Acting
W410Join a lively community of like-minded people on our Spotlight accredited course, to explore a breadth of acting skills from voice and movement training practices through to how to approach script work; working as an ensemble; acting for screen; applied theatre/theatre in education; devising your own work; alongside performance and production opportunities across different drama/theatre genres at each level. Learn by doing! It’s a competitive industry so you’ll need to be up for the challenge, but over three years you will get to enrich your imagination, build resilience, a disciplined working ethos and consolidate your own working methodology. You’ll develop the artistic skills to forge a successful career as an actor but your skillset will also serve you well across a range of creative employment routes in the arts industry and beyond.
Course overview
This is a highly vocational programme with a conservatoire-style intensity of focus. It is delivered by our talented teaching staff who have worked around the world as actors, directors, stage managers, and technicians.
The course combines elements of traditional actor training with specialist content in community and theatre-in-education work alongside outdoor and site-specific performance. As well as mastering body, voice and movement skills you may find yourself performing in schools or at summer festivals.
You will work in a variety of genres and repertoires, from classical to contemporary, and take part in regular performances so that you graduate ready for professional life on the stage, screen and radio.
What you need to know
Course start date
September
Location
On campus, Winchester
Course length
- 3 years full-time
Apply
W410
Typical offer
96-112 points
Fees
From £9,535 pa
Course features
- Work with a supportive and dedicated teaching team who combine a wealth of industry performance, production and publication experience
- Build an impressive portfolio of performances to enhance your CV whilst you study
- Create your own work for public performance in a studio theatre space with a view to touring your work to festivals after graduating
- Collaborate on and perform in a full-scale production in a large public venue via our Play to the Crowd Partners at Theatre Royal Winchester
- Rehearse and perform in our excellent Performing Arts Studios which provide six bespoke spaces to create and rehearse for your productions
- Spotlight Accredited: our partnership with Spotlight offers you discounted graduate membership to the largest casting resource in the UK, inclusion in a dedicated ‘graduate’ section on their website, access to their one-to-one career advice sessions and more
Course details
We integrate voice and movement training into project work from the outset on the course and you will learn by doing performance projects in every semester. On the BA Acting programme we are dedicated to developing your own creative voice alongside the training work that we do.
Across the degree you will explore a range of different performance forms and genres alongside voice and acting skills. These include staging scripted work in classical and contemporary theatre forms; devising around a text; devising from a concept; screen acting; TIE/Applied theatre work and student-led company and individual projects in your third year alongside directed theatre projects. You will leave knowing how to work with a director; make and develop your own solo and/or company work and have a strong sense of yourself as an artist. You will evolve your reflective written and presentation skills alongside your practice so you are able to evaluate, represent and promote your work effectively.
There are excellent studio and training facilities on campus, including purpose-built rehearsal, movement and performance spaces. You’ll also have access to two HD TV studios with green screens, a computerised radio studio and film-making equipment. You will receive comprehensive career development and support during your study, including preparation for agents, casting directors and auditions.
Make the most of our extra-curricular opportunities that may include fight training/stage combat; puppetry; performing in student films; consent and intimacy co-ordination workshops; dance classes through the Performing Arts Winchester SU society and theatre visits.
Our existing relationships with ‘Play to the Crowd’ (Theatre Royal Winchester/Hat Fair), The Point Eastleigh, Anvil Arts and The Mayflower offer you a variety of production and professional engagement opportunities to enrich and enhance your experience.
Work Placements
Students have the opportunity to work in local venues or with graduate and associate companies. Student placements are also available in the fields of drama, theatre in education, and applied and community contexts.
Field Trips
We organise incursions and excursions to see performances; some tickets are free, other ticket costs are kept to a minimum. Sometimes travel costs to travel to theatre will need to be paid by the student.
Learning and Teaching
Our aim is to shape 'confident learners' by enabling you to develop the skills needed to excel in your performance work here and to give you the subject-based knowledge that will leave you ready for the employment market or for further study.
This is a highly practical course and you are taught primarily through practical skills classes, workshops and rehearsals but we also offer a combination of lectures, seminars and rehearsal ‘table work’, allowing opportunities to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures in smaller groups and to explore research materials connected to your performance work.
In addition to the formally scheduled contact time (such as practical classes, lectures etc.) you are encouraged to access academic support from staff within the course team and the wide range of services available to you within the University.
