Diplomas FAQs

The in-person diploma courses take place at our purpose built, main campus at Swiss Cottage, London. It’s in Zone 2, and right next to Swiss Cottage tube station on the Jubilee Line.

The Online Acting Diploma is delivered online, with the possibility of an intensive summer project onsite in London (depending on the developing Covid-19 situation).

For Acting, Gap Year, Musical Theatre and CAST Diploma, we accept a maximum of 14 students per class. 

For the Performance Making Diploma, we accept a maximum of 15 students.

Once per year. The Acting and Musical Theatre Diplomas start in January each year, the Online Acting Diploma starts in February and the Gap Year Diploma starts in September.

The CAST Diploma runs every other year. 

The Performance Making Diploma runs every two years.

Places on our BA and MA courses (and equivalent courses elsewhere) are highly competitive with hundreds of people applying for each place. There are no short cuts to gaining a place and completing one of our Diploma’s is not a guarantee that you will go on to be accepted for BA or MA study at Central or elsewhere. That said, you will learn a great deal on the Diploma and the skills learnt, coupled with hard work and talent, will be beneficial when it comes to auditioning. Each year there are a number of students who are successful in gaining a place somewhere for further study.

At the present time, Spotlight does not accept part-time, non-accredited courses as a way to get a pin. If you already have a pin, however, you’ll be able to list that you took one of our courses under the Education section.

We will let you know the outcome of your audition within 2 - 4 weeks. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful auditions. 

For feedback on unsuccessful auditions for the Performance Making Diploma, please contact sophie@accessallareastheatre.org

Yes, you can. Please contact the team to express your interest in applying for more than one diploma as you may only need to audition once. The Audition Panel will then decide which Diploma they think you are most suitable for.

There are free auditions, partial bursaries and full bursaries available for the Acting Diploma and Online Acting Diploma.

To be eligible, you must live in England and meet one of the following criteria:   

• I am from a low income household (below £25,000)
• I am care experienced (care leaver/in the care of your local authority)
• I am a disabled student
• I have caring responsibilities (young carer/carer)

To apply, please email short.courses@cssd.ac.uk with your supporting documentation. 

If you are successful, you will need to pay a 25% deposit of the full fee amount to secure your place within two weeks of your offer.

You will then be expected to pay the balance of the fees by the Thursday before the course begins.

In exceptional circumstances we may be able to arrange a payment plan. The team will be able to give you more details of this if you are successful at gaining a place.

For the Performance Making Diploma, payment plans can be arranged.

Very important. Our Diplomas give you the chance to experience conservatoire-style training and as such we take attendance and punctuality as seriously as we do on our BA and MA courses. All of our courses are collaborative in nature and if you’re missing from class it impacts on your fellow students’ learning, as well as your own. If your attendance dips below an acceptable level, you will be asked to leave the course and no refund of fees will be given.

Our Diplomas offer a practical, physical, hands-on experiential learning experience and you need to be prepared to fully commit physically, mentally and emotionally to that.

The Diplomas are a highly rewarding and fantastic way to learn new skills whilst still being able to work during the day but it can also be taxing on top of your daily life. We urge you to think carefully about this and consider whether you currently have the time, energy and wellness levels to fully engage before applying.

As a vocational course, students on the Diploma course are not eligible for a Student Route visa (previously Tier 4 visa) or the Short-Term Study visa. As such, Central is unable to sponsor international visa applications for the Acting Diploma. 

We still encourage applicants from outside of the UK and Republic of Ireland to apply for the Acting Diploma, however the course cannot form any part of your visa application. 

If you are an international student interested in the Acting Diploma (in-person), some of the scenarios in which you could take the course are:

• If you have an offer of work in the UK and wish to take the diploma alongside your job
• If you are studying an accredited course at a UK institution and wish to take the diploma alongside it 

If you are unable to obtain the appropriate visa, the Online Acting Diploma might be a more suitable option for you. 

More information can be found here. 

Please email us at short.courses@cssd.ac.uk and one of the team will get back to you.