Acting - MFA

Entry requirements

Previous performance training is essential for this course. A first degree in drama, acting or performing arts, or performance experience will be required in addition to an audition and interview.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MFA Acting course is designed for graduates who wish to undertake advanced studies to further their knowledge and widen their experience of acting in order to take up a professional acting career upon graduation.

The delivery of the course is based on the conservatoire model which requires an intensive taught delivery of a minimum of thirty to forty hours per week over a minimum of thirty weeks per year. Its focus is practice-based learning through which the student is enabled to develop the requisite intellectual, imaginative and physical skills of the professional actor. During the course, students form an acting company and each exercise, workshop or production is designed to challenge the student actor and to progressively develop the imaginative, intellectual and creative skills required for acting.

The course seeks to create independently minded practitioners who are able to apply a variety of methodologies to their creative work. Its aim is to inculcate forward thinking practitioners able to create real employment opportunities for themselves, both in finding work and creating work.

The MFA Acting course, specifically designed with international students in mind, is a full-time programme delivered intensively over two years. The focus of work is European, with an emphasis on texts from within the British tradition. In the first year, studies focus on the ensemble, the tools of Psychological Realism, the demands of classical texts, professional preparation, and the foundations for personal research.

Initially, in the first two terms of the first year, MA and MFA students have the opportunity to work together in classes and in workshops. In the third term, MFA students form their own company and undertake an extended Shakespeare workshop, which provides an opportunity to investigate the demands of classical acting in greater depth.

In the second year, MFA students have opportunities to deepen their learning and to further develop their abilities. They undertake research in the form of a Major Project which provides opportunities for personal evaluation and creative development. They also perform in three productions each selected in order to challenge and further develop the ensemble and the work of the individual.

The course also includes acting for the camera and voice over work. Graduating American students are eligible to take part in the Federation of Drama Schools American Showcase. Students graduating from the course who have the right to live and work in the UK may take part in the school’s postgraduate London Showcase.

Information for international students

IELTS overall score 7.0 (6.5 in all components) or equivalent is required.

Fees and funding

Learn more about postgraduate fees and funding.