Independent learning
Over the duration of your course, you will be expected to develop independent and critical learning, progressively building confidence and expertise through independent and collaborative research, problem-solving and analysis with the support of staff. You take responsibility for your own learning and are encouraged to make use of the wide range of available learning resources available.
Overall workload
Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning and assessment activity.
While your actual contact hours may depend on the optional modules you select, the following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each level of the course.
YEAR 1 (LEVEL 4): TIMETABLED TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY*
Teaching, learning and assessment: 384 hours
Independent learning: 816 hours
YEAR 2 (LEVEL 5): TIMETABLED TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY*
Teaching, learning and assessment: 384 hours
Independent learning: 816 hours
YEAR 3 (LEVEL 6): TIMETABLED TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY*
Teaching, learning and assessment: 384 hours
Independent learning: 816 hours
*Please note these are indicative hours for the course.
Location
Taught elements of the course take place on campus in Winchester.
Teaching hours
All class based teaching takes places between 9am – 6pm, Monday to Friday during term time. Wednesday afternoons are kept free from timetabled teaching for personal study time and for sports clubs and societies to train, meet and play matches. There may be some occasional learning opportunities (for example, an evening guest lecturer or performance) that take places outside of these hours for which you will be given forewarning.
Assessment
Our validated courses may adopt a range of means of assessing your learning. An indicative, and not necessarily comprehensive, list of assessment types you might encounter includes essays, portfolios, supervised independent work, presentations, written exams, or practical performances.
We ensure all students have an equal opportunity to achieve module learning outcomes. As such, where appropriate and necessary, students with recognised disabilities may have alternative assignments set that continue to test how successfully they have met the module's learning outcomes. Further details on assessment types used on the course you are interested in can be found on the course page, by attending an Open Day or Open Evening, or contacting our teaching staff.
Percentage of the course assessed by coursework
The assessment balance between examination and coursework depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose. The approximate percentage of the course assessed by different assessment modes is as follows:
YEAR 1 (LEVEL 4)*:
29% coursework
0% written exams
71% practical assessment
YEAR 2 (LEVEL 5)*:
30% coursework
0% written exams
70% practical assessment
YEAR 3 (LEVEL 6)*:
27% coursework
0% written exams
73% practical assessment
*Please note these are indicative percentages and modes for the programme.
Feedback
We are committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to you on your academic progress and achievement in order to enable you to reflect on your progress and plan your academic and skills development effectively. You are also encouraged to seek additional feedback from your course tutors.
Modules
Please note the modules listed are correct at the time of publishing. The University cannot guarantee the availability of all modules listed and modules may be subject to change. The University will notify applicants of any changes made to the core modules listed. For further information please refer to winchester.ac.uk/termsandconditions
Entry requirements
Our offers are typically made using UCAS tariff points to allow you to include a range of level 3 qualifications and as a guide, the requirements for this course are equivalent to:
- A-Levels: CCC-BBC from 3 A Levels or equivalent grade combinations (e.g. BBB is comparable to ABC in terms of tariff points)
- BTEC/CTEC: MMM-DMM from BTEC or Cambridge Technical (CTEC) qualifications
- International Baccalaureate: To include a minimum of 2 Higher Level certificates at grade H4
- T Level: Pass (C or above on the core) in a T Level
Additionally, we accept tariff points achieved for many other qualifications, such as the Access to Higher Education Diploma, Scottish Highers, UAL Diploma/Extended Diploma and WJEC Applied Certificate/Diploma, to name a few. We also accept tariff points from smaller level 3 qualifications, up to a maximum of 32, from qualifications like the Extended Project (EP/EPQ), music or dance qualifications. To find out more about UCAS tariff points, including what your qualifications are worth, please visit UCAS.
In addition to level 3 study, the following GCSE’s are required:
GCSE English Language at grade 4 or C, or higher. Functional Skills at level 2 is accepted as an alternative, however Key Skills qualifications are not. If you hold another qualification, please get in touch and we will advise further.
If you will be over the age of 21 years of age at the beginning of your undergraduate study, you will be considered as a mature student. This means our offer may be different and any work or life experiences you have will be considered together with any qualifications you hold. UCAS have further information about studying as a mature student on the UCAS website which may be of interest.
Interview and Audition
Suitable applicants will be invited to attend a group workshop, audition and interview.
Upcoming audition dates:
- 5 February 2025
- 12 February 2025
- 26 February 2025
- 5 March 2025
- 19 March 2025
If English is not your first language, a formal English language test will most likely be required and you will need to achieve the following:
- IELTS Academic at 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all four components (for year 1 entry)
- We also accept other English language qualifications, such as IELTS Indicator, Oxford ELLT, Pearson PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and TOEFL iBT
If you are living outside of the UK or Europe, you can find out more about how to join this course by contacting our International Recruitment Team via our International Apply Pages.
2025/6 Course Tuition Fees
| UK / Channel Islands / Isle of Man / Republic of Ireland |
International |
|
|---|---|---|
| Year 1* | £9,535 | £16,700 |
Additional tuition fee information
*(UK / Channel Islands / Isle of Man / Republic of Ireland) £9,535 for the 25/26 academic year. Fees for future academic years will be determined in line with our Terms and Conditions. The fee is currently subject to a governmental fee cap for each academic year. It is our policy to charge tuition fees at the level of the cap set by the Government. If the cap set by the Government changes, then we may increase our Fees in line with governmental policy.
*(International) £16,700 for the 25/26 academic year. Fees for future academic years will be determined in line with our Terms and Conditions. We decide the annual level of increase of our Tuition Fees by taking into account a range of factors including the cost of delivering the course and change in governmental funding.
Remember, you don’t have to pay any of this upfront if you are able to get a tuition fee loan from the UK Government to cover the full cost of your fees each year.
UK Part-Time fees are calculated on a pro rata basis of the full-time fee for a 120 credit course. The fee for a single credit is £79.45 and a 15 credit module is £1,191. Part-time students can take up to a maximum 90 credits per year, so the maximum fee in a given year will be the government permitted maximum fee of £7,145
International part-time fees are calculated on a pro rata basis of the full-time fee for a 120 credit course. The fee for a single credit is £139.14 and a 15 credit module is £2,087.
Additional costs
As one of our students all of your teaching and assessments are included in your tuition fees, including, lectures/guest lectures and tutorials, seminars, laboratory sessions and specialist teaching facilities. You will also have access to a wide range of student support and IT services.
There might be additional costs you may encounter whilst studying. The following highlights the mandatory and optional costs for this course:
Optional
Trips: We organise incursions and excursions to see performances; some tickets are free, other ticket costs are kept to a minimum. Sometimes travel costs to travel to theatre will need to be paid by the student. Indicative cost is £30.
Headshots: We will be able to organise a photographer for professional headshots in your third year for those ready to pursue professional practice. Indicative cost £100.
Study abroad: Students have the option to study a semester abroad in the USA in their second year of study. Indicative costs for flights is £900-£1,200. Actual costs will be more.
Disclosure and Barring Service: A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance check may be required if you undertake a placement, volunteering, research or other course-related activity where you will have contact with children or vulnerable adults. The requirement for a DBS check will be confirmed by staff as part of the process to approve your placement, research or other activity. The indicative cost is £40.
Mandatory
Core Texts for productions will need to be purchased by students, and can be bought second hand which can often reduce this cost. Indicative cost £20 per year.
Disclosure and Barring Service: Students will need to pay for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) fee if they chose an optional module where they carry out work in a school or other community context. This will either be in the second or third year of study. Indicative costs is £40 per check.
SCHOLARSHIPS, BURSARIES AND AWARDS
We have a variety of scholarship and bursaries available to support you financially with the cost of your course. To see if you’re eligible, please see our Scholarships and Awards.
CAREER PROSPECTS
Graduates from BA (Hons) Acting will be suitably prepared to begin a career as a performer. They will also be able to work more broadly in theatre and educational contexts given the skills they will have acquired. Jobs such a learning and participation officers in local venues would also be appropriate. Graduates may choose to start their own theatre companies or work as practitioners, work in Theatre in Education (TIE), community drama, applied contexts. Graduates could also go on to work in arts development, teaching and the media. Students can progress to a wider variety of career destinations building on their core skills in communication and team-building. The programme also provides a firm foundation for further training.
The University of Winchester ranks in the top 25 in the UK for graduates in employment and/or further study according to the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2024, HESA.
OUR CAREERS SERVICE
"Because the campus is so beautiful it really makes you feel in a good creative space."
