Undergraduate Course
BA Acting
Overview
The details
Acting
W411
October 2024
Full-time
East 15 Acting School’s BA Acting course develops your individual talent, imagination and skill so that you graduate as a creative, proactive and collaborative practitioner ready for a career in the performance arts industries.
From the start of your course you are introduced to the basic methods and theories of acting, particularly the work of Konstantin Stanislavsky, Sanford Meisner and Rudolf Laban, working in small groups with our professionally experienced staff.
In the first and second year, through a step-by-step process you will advance your knowledge and versatility as an actor. In your final year, you will concentrate on professional development adapting your skills to work with a range of visiting directors and other industry professionals.
Our training in acting is about exploration. You will experience a wide range of rehearsal techniques - learning technical skills and applying them to many diverse acting challenges. You will leave as a knowledgeable, professional actor with a creative approach and a solid process.
Acting is a choice, not just a dream.
EU and international students are encouraged to apply for BA Acting (International) which provides a complete preparation for careers in acting tailored specifically for international students.
This course is taught at our Loughton Campus.
View more undergraduate courses from East 15 Acting School, including further Actor training programs as well as behind the scenes courses in Creative Producing and Stage & Production Management.
Why we're great.
- Professional actor training for stage, screen and voice acting, with an emphasis on the individual artist through the exploration of one’s personal actor process and self-expression.
- Industry showcase supported by comprehensive Professional Development.
- Intensive skill training by leading UK and international faculty.
Our expert staff
Our training is by professionals and for professionals, allowing our graduates to work successfully across the globe.
Our international, outstanding teaching faculty is made up of professionals from all areas of live and recorded performance.
Learn more about our staff here.
Specialist facilities
Our Loughton Campus is perfectly located, providing access to both the rich, cultural diversity of London and an attractive and peaceful setting in which to study.
We are just a five-minute walk from London Underground station, Debden, where you can travel in only thirty minutes to Central London, West End theatres and mainline train stations including the Eurostar.
We have three sites at our Loughton Campus – Hatfields, Roding House and Unit Four. Hatfields is a beautiful Georgian dower house, set in five acres of lawns with orchards, flowerbeds and a small lake, providing an idyllic atmosphere for study, relaxation and performance.
Just a short walk from Hatfields is Roding House, a £1.3 million facility containing 10 rehearsal rooms, a green room/café, a sound recording studio and a video editing suite, and our costume department.
Next to Roding House, Unit Four is a £1.5 million facility which is home to the Stage & Production Management department. The Unit contains a large workshop, paint shop, prop shop, prop storage facilities and teaching spaces.
Our on-site Corbett Theatre is named in honour of Harry H Corbett, a key member of Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop and early benefactor of East 15. It is used extensively for student productions and is a practical training hub for our BA Stage and Production Management students.
The building is a medieval tithe barn that was dismantled and transported to Hatfields in the 1960s. These unusual origins create a unique performance space with a special atmosphere. Renovated to include full technical facilities, tiered seating for 130 people and fitted dressing rooms, the theatre provides an excellent resource for public productions, while the adjacent Bar and Café provides a social meeting point for students and staff.
Your future
Graduates of BA Acting regularly appear in stage, film, TV and radio productions throughout the world. Recent graduates have gone on to work with major companies such as the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe, Manchester Royal Exchange, BBC, ITV and in the West End. Students are consistently successful in the BBC Radio Drama Carleton Hobbs competition, which results in a professional contract. They have also been consistent winners of both The John Gielgud and The Laurence Olivier Bursaries. For the past ten years, BA Acting students have represented East 15 at the Globe Theatre’s Sam Wanamaker Festival.
East 15’s BA Acting graduates are known, and often cast, for their boldness, versatility and professional commitment as actors.
“Everyone here has something positive to offer and East 15 allows everyone, no matter who they are, to express themselves and contribute to their art. Throughout my time on the BA Acting course, I was pushed far beyond my comfort zones and asked to explore areas of myself I hadn’t been conscious of.”
Daniel Ezra, BA Acting (2013)
Entry requirements
UK entry requirements
Applicants will need to submit a video audition and, if successful, complete a recall audition/workshop. Applicants should also have, or expect to have:
A-levels: CDD, or the equivalent in UCAS tariff points, to include 2 full A Levels
BTEC: MMP
T-levels: Pass with C in core
IB: 25 points or three Higher Level certificates with 433.
We are also happy to consider a combination of separate IB Diploma Programme Courses (formerly certificates) at both Higher and Standard Level. Exact offer levels will vary depending on the range of subjects being taken at higher and standard level, and the course applied for.
We can also consider combinations with BTECs or other qualifications in the Career-related programme – the acceptability of BTECs and other qualifications depends on the subject studied, advice on acceptability can be provided. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for more information.
International & EU entry requirements
We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.
Sorry, the entry requirements for the country that you have selected are not available here. Please select your country page where you'll find this information.
English language requirements
If you do not require a student visa to study in the UK then we will assess your English language proficiency/ability at your interview or audition.
English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English and those who require a student visa: IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each component, or specified score in another equivalent test that we accept.
Details of English language requirements, including UK Visas and Immigration minimum component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here
If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels listed above for the relevant countries.
Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications.
If you are an international student requiring a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.
What if my IELTS does not meet your requirements?
If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.
Do I need to have achieved an acceptable English language qualification before I apply?
You don’t need to achieve the required level before making your application, but it will be one of the conditions of your offer.
What if the English language qualification I hold, or am taking, is not listed?
If you cannot find the qualification that you have achieved or are pending, then please contact Admissions on ugquery@essex.ac.uk for advice.
Structure
Course structure
We offer dynamic and unique courses for actors, directors, producers, technical theatre specialists and students of theatre practice. Training at East 15 draws upon 50 years of tradition combined with a keen sense of the world of stage and screen today.
Our carefully selected modules will give you the chance to explore and develop your specialist training.
We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.
Teaching
Year 1
In your first year, you will focus on acting, voice, singing, movement and contextual studies and explore your own creativity through work focussed on co-operation, responsiveness to others and the ensemble. In addition you will:
- Develop the skills required for objective self-assessment, recreating through observation, research and improvisation
- Concentrate on individual character study and work on larger community-based projects with an emphasis on psychological realism
The first year culminates in a unique, large-scale ‘Living History’ project, in which you study, understand and live the lives of others through periods of conflict.
Year 2
Your second year is a journey of maturation as study moves from improvisation to text and from the examination of self to the exploration of character. We focus on:
- Technical skills such as movement, voice and singing which are integrated into the work, and you start to build characters independently
- Opportunities to take responsibility for your own creative work and adapt to the differing demands of project and director
- Multiple screen and radio projects throughout the year
- Specific focus on Contemporary British Playwrights, continuously updated to reflect relevant British culture
- Varying work from nineteenth century naturalism, to exploring the textual and psychological complexities of Shakespeare, plus learning to devise and break the fourth wall through projects such as Brecht, Cabaret and Commedia dell’Arte
Year 3
Your final year focuses on understanding the demands of the professional performance industries before you graduate. You deliver a wide variety of plays to extend your performance repertoire, produce performance-tailored short films as well as work with experienced industry professionals in recorded media. Productions enable you to develop advanced acting skills as well as to understand the research demands and commitment required for different roles, and place a strong emphasis on actor contribution within the ensemble.
In addition, specialised professional development workshops help you understand the administrative aspects of your future profession, including:
- Audition technique
- CV and letter writing
- Tax and self-employment
- Marketing and promoting yourself as an actor
You also undertake an Industry Showcase for an invited audience of influential agents, casting directors, film, voiceover, TV and theatre directors. East 15 continually liaises with industry professionals to ensure the format for the event accords with the changing landscape of the industry.
Fees and funding
Home/UK fee
£9,250 per year
Additional costs for materials and field trips of up to approximately £650 per academic year. Equipment lists are reviewed annually.International fee
£20,500 per year
Additional costs for materials and field trips of up to approximately £650 per academic year. Equipment lists are reviewed annually.Fees will increase for each academic year of study.
What's next
Applying
Applications for our full-time undergraduate courses should be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Full details on how to apply can be found on the filling in your UCAS undergraduate application web page.
Our UK students, and some of our EU and international students, who are still at school or college, can apply through their school. Your school will be able to check and then submit your completed application to UCAS. Our other international applicants (EU or worldwide) or independent applicants in the UK can also apply online through UCAS Apply.
The UCAS code for the University of Essex is ESSEX E70. The individual campus codes for our Loughton and Southend Campuses are ‘L’ and ‘S’ respectively.
You will also need to complete and send us an East 15 application form, including a copy of your audition payment receipt so that we can schedule your audition.
For full details, please see the East 15 website.
Auditioning
Applicants to this course will need to book an audition. If you apply to us through UCAS we will send you information on how to do this. Alternatively, you can apply to East 15 directly. If you’re resident in the UK you’ll visit our campus to take part in the audition, where you’ll meet some of our staff and sample our teaching. Please see our website for more information about preparing for auditions.
Our staff travel the world auditioning applicants so if you’re not resident in the UK, it’s likely that we’ll be in a location near you at some point. This will be a one-to-one audition. If you still can’t make a physical audition, we are sometimes able to accept video auditions.
Offers for these courses will only be made after a successful audition.
For full details, please see the East 15 website.
Visit Loughton Campus
You’ll be in intensive training at one of the most prestigious and internationally respected conservatoires in the country, gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue a career in the performing arts. You'll arrive at a campus with state-of-the-art study and performance facilities, nestled in the stunning grounds of a country house.
But fear not! It’s not all work and no play at East 15 Acting School in Loughton and you're just a short step away from the bright lights and big city of central London.
Open Days
We don’t currently offer Open Days for this course but if you would like more information, then please email us at east15@essex.ac.uk.
Exhibitions
Our staff travel the world to speak to people about the courses on offer at Essex. Take a look at our list of exhibition dates to see if we’ll be near you in the future.
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The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.
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