Acting, BA

Course information

Duration
3 years full-time
Course start
October
Award
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Acting

UCAS code

Institution
C35
Course
W410
Option
AP

About this course

The BA (Hons) Acting at Central:

  • A comprehensive classical and contemporary actor training
  • Prepares actors who aim to become world-leading artists in theatre, film and television
  • Focuses on new thinking in response to the rapidly evolving world of the arts and culture
  • 3 years full-time, and students are entitled to full Equity status upon graduation.

The course has four key principles:

Self-discovery – we encourage you to investigate and interrogate your world, challenging your own habits and preconceptions and opening yourself to the journey of the training, while learning to accept uncertainty and failure as part of the process of change and growth, and making curiosity, originality and artistic courage the cornerstones of your professional and artistic life.

Artistry – we offer you the skills you need to build your craft as an actor, so that your imagination and creativity can find expression in truthful characterisation and in the telling of complex and profound stories that offer insights into our world and the human condition.

Empowerment – within the safety of the creative space and the integrity of the acting ensemble, we promote the honest exchange of thoughts and ideas, the sharing of creative inspiration and the generosity of spirit which should always characterise a true actor.

Tradition and innovation – intrinsic to this course is a commitment to studying longstanding theories and practices while welcoming innovation and new vision.

Audition Fees and Free Auditions

BA (Hons) Acting courses - Acting, Acting (CDT) and Acting (Musical Theatre)
An audition at Central costs £40, however many UK-based applicants may be eligible for a free audition. In addition to students engaged through Central’s Outreach work as part of its Access and Participation Plan, the school also provides free auditions to applicants based in England who may face barriers in accessing conservatoire training. Last year, we awarded over 1,200 free audition vouchers which enabled more applicants to attend auditions and access specialist drama training.
Find out if you qualify for a free audition.
Learn more about what is included in the BA (Hons) Acting audition process.

Accordion

  • About Central's Acting, BA courses

    Drawing upon multiple performance theories, rather than subscribing to a particular doctrine or method, Central actors have always adopted a pragmatic approach to their training.

    The three specialist undergraduate acting courses: ActingActing Collaborative and Devised Theatre (CDT) and Acting Musical Theatre (MT), reflect this eclecticism and celebrate the many and varied techniques available to the actor wanting to work in theatre, television, film and radio.

    These courses exist within a thriving conservatoire environment – home to a dynamic range of related performance disciplines at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Training is contextualised alongside relevant professional advice and is structured in such a way as to gradually equip you with a thorough understanding of the industry.

    Performances by Acting alumni have long been recognised by major awards such as the BAFTAs, Oscars, Golden Globes, Olivier Awards, Tony Awards, London Evening Standard Theatre Awards and The Sunday Times/ National Theatre Ian Charleson Awards. Most recently alumni have been awarded a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, MTV Movie Award for Best Hero, British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor, Empire Award for Best Actor, Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Performance, San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Performance, Ariel Award for Best Actor and London Evening Standard Theatre Awards Emerging Talent.

    If you would like to audition for the programme, check the audition requirement section for further details on how to apply. Good luck!

  • Course Detail

    Year 1

    Discovery – freeing and discovering. In your first year, an environment of active learning is carefully nurtured:

    • Particular emphasis is placed on the individual actor’s aptitude for self expression within a collaborative class, rehearsal and production setting
    • Learn to open up the body, voice and imagination
    • Embrace methodologies that promote professional discipline and self-discovery alongside the development of techniques that lead to a psychologically rooted, physically-embodied character.

    Year 2

    Mastery – expanding form and meaning. This year builds on core training:

    • Discover how to take what you have learned into new and intensified theatrical contexts
    • Expand your own physical, vocal and emotional range to meet the demands of classical and contemporary performance styles
    • Encounter a wide range of complex texts, exploring a heightened use of physicality, voice and speech (including accents and dialects) and the dramatic imagination
    • Learn to transfer skills to both television and radio
    • Towards the end of the year you will start to think about how to apply your training within industry settings.

    Year 3

    Independence – applying the craft of acting. This year focuses exclusively on the ‘industry-ready’ actor:

    • Perform in a number of productions that aim to consolidate your skills in acting, voice and movement
    • Embrace a broad range of industry-specific skills as part of a rigorous transition from personal development to career-orientation, including the presentation of an industry-targeted showcase
    • Develop an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the industry, meeting and speaking with industry professionals, such as agents, casting directors and working actors
    • Learn how to find work by acquiring skills in auditioning, television castings, selftaping and the production of showreels and voice reels.
  • Industry Links & Visiting Professionals

    The Acting course has strong and growing links with the industry.

    Central employs professional directors from the second year, and invites a range of industry professionals to deliver talks and workshops on subjects from audition technique to rehearsing Shakespeare.

    Recent guests include acclaimed directors Michael Grandage, Lindsay Posner and Max Stafford-Clark, and well-known actors such as James Purefoy and Kit Harington.

    Students gain professional work while still on the course and there are regular visits by major theatre companies, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre and Out of Joint, who give talks and hold workshops.

