BA(Hons) Drama, Acting and Performance
This course is open for applications
Introduction
Gain valuable experience in actor training techniques for stage and screen, write and devise performance projects, and learn about the contexts of production to prepare you for a range of careers in the creative industries.
Why study this course?
Performance is a part of our everyday lives, from live theatre and cinema, to television, radio, and digital storytelling.
Studying BA(Hons) Drama, Acting and Performance at UWE Bristol enables you to understand the production contexts, learn actor training techniques, and build confidence to communicate effectively across a range of formats.
Performance is a significant contributor to the global economy, and enriches audiences with culture, entertainment, education, and information. It needs creative thinkers to become the makers of the future.
This creative course is ideal for you if youre passionate about making compelling drama.
Why UWE Bristol?
As a BA(Hons) Drama, Acting and Performance student at UWE Bristol, youll learn through practice-based creative projects that respond to Bristols social, historical, and geographical landscapes, as well as global contexts.
Bristol, a diverse and creative city, is home to renowned theatres and production companies, offering you inspiration, and future opportunities: locally, nationally, and internationally.
Youll collaborate with students from the School of Arts, as well as artistic, charitable, educational, and community groups. Working with a variety of people makes you adaptable, entrepreneurial and career ready.
Where can it take me?
Youll gain industry-relevant skills, preparing you for a variety of careers. You may also pursue further study (PGCE, MA, PhD) in related subjects at university or drama school.
Youll apply your performance knowledge to social, cultural, and political contexts, gaining the confidence to experiment with narrative devices to communicate ideas across different media.
Youll take into your career an informed creative practice that is ethical, inclusive, and sustainable.
Your degree provides you with a solid foundation for a career in the creative industries, including roles such as performers, writers, devisers, directors, producers, educators, administrators, managers, and technicians.
Watch: Welcome to the School of Arts at UWE Bristol
Structure
Content
Year one
You'll study:
- Introduction to Actor Training.
In addition to this module, you'll study three modules offering you opportunities for creative engagement with drama and performance. Likely areas of study include devising, creative contexts, and artistic collaboration.
Year two
You'll study:
- Acting for Stage.
In addition to this module, you'll study three modules that continue to develop your creative performance skills. Likely areas of study include actor training for screen, interdisciplinary practice, and experimental live and digital performance.
Final year
You'll study:
- Final Year Project.
In addition to this module, you'll study three modules that develop your independent practice skills. Likely areas of study include identity and solo performance, contemporary industry contexts, and professional production approaches.
This structure is for full-time students only. Part-time students study the same modules but the delivery pattern will be different.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, well inform you.
Learning and Teaching
Youll be taught by highly skilled lecturers and technicians who have experience of acting, directing, research, writing, and working with technology to produce live and recorded drama.
Youll learn about contemporary performance practices and their contexts through a variety of workshops, and experiment with writing in a supportive group environment. Youll be trained in acting techniques for stage, screen, and emerging technologies.
Projects are both staff-directed and student-led, with the chance to collaborate across subjects like filmmaking, animation, and media production.
Classes are a safe and inclusive space where youre encouraged to become creative producers of original work, shaping you into a responsive graduate, ready for a range of employment opportunities.
Learning is developmental across modules and levels of study, so youll gain a deep knowledge of the subject, and acquire creative, technical, and transferable skills to realise your independent projects.
See our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.
Study time
The course can be studied either full time over three years or part time over six years.
Full-time students take four modules each year, part-time students take two modules each year.
Outside of timetabled classes, youll also be expected to engage with preparation, coursework, and rehearsals, but you will have time to schedule placements, volunteering, or paid work alongside your learning.
We also encourage you to get involved in other creative activities, which might involve setting up your own theatre company and making an extracurricular production for our theatre, or joining university societies, which include drama, sports, and music.
Assessment
Our assessments reflect the industry and take the form of live and recorded performances and presentations, and creative coursework. Depending on module requirements, these may take place live in our theatre or studio, be filmed on location, or be site-specific within the community. We dont have any written exams.
Youll often work towards assessment in groups, so we expect you to collaborate in a professional manner, mirroring the creative industries workforce.
As an inclusive and diverse course, assessments can be flexible depending on your own needs.
Youll receive constant feedback ahead of your assessments, giving you the confidence to develop your work.
Academics and technicians guide you every step of the way, with consultations, and one-to-one and group facilitation of creative practice during classes.
In addition, youre assigned an Academic Personal Tutor who will support your study and wellbeing throughout your time at UWE Bristol.
Learn more about assessments.
Features
Placements
Placements prepare you for a variety of careers. Your skills, knowledge and professionalism improve through industry contact, making you a sought-after graduate.
As a vibrant and creative city, Bristol is home to a range of workplaces relevant to your course: from theatres and live performance venues to media production companies, talent agencies, heritage sites, schools and colleges, and charitable trusts. Placements and networking can often result in longer-term employment.
Get help to find your placement from our award-winning Careers Service, which provides a range of resources to help you decide on your career path.
Volunteering is another great way to start your career and you can find relevant opportunities at home and abroad.
Whatever you decide, youll be supported to find a placement or volunteering opportunity in the UKs creative or education sectors, or with trusted global volunteering providers.
Fieldwork
When you join us on the course, you'll be encouraged to build your profile through creative projects that use a range of techniques in different environments.
With a real-world education that prepares you for industry, were dedicated to helping get you career ready. For example, we offer free headshots in your final year of study, and our course is recognised as industry-standard actor training with eligible entry to Spotlight and Equity.
