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Acting (BA)

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

UCAS Code: W410 | Bachelor of Arts - BA

Entry requirements


Passes in 2 subjects at GCE Advanced Level

Passes in 3 subjects at Higher Level

You may also need to…

Perform an audition

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Drama

**Please note, there will be multiple audition rounds for this course, please visit our website for specific information. All first round submissions / auditions will be completed in person either in Glasgow or live online. You will be asked to submit information via our Acceptd platform, regardless of which audition location you choose.**

The three year BA Acting Programme at RCS is one of the best professional actor training programmes in the UK. We accept students with outstanding potential and commitment who are dedicated to a performing career from over 1,800 applicants each year. Graduates of the programme have progressed to work extensively in the industry and alumni includes household names such as Amy Conachan, Laura Donnelly, Sam Heughan, Katie Leung, Richard Madden and James McAvoy.

**Specialist education** - Over the three-year programme you will work intensively with our expert teaching staff on developing your skills in acting, voice and movement to equip you for a career in film, television and theatre.

Our movement specialists are trained in Lecoq technique, and will help you acquire some of the best movement for actors in UK actor training, facilitating everything from stagecraft to understanding techniques used in CGI and green screen. You will be working with the Centre for Voice in Performance (the national centre of excellence for teaching, practice, and research) using techniques developed by voice expert Nadine George.

We are the only UK conservatoire that offers training in all performance disciplines and you will have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers, formally and informally, in dance, music, production, and film. As an acting student you will have the opportunity to collaborate on film projects with students from the Film department.

**Industry partnerships** - Our unrivalled professional connections result in numerous work opportunities