    Recent Visiting Staff

    Directors

    • Auriol Smith (Orange Tree, Royal Exchange)
    • Richard Beecham (Crucible Sheffield, Chichester Festival Theatre)
    • Angie Langfield (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry)
    • Dugald Bruce-Lockhart (Propeller)
    • Bill Buckhurst (Shakespeare’s Globe)
    • Sarah Berger (Casualty)
    • Rolf Saxon (Woman In Gold)
    • Simon Dormandy (Liverpool Playhouse, Complicite)
    • Jonathan O’Boyle (Chichester Festival Theatre)
    • Irina Brown (National Theatre).

    Visiting Professionals

    • Ian Brener (Theatre Royal Haymarket, Sadler’s Wells)
    • Paul Harris (Harry Potter)
    • Nick di Cola (Billy Elliot)
    • Peta Lily (Théâtre du Mouvement)
    • Mark Street (Forbidden Theatre Company)
    • Chris Pavlo (BBC Radio)
    • Philip Foster (Thriller Live)
    • Francesca Greene (Francesca Greene Casting).
  • Graduate Employment

    Graduates from this course have recently appeared in:

    Theatre

    • Cyrano de Bergerac, Harold Pinter Theatre (West End)
    • Private Peaceful, Nottingham Playhouse
    • Our Generation, National Theatre
    • Henry V, Donmar Warehouse
    • Small Island, National Theatre
    • The 47th, Old Vic
    • Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia, Almeida Theatre
    • The Meaning of Zong, Bristol Old Vic
    • 2:22 – A Ghost Story, Noël Coward Theatre (West End)
    • The Last Five Years, Garrick Theatre (West End)
    • A Comedy of Errors, The Royal Shakespeare Company
    • Our White Skoda Octavia, Derby Theatre
    • As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe
    • Hamlet, Young Vic
    • Wuthering Heights, St. Ann’s Warehouse (Off-Broadway)
    • The Normal Heart, National Theatre
    • Matilda The Musical, UK Tour
    • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre (West End)
    • Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre
    • Is God Is, Royal Court
    • South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
    • Love and Other Acts of Violence, Donmar Warehouse
    • Faith, Royal Shakespeare Company

    Television

    • Game of Thrones, HBO
    • The Walking Dead, AMC
    • Ted Lasso, Apple TV+
    • Sex Education, Netflix
    • The Nevers, HBO
    • Bridgerton, Netflix
    • A Very British Scandal, Amazon Studios
    • I May Destroy You, BBC/HBO
    • The Great, Hulu
    • The End of the F***ing World, Netflix
    • Prodigal Son, Fox Network
    • DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, HBO Max
    • Derry Girls, Channel 4
    • Shadow and Bone, Netflix
    • Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon Studios
    • Sweet Tooth, Netflix
    • Conversations with Friends, BBC

    Film

    • Spider-Man: No Way Home, Columbia Pictures
    • Spencer, Endeavour Content
    • Eternals, Walt Disney Motion Pictures
    • Candyman, Universal Pictures
    • tick, tick, BOOM!, Netflix
    • Emma, Focus Features
    • The Souvenir Part II, A24
    • The Tragedy of Macbeth, A24
    • The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Searchlight Pictures
    • Brideshead Revisited, BBC FIlms
  • Notable Alumni

    Joe Alwyn (2015) made his feature film debut playing the titular character of Ang Lee’s 2016 war drama, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and has since appeared in films such as The Favourite, Boy Erased, Mary Queen of Scots, and Harriet. In 2022, he starred as Nick Conway in a BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel Conversations with Friends. Joe’s many accolades include a Trophée Chopard, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, a Satellite Award, and a Grammy Award.

    Sujaya Dasgupta (2015) plays Zoya Nazyalensky in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone. Her television credits also include Guilt, The Good Karma Hospital, Casualty, and I May Destroy You.

    Andrew Garfield (2004) is a Golden Globe award-winning actor, and his many film and television credits including The Social Network, The Amazing Spider-Man, 99 Homes, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, and Tick, Tick…Boom. On stage, he starred in the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, and in 2017, starred in National Theatre’s production of Angels in America, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play when it transferred to Broadway.

    Kit Harington (2008) played Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones, from 2011 to 2019, which garnered him international recognition and several awards, including a Golden Globe Award nomination and two Emmy Award nominations. His film and television credits include BBC’s drama series GunpowderPompeii, Testament of Youth, Criminal:UK, How to Train Your Dragon, and Marvel’s Eternals. Kit has also starred in many theatre productions on London’s West End, including Doctor Faustus and True West, and most recently he starred in the titular role of Donmar Warehouse’s production of Henry V.

    Tracy Ifeachor (2007) has played recurring roles in hit American television shows Quantico, The Originals and Legends of Tomorrow. Her credits also include Showtrial, Treadstone and Doctor Who, and she is next set to appear in Warner Bros. Pictures production, Wonka, a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  

    Cush Jumbo OBE (2006) has received numerous awards for her work in theatre, including; a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for playing Mark Antony in Julius Caesar; an Evening Standard Theatre Award for her one-woman show, Josephine and I, which she reprised Off-Broadway in 2015, and a second Olivier nomination upon her 2021 return to the London stage as Hamlet. Cush also played Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series The Good Wife and its subsequent spin-off series The Good Fight, and her other television and film credits include Stay Close, The Beast Must Die, Vera, The Postcard Killings and City of Tiny Lights.

    Eleanor Matsuura (2004) currently plays Yumiko in hit American television show, The Walking Dead, and her other film and television credits include Hannah Santo in Spooks: The Greater Good, Bev in Utopiaand PC Donna Prager in Cuffs. Eleanor has also worked prolifically on stage at venues including the Royal Court, Old Vic and several West End theatres, and has also appeared in several British TV dramas, including ExtrasHolby City, Doctor Who and Hustle.

    Nathan Stewart Jarrett (2006) recently appeared in the film Candyman, a direct sequel to the classic 1992 horror film of the same name and directed by fellow alum Nia DaCosta. Nathan’s film and television credits also include Vita and Virginia, Dracula, Doctor Who, The Trial of Christine Keeler, and Channel 4’s Misfits, in which he starred as Curtis Donovan.

    Charles Vickers (2017) played Guglielmo Pazzi in Netflix’s Medici, and plays Halbrand in Amazon’s recently released, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

    Millicent Wong (2019) made her theatre debut starring in Pah-La at The Royal Court Theatre to great acclaim, following which she performed in The King of Hell’s Palace (Hampstead Theatre), and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Bridge Theatre). She also appeared in a TV adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, created by the writers of hit series, Sherlock, which was released on BBC and Netflix, and in addition to this recently performed in Almeida Theatre’s West End transfer of The Doctor.

  • Entry Requirements and Admissions

    Minimum Entry Requirements

    Our minimum academic entry requirement is 64 UCAS tariff points or above - As part of meeting these tariff points, we consider a range of qualifications including A Levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more, which attract UCAS points, and selection by audition.

    You can see how many tariff points your qualifications would gain on the UCAS Tariff Calculator. International qualifications and others not covered within the UCAS tariff can also be accepted.

    Normal offers may be higher and depend upon expected grades and audition performance. Exceptional applicants who do not meet this requirement, but demonstrate appropriate potential, may be accepted.

    Admissions

    This is an intensive professional training course and must be followed in its entirety. 

    Candidates must be eligible to satisfy the general admissions requirements. Admission will be based on the reasonable expectation that you have the potential to complete and contribute positively to the programme and that you would benefit from honours study. There is no alternative to selection by audition.

    Selection for audition will normally depend on you meeting, or being predicted to meet, minimum entry requirements, and on written references and demonstration of the following in the UCAS written statement:

    • engagement with theatre and acting at national/local level
    • evidence of a real commitment to acting and a long-standing interest in acting and theatre
    • knowledge of a range of theatrical forms and genres
    • experience gained in post-education contexts, such as the workplace, travel and voluntary settings.

    In the absence of formal qualifications, an indication of academic potential will be sought in your UCAS statement.

    We particularly encourage applications from groups currently under-represented in higher education, such as students with disabilities and members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups. Find out more information on Central’s commitment to equality and diversity.

    Auditions

    Find out more about the audition process for our Acting, BA courses.

    International Students

    Visit the International Students section to view details of English language requirements for Central’s courses.

  • Tuition Fees, Bursaries and Scholarships

    Tuition Fees for 2024 Entry

    UK (Home) students: £9,250 per year*
    Overseas students: £25,200 per year

    Please note that there may be additional costs that you need to incur as part of the training for the course.

    Full information is available on the Tuition Fees and Additional Costs page.


    Bursaries and Scholarships

    Central offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. If you are holding an offer for a place on a course then you will be invited to apply for a bursary or scholarship.

    UK-based undergraduate students who are applying for a student maintenance loan and have a household income under £35,000 will automatically be awarded our Access to Central Bursary.

    *If you are a UK student but already hold a qualification at the equivalent or higher level to the one that you are applying for, then you may be classed as an ELQ student and be required to pay the same fee as an overseas student.

Student Feedback

“Central provided me with an environment that gave me the confidence and permission to go for something I’d always really wanted. It was hard work but I loved the level and the intensity of the training. It’s a place where you can play around and make mistakes and grow. It felt unique and exciting and unlike anything I’d experienced.”

Joe Alwyn

Graduated 2015, first professional job was the title role in Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

“Central didn’t force-feed me about what to be… they gave me infinite options so that I could choose which ones to take on board and build my craft. Everyone at drama school had talent. At Central you are given time and the tools so you can improve your skill. With skill your talent can shine.”

Nonso Anozie

Graduated in 2002, recent film credits include CinderellaPan, and television credits include Game Of ThronesDracula and Doctor Who.

Staff On The Course

Vanessa Ewan is a specialist Actor Movement teacher, researcher, coach, consultant and author.

Vanessa Ewan

Peter McAllister is an acting teacher, theatre director and an academic.

Peter McAllister

Claudette Williams is the Course Leader of the Acting, BA course.

Black and white headshot of Claudette Williams

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