Within each module, you'll be encouraged to develop work that challenges and enriches your own approach and abilities as a drama, acting and performance student.
Study facilities
Based at UWE Bristol's City Campus, BA(Hons) Drama, Acting and Performance uses state-of-the-art theatres for learning and public productions. Equipped with high specification technical kit, our theatres meet the demands of contemporary performance, including multi-camera editing for livestreams.
Bower Ashton Studios has a theatre, a black box studio, classrooms, and a creative arts library. As a School of Arts student, youll have access to rehearsal spaces, filmmaking kit, editing suites, and voice recording booths.
City Campus at Arnolfini has classrooms and an auditorium.
Learn more about UWE Bristol's facilities and resources.
Take a personalised virtual tour of the Drama and Acting facilities and experience what a typical day could look like here for you.
Life
Accommodation
An excellent range of options for all of the Bristol campuses and the city centre.
Bristol
A stunning city for student living with all the qualities to make you want to stay.
Sports, societies and activities
There is more to your experience here than study. Choose to make the most of it and try new things.
Health and Wellbeing
We provide support in the way you need it.
Campus and facilities
Discover our campuses and the wealth of facilities provided for our students.
Careers
Careers / Further study
Many graduate careers in the creative industries relate directly to the course, whilst others are in areas, such as recruitment, events, and education. Thanks to their transferable skills, resilience, and array of experiences, our graduates often develop portfolio careers as self-employed freelancers.
Some graduates undertake further study, such as PGCEs; MAs in acting, creative writing, directing, or dramatherapy, and research degrees.
Our graduates work for world famous organisations like the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC, Channel 4, and Sky.
Typical roles include actors, theatre and film directors, stage managers, writers, script editors, producers, teachers, administrators, broadcast presenters, casting assistants, events and marketing executives, academics, entrepreneurs, dramatherapists, recruitment consultants, voiceover artists, theatre managers, and production assistants.
Past students careers include:
- Actors at the RNT, RSC, West End, UK Tours, ITV, Channel 4, BBC
- Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
- Performance Artist at BBC New Creatives
- Broadcast Presenter at BBC Radio Bristol
- Film and TV Director at ITV and British Film Institute
- Theatre Directors at Chichester Festival, West End, UK Tours
- Producer at Bristol Old Vic
- Academics at UWE Bristol and Bristol University
- Script Editor at the BBC, Sky, Studio Canal
- Puppeteer for The Queens Platinum Jubilee, West End, UK Tours
- Stage Managers and Technicians for the Olympics, West End, UK Tours
- Casting Assistant at RNT
- Wedding Planner at De Vere Hotels
- Project Executive at Dyson.
Postgraduate study includes:
- PGCE UWE Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff Metropolitan
- FdA Stage Management Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts
- MA Acting Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Drama Studio London, East 15, London Academy of Music and Drama Arts, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
- MA Creative Producing Mountview
- MA Contemporary Performance Practice Manchester Metropolitan
- MA Creative Writing University of Birmingham
- MA Directing BOVTS, Birkbeck
- MA Dramatherapy RCSSD
- PhD University of Bristol.
Our award-winning Careers Service helps you develop your employment potential through career coaching, a vacancy service for internships, placements, jobs, global opportunities, volunteering and community activity plus support for entrepreneurial activity, and access to employer events.
Learn more about our graduate destinations.
Fees*
Full time course
Part time course
Part time course
Indicative Additional Costs
Full time course
Supplementary fee information
*The UK Government recently proposed that tuition fees for Home students will increase by 3.1% to £9,535 from 1st August 2025. This increase is subject to Parliamentary approval and the vote is expected to take place later this year.
Any tuition fee which is impacted by this change will be updated following approval.
Please see GOV.UK for further information.
Additional costs
This refers to items you may need during your studies that aren't covered by the standard tuition fee. These could be for example, materials, textbooks, travel, clothing, software or printing.
Entry
Typical offers
- Tariff points: 112
- Contextual tariff: See our contextual offers page.
- GCSE: Grade C/4 in English, or equivalent.
- English Language Requirement:
International and EU applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*).
*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Please visit our English language requirements page.
- A-level subjects: No specific subjects required.
- Relevant subjects: Theatre Studies; English Literature; English Language and Literature; Media Studies
- EDEXCEL (BTEC) Diploma: No specific subjects required. For information on required Guided Learning Hours please see our minimum entry requirements page.
- Access: No specific subjects required.
- Baccalaureate IB: No specific subjects required.
- Irish Highers: No specific subjects required.
- Welsh Baccalaureate: We accept tariff points achieved from the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales in conjunction with other Level 3 qualifications.
- Cambridge Technical: No specific subjects required.
- T Levels: No specific subjects required.
Selection process
Applicants may be invited for an online interview if we have any further questions about your application. For more details on the process, please visit our selection page.
Entry requirements
International applicants
For country specific entry requirements please find your country on the country information pages. If you are applying to study at UWE Bristol and require additional support to meet our English language requirements, you may be able to attend one of our pre-sessional English courses. Read more about our Pre-Sessional English Programme.
Read more about entry requirements.
How to apply
Read more about undergraduate applications.
Read more about international applications and key international deadline dates.
For further information
- Email:
UK applicants
Admissions@uwe.ac.ukInternational/EU applicants
International@uwe.ac.uk - Telephone:
UK applicants
+44 (0)117 32 83333International/EU applicants
+44 (0)117 32 86644