Professional Acting BA (Hons) Advanced acting for all media.

Acting

Professional Acting BA (Hons)

Key Information Term Dates

Please note that applications for 2024 entry closed on 31 January. Applications will re-open on 1 September 2024 for 2025 entry.

This BA Hons level programme provides students with advanced level skills and knowledge in Acting for all media including Theatre, Television, Film and Radio.

From the 2023-24 academic year onwards, our audition process is changing. Please make sure to read about our updated audition process.

 

A short video to give you an idea of our auditions process.

Female and male actors stood facing each other in rehearsals

Year One

In the first year, you’ll concentrate on the core disciplines of acting, voice and movement. Through these, you’ll work on a wide range of skills such as text interpretation, improvisation, acting to camera, singing, accent and dialect, vocal interpretation, stage combat, clowning, dance and period movement. You’ll also become familiar with theatre history and work on projects using a variety of texts. The course aims to familiarise you with the thoughts of all the major drama practitioners, whilst also helping you find your own, personal approach to your work.

Years Two and Three

In your second year, you’ll continue to work on acting, voice and movement. The focus of this year will be on preparing you for public performances, which might include honing your craft of storytelling through productions for school or family audiences, and by the summer term, performing in a production for the wider public. This work will expose you to contrasting venues and provide experience in a range of theatre traditions, in turn developing both your resilience and the rigour with which you approach your work.

Your final year will be structured around full productions in theatres across Bristol, which may include venues as diverse as Bristol Old Vic, the oldest continually-operating theatre in the English-speaking world; the urban chic of Tobacco Factory Theatres; or the splendour of Circomedia, a repurposed Georgian church. You’ll also spend time creating radio and film work at our dedicated studios, as well as preparing for industry showcases for agents and casting directors.

Olivia Colman

Launching Your Career

You’ll dedicate time in your final year to preparing for life as a professional actor through work focused on self-presentation, marketing and career management. Our students have an exceptional track record of graduate employment, achieving success in theatre, film, TV and radio. In recent years, new graduates have taken part in touring productions of shows across the UK, performed at the Globe and the National Theatre, appeared in national TV shows and had roles in critically-acclaimed films.

Many of our acting graduates have become household names, recognised through Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAS and Olivier awards. Professional Acting graduates include Olivia Colman, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Naomie Harris, amongst many others.

Students relaxing outside of the School
The School is in a beautiful part of Bristol, overlooking a huge park called the Downs. We sometimes take advantage of our close proximity to the Downs during the summer term, practising fight and dance routines, or voice or singing classes! Dan Hall, BA Professional Acting student