What we're doing about COVID-19

As we come to the end of this year, we want to look forward to welcoming you back next term. We promised to say more about teaching arrangements for next year, so we want to give you the latest on some of the questions we know you want answers to.

How courses will be taught in 2021-22

We’re pleased to say that we expect most teaching will be delivered on campus. This will be made possible with appropriate COVID secure measures, such as supporting vaccinations across our student and staff community; regular COVID testing; managing a track and trace system; and supporting students to quarantine and self-isolate when required.

We will balance giving you the best possible campus experience with the need to maintain the safety of our community. If there are any restrictions and mitigations in place for activities taking place on our campuses, including for in-person teaching events, they will be based on the latest UK Government guidance for education and for the performing arts sector and the measures we want to take to keep you safe.

At East 15, most of our teaching will be continue to be on campus and in person. It may be that some modules and activities will blend in-person classes with some alternative teaching, learning and collaborative support to continue to deliver a high quality education. The hope is that Voice and Singing will be able to taught in person in the coming year, however we will only do so if it safe for staff and students alike. Over the past two years our team has developed a system of work that will allow some remote delivery and high quality learning if the state of the nation so requires.

We are dedicated to delivering a quality, transformative education and to supporting you to succeed in your studies and prepare for your future.

We want and expect you to join us on campus for the start of term.

At Essex, we are a campus-based university. East 15 offers you a distinctive, on-campus, living and learning experience, and you benefit from being on our campuses, sharing your Essex learning experience with fellow students and being part of our rich and diverse community. We want and expect you to join us on our campuses for the start of term. We are optimistic that progress with implementation of the UK vaccination programme will mean it is possible.

While we expect you to return to campus next year, we do understand that COVID-19 restrictions may affect your arrival. We will continue to offer a level of flexibility for those of you who are unable to arrive at our campuses for the first day of term (perhaps due to travel restrictions). Regardless of your location or method of accessing your learning, you will be able to register in the normal way at the start of the academic year through our online system.

At East 15 we will tell you the latest date by which you will need to arrive on campus as on-campus study will be required from the outset. However, normal arrangements relating to late registration and arrival will apply.

In case of periods of restrictions during 2021-22

If there are further waves of infection in the UK that result in restrictions being imposed, as we have in 2020-21, we will do all we can to make sure that your teaching and learning continues uninterrupted over the course of the year. While practical, creative arts subjects have been given the scope to carry on with face to face teaching, if absolutely necessary our approach also ensures that if things need to change, we can move to online only teaching for a limited period. We will continue to draw on our experiences of managing the pandemic in the 2020-21 academic year.

Even if your teaching moves to online only at some point during the academic year, you will be able to come onto campus and access our study spaces and wider facilities. In some circumstances we might need to control the number and capacity of on-campus activities to make sure social distancing is maintained and this might mean limiting the number of people using our facilities at any one time. All student services will continue to operate, whether in person or remotely.

Keeping you up to date

We are committed to sharing information with you as our plans develop. You may have further questions about your course and your plans for next year, which this update may not have answered. Please do not worry, we understand. When we know more, we will share the answers with you as soon as we can. We will provide regular updates over the summer, including more information about student life next year.

As we come to the end of this year, we want to look forward to welcoming you for the Autumn Term and give you the latest updates on some of the questions you may want answers to.

How courses will be taught in 2021-22

We’re pleased to say that we expect most teaching will be delivered on campus. This will be made possible with appropriate COVID secure measures, such as supporting vaccinations across our student and staff community; regular COVID testing; managing a track and trace system; and supporting students to quarantine and self-isolate when required.

We will balance giving you the best possible campus experience with the need to maintain the safety of our community. If there are any restrictions and mitigations in place for activities taking place on our campuses, including for in-person teaching events, they will be based on the latest UK Government guidance for education and for the performing arts sector and the measures we want to take to keep you safe.

At East 15, most of our teaching will be continue to be on campus and in person as it was at the end of the last academic year. It may be that some modules and activities will blend in-person classes with some alternative teaching, learning and collaborative support to continue to deliver a high quality education. The hope is that Voice and Singing will be able to taught in person in the coming year, however we will only do so if it safe for staff and students alike. Over the past two years our team has developed a system of work that will allow some remote delivery and high quality learning if the state of the nation so requires.

We are dedicated to delivering a quality, transformative education and to supporting you to succeed in your studies and prepare for your future.

We want and expect you to join us on campus for the start of term.

At Essex, we are a campus-based university. East 15 offers you a distinctive, on-campus, living and learning experience, and you benefit from being on our campuses, sharing your Essex learning experience with fellow students and being part of our rich and diverse community. We want and expect you to join us on our campuses for the start of term. We are optimistic that progress with implementation of the UK vaccination programme will mean it is possible.

While we expect you to arrive on campus for the start of the academic year, we do understand that COVID-19 restrictions may affect your arrival. We will continue to offer a level of flexibility for those of you who are unable to arrive at our campuses for the first day of term (perhaps due to travel restrictions).

Regardless of your location or method of accessing your learning, you will be able to register in the normal way at the start of the academic year through our online system.

At East 15 we will tell you the latest date by which you will need to arrive on campus as on-campus study will be required from the outset. However, normal arrangements relating to late registration and arrival will apply.

In case of periods of restrictions during 2021-22

If there are further waves of infection in the UK that result in restrictions being imposed, as we have in 2020-21, we will do all we can to make sure that your teaching and learning continues uninterrupted over the course of the year. While practical, creative arts subjects have been given the scope to carry on with face to face teaching, if absolutely necessary our approach also ensures that if things need to change, we can move to online only teaching for a limited period. We will continue to draw on our experiences of managing the pandemic in the 2020-21 academic year.

Even if your teaching is required to move online-only at some point during the academic year, you will be able to come onto campus and access our study spaces and wider facilities. In some circumstances we might need to control the number and capacity of on-campus activities to make sure social distancing is maintained and this might mean limiting the number of people using our facilities at any one time. All student services will continue to operate, whether in person or remotely.

Keeping you up to date

I hope this is a helpful update. We are committed to sharing information with you as our plans develop. You may have further questions about your course and your plans for next year, which this update may not have answered. Please do not worry, we understand. When we know more, we will share the answers with you as soon as we can. We will provide regular updates over the summer, including more information about student life next year.

We are looking forward to welcoming you as part of our Essex community next year.

East 15 Acting School is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools (FDS) which represents twenty of the United Kingdom’s leading providers of professional conservatoire performance and technical training. 

As a community of artists, creators, and innovators, we have come together during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support, guidance, reassurance and inspiration to our students, staff, graduates, alumni, colleagues and friends within the creative industries. 

The scale and impact of the coronavirus crisis has been significant upon our sector and related industries, which holds dear the ethos of embodied practice and the necessity of physical interaction in pursuit of understanding and celebrating the human condition. Whilst we are unable to determine the duration of the outbreak we are united in meeting the societal and educational challenges we collectively face with a shared determination and limitless imagination.

Download the full statement regarding the FDS response to COVID-19. 

Visit the Federation of Drama Schools website for more information.

Teaching comes in various styles at East 15: workshops, supervised rehearsals, skills classes, coaching, lectures, seminars, tutorials; assessment will be continuous and based on satisfactory participation in sessions, performances, portfolios, single and group presentations.

Our successful third term of 2019-20, when due to government guidelines face-to-face teaching had to be suspended, we found for some, teaching the face-to-face experience can be supplemented with effective online techniques that enhance the learning experience and respond to our changing industry. Our ‘Summer Season’ moved online, and students creatively embraced all medias, including film, audio, animation, digital performance and even Minecraft!

This year, group sizes may be smaller, some exercises can be viewed online, alternating with studio time, however the learning experience for our students will remain practically orientated. The bulk of the teaching will still be studio-based, with student bubbles created to enable performance. We have set aside additional weeks for taught classes in the 2020-21 calendar year that will allow us greater flexibility in delivering teaching under social distancing guide-lines.

Students will be able to safely access practical and vocational training with changes that effectively mirror what is happening in the industry as it adapts to the challenges of Covid-19. Students will now leave with more technical and creative skills enabling them to make work online and thrive in circumstances where the immediate prospects for live performance are compromised. You will leave East 15 with a greater volume and higher quality of digital footage to support your self-promotion and employability. The use of smaller groups offer more personalised learning and the live-streaming of student productions allows work to be seen by a wider audience than in a theatre building. Fundamentally, your training will instil the flexibility and resilience required for drama practitioners in a rapidly changing and unpredictable world. 

The retention of studio driven learning maintains quality of learning and all of the education will be delivered by our experienced teaching staff and a high proportion of freelance professionals who are currently active in the industry.

If adjustments to the amount of face-to-face teaching are required in light of changing circumstances, we now have tried and tested strategies to ensure that a dynamic range of classes can continue and learning outcomes can be fulfilled through online provision. Additionally, our new structure of term dates builds in the capacity to reschedule key activity to other points in the year if face-to-face teaching has to be temporarily suspended. All of our training provision is discussed and reviewed by external examiners who are similarly established educators at other universities and drama schools and/or active drama practitioners pursuing successful professional careers and we will continue to receive regular feedback from our students to ensure that we maintain high standards that we are known for around the world.

Students at East 15 follow a set of core modules for each course, and all modules to complete your studies are on offer in this current year. Overall course structures remain intact with minor adjustments, and we are ready to flex the timing of these if it is possible to benefit from any future relaxation of social distancing measures while keeping you safe. Any changes or alterations that have been made to courses are the result of our constant process of reviewing provision to ensure industry relevance and to take account of student feedback.