, Acting and Performance at Worcester special?

Whether your ambitions are on stage or backstage, Theatre, Acting & Performance at Worcester is all about practical work. You learn theory through practice - in a wide range of venues, including our own drama studios, other local arts or theatre venues, unusual spaces such as nightclubs or disused churches, festivals, outdoor spaces and gardens. If you choose to, you can also have a work placement with a theatre, school or production company, or work within modules with youth or community groups, such as people with learning disabilities

As well as developing your acting skills, devising or writing your own performances and staging existing plays, you'll also cover the technical and practical side of the theatre experience, learning how to rig a light, for example. Furthermore, your wider study of the subject can prepare you for a wide range of careers alongside one in theatre (acting, directing, writing or technical theatre), such as teaching, or youth and community work.

 

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Friendly community, with 'getting to know you' activities in Welcome Week, student societies such as Loco (musical theatre) and Spotlight (cabaret), and 'Scratch Nights' where you can try out ideas in front of an encouraging audience
  • Supportive tutors, who are also practitioners, many with ongoing performance companies
  • Visiting theatre companies, who perform for students and trips to a range of local and national theatres, or viewing national productions view live-stream
  • Links with community groups, museums and youth groups, giving you a choice of real-world settings for practising your craft
  • Opportunity to transfer to MTheatre (our four-year integrated masters programme) at the end of your first year, with an even greater focus on professional practice

Register your interest

Enter your details below and we will keep you up to date with useful information about studying at the University of Worcester.


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Entry requirements

Entry requirements

112
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

112 UCAS Tariff points (single and joint honours)

Including a Level 3 qualification in a related subject such as Drama, Theatre Studies, Performing Arts, English, Film Studies and Media Studies. If you are unsure if your qualifications are relevant, please contact the Admissions office. If you are a mature student returning to education, experience is taken into account as well as qualifications.

T Levels may be used to meet the entry tariff requirements for this course. Find out more about T levels as UCAS tariff points here.

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Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Plays in Performance
  • Devising & Physical Theatre
  • Visual Storytelling
  • Acting Skills
  • Performance Design & Production
  • Theatre & Communities

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Acting for Stage, Screen & Media
  • Directed Public Performance

Optional

  • Creative Movement Practices
  • Applied Theatre Practices
  • Performance & Digital Media
  • Playwriting
  • Musical Theatre
  • Technical Theatre Skills

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Final Performance Project (Dissertation equivalent module)
  • Independent Research Project (Dissertation equivalent module)
  • Professional Practice with Placement

Optional

  • Theatre & Disability
  • Queer Theatre & Performance
  • Theatre & Education
  • Immersive & Site-responsive Performance
  • Writing for Performance
  • Advanced Acting Practices
  • Staging Shakespeare Today

"My experience of Drama at Worcester was invaluable. The course provided me with the essential tools to pursue a career in teaching the subject."

Nicki Smith, Drama teacher, Thomas Telford School

2 female students and 1 male student working at table

Study Theatre, Acting & Performance as part of a joint honours degree

As well as a single honours degree, Theatre, Acting & Performance is also available as part of a number of joint honours combinations, allowing you to combine it with another subject to match your interests and career aspirations:

English Literature and Theatre, Acting & Performance BA (Hons)

Theatre, Acting & Performance and Screenwriting BA (Hons)

Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support through the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will enable you to flourish and be successful. 

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of practical workshops, lectures and seminars. The course aims to teach theory through practice so your practical work is integrated with reference to relevant texts and journals and lectures providing a context for each module.

You will develop your performance skills (using both body and voice), investigate cultural and historical contexts, develop your creative and collaborative skills and consolidate your critical thinking. You will prepare for working professionally in the field through understanding all aspects of theatre from creative inspiration to final production.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least 4 occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.

You have an opportunity to undertake a work placement module in the third year of the course supervised for agreed projects by a work-based mentor and a University tutor.

Contact time

In a typical week students will have between 12-15 contact hours of teaching depending on the academic year and in the final year there is normally 3 hours less contact time per week in order to do more independent study

Generally, modules are taught in 3-4 hour blocks and are practice led, with theory taught within practical sessions to enable students to gain an understanding of how to apply research in a practical and professional context. 

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 16 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on practical individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online and preparing coursework assignments and presentations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technicians.

Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy, and 75 per cent of course lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessment which is graded and counts towards the overall module grade. 

Formative assessments carry no weighting but are really important and designed to help students achieve their best in the final summative assessments. Formative assessment can take different forms such as peer feedback within student support teams, informal peer assessment or rehearsed presentations and performances. It is also embedded in the students ongoing engagement with tutors’ and is part of the individual tutorial system. This is an important part of student progress as it effectively creates a feedback loop offering opportunities for development. 

Assessment in Theatre, Acting & Performance is not by written examination and normally requires a combination of practical work and critical reflection, for example a performance or group presentation with subsequent oral assessment or written analysis. Written assessment is varied, and some modules may require different forms such as essay, contextual analysis, blog, creative writing or learning journal. 

The weighting of these components also varies but on many modules the assessment is weighted 60%/40% towards practice. There are also modules that focus on performance and in which assessment maybe disaggregated. Each assessment is aligned with its intended learning outcomes and learning activities so that it is clear what is being assessed.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

  • 2 x Essays
  • 2 x Portfolios
  • 5 x Group practical / performance work
  • 2 x Critical reflections
  • 3 x Individual or group presentations 

Year 2

  • 2 x Essays
  • 3 x Portfolios
  • 2 x Critical reflections
  • 4 x Group practical / performance work
  • 1 x Workshop
  • 1 x Piece of creative writing 

Year 3

  • 3 x Essays
  • 1 x Portfolios
  • 6 x Group practical / performance work
  • 1 x Critical reflection
  • 1 x Individual presentation
  • 1 x Piece of creative writing
  • 1 x Major independent study (approx. 6,000 or equivalent) or 1 x final performance

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate. We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Facilities

All the related spaces are located within easy access of each other and include:

  • The Studio Theatre (a 120 seat, flexible space which has been purpose-built and comprises adjoining dressing rooms, green room and storage). This has the capacity to accommodate a wide range of staging options and is linked to:
  • The Digital Arts Centre - enabling experimental work combining live and recorded performance and digital media.
  • The Dance Studio - a space similar in size to the Studio Theatre and with the advantages of being flexible. The Art Block affords usable practical spaces for work on the scenographic aspects of production.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course 

Ildiko Rippel

Dr Ildikó Rippel

Ildikó is a performer, writer and lecturer. She is co-founder and artistic director of Anglo-German performance company Zoo Indigo, devising autobiographical performance that engages with social and political themes of gender, cultural identity, displacement and migration. Zoo Indigo’s work combines dark humour, song and multimedia in a postmodern and kaleidoscopic approach, producing politically charged performances. 

Ildikó has recently completed a Practice as Research PhD at Lancaster University, examining maternal performance and the presence of family members in contemporary theatre. Her current practice research with Zoo Indigo investigates multilingualism and dramaturgies of migration

Ildikó previously worked as a lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester (Drama and Performing Arts) and at Nottingham Trent University International College (Art and Design), and as an elf in a Santa's Grotto.

Dr Jane George

Dr Jane George

Jane George's teaching and research interests focus upon devising and contemporary performance, particularly site-related performance. She is also interested in interdisciplinary practice, particularly performance writing and multi-media performance.

Jane has worked professionally as a director, writer and dramaturg and continues to develop her creative practice in collaboration with a number of performance companies and practitioners including contemporary performance company Reckless Sleepers, choreographer Lizie Giraudeau (formerly of Siobhan Davies Dance Company) and Pegasus Theatre, Oxford.

Jane is Course Leader for the MT Masters in Touring Theatre 

Alison Reeves

Alison Reeves

Alison Reeves’ main teaching specialisms are Applied Theatre and Theatre in Education.

Her most recent productions are an updated version of Euripides’ The Trojan Women and an adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories which toured to local arts venues with invited primary school audiences.

daniel_somerville_profile

Dr Daniel Somerville

Daniel Somerville is an artist practitioner, senior lecturer and practice researcher. His research interests are in the fields of performance, theatre, gender and opera studies, with particular focus on the concept of the ‘operatic’ and how it manifests in terms of movement, performance practice and convention, and how this may be applied to contemporary performance making. As an artist practitioner he has choreographed, directed and performed nationally (including at Edinburgh Fringe, The Place, Chisenhale Dance Space and Duckie in London, and for Birmingham Rep) and internationally (including National Theatre Namibia, Market Theatre - Johannesburg, Liberdade Provisoria - Lisbon and on a tour of the Czech Republic).

Previous academic positions include as a research assistant and visiting tutor at Goldsmiths (BA and MA students), as a visiting lecturer at Laban (MA students), as visiting lecturer and mentor (BA students) at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and as a visiting lecturer at University of Wolverhampton (BA and MA students), and as an online tutor in Opera Studies at Rose Bruford.

Paul Golz

Dr Paul Golz

Paul is an experienced teacher, choreographer, dancer and researcher. Following his initial training at the Centre for Professional Dance Training in Edinburgh he trained as a Graham dancer, however, it is a somatic-based technique that remains his true passion, especially in contact improvisation and creative partner work.

Paul has worked professionally with Misfitted Dance and Birmingham Opera. In 2011, he set up his own company, Ephemeris Dance following his interest in Dance and Digital. He has choreographed work in this arena under Arts Council grants for both his own company and ReadySaltedCode. He currently performs and creates for Riverside Dance Collective.

Careers

Careers

Employability 

There are excellent career opportunities for our graduates. These are both in drama-related areas, such as theatre, education, and the media, and in a wide range of other fields of employment made accessible through skills learned on the course in presentation, performance, critical thinking and writing.

A proportion of our students always progress to postgraduate study to gain higher academic or professional qualifications. Former students often set up their own businesses, for example as small scale touring theatre companies or drama education providers.

Past students are now working as actors, producers, stage managers and directors for employers across the areas of theatre, TV, radio and film. Teaching and lecturing are very popular career choices for our graduates, as are arts administration and marketing.

Earn as you learn

Drama students get the opportunity to take part in regular fee paying performance projects. This year these have included tours of specially commissioned theatre productions to schools and colleges across the region plus drama workshops for children and community groups. Students in all year groups can audition for these productions, which are led by professional directors.

Al Linforth

Al Linforth

Al, from Swansea, joined the University of Worcester in 2018 following a difficult journey through the education system. “I struggled through primary and secondary school, often finding it difficult to make friends and pay attention in class,” Al recalls. “This affected my self-esteem and mental health to the point where I actually stopped going to school for several months during my GCSEs.

“I didn’t think I would get into university,” Al said. “But I applied and was accepted by Worcester. In my second week I visited the disability and dyslexia team and took a dyslexia test. During those early weeks I was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD. Everything finally made sense as to why I found school and college so difficult, and I was finally able to receive the right support to help me study.”

Al has graduated with First Class Honours. “I couldn’t have done this without the staff on the Drama and Performance degree, who were extremely accommodating and supportive during my time here,” Al said. “I loved being a student at Worcester, so much so that I’m now the President of the Students’ Union. I hope to use this role to inspire other students with learning disabilities that it is possible to achieve a First Class degree and to enjoy studying again.”

Laura Kane

Laura Kane - Loving Life In La La Land

Many aspiring actors grow up dreaming of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. From Sunset Strip to the Santa Monica Pier and the Griffith Observatory, the landmarks of Los Angeles are immortalised in our minds by the movies, mapping out a land full of adventure and possibility.

But dreams can come true, and for University of Worcester graduate Laura Kane, Hollywood Boulevard and Venice Beach are no longer the names of exotic locations thousands of miles away, but rather a new home where she is building a successful career as an actor.

Read the full story

Jordan Smith holding certificate

Jordan Smith

Jordan Smith achieved First Class Honours in his Drama and Performance degree.

“It was the best three years of my life and it is fantastic that the hard work paid off,” said the 21-year-old, from Milton Keynes.

“For many years I have wanted to become a secondary school teacher - as I have a real passion for education and inspiring young people. That is certainly something I will look to go into in the future.”

Read Jordan's story.

"I learnt how to develop vocal and physical skills, and experiment with sound, light and projections all of which I continue to use in my current work as a professional theatre maker."

Michelle Pogmore, Performer with Reaction Theatre Makers and Founder/Director of Red Dress Theatre Company

Two students are walking next to each other and smiling

Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £16,200 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the academic year 2024/25 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20-credit module, £2,312 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £131 per week to 'En-suite Premium' at £221 per week (2024/25 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

"I loved how well everybody worked together and felt excited and dedicated to the class. It was a privilege to work with a group of people who cared."

Jacob Fazzio, 2nd year exchange student from University of Minnesota Duluth, USA

How to apply

How to apply

Applying through UCAS

Single Honours:

Drama & Performance BA - W400

Joint Honours:

Please visit the individual joint honours course pages for UCAS links:

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

UCAS Code

W400

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Dr Jane George

Admissions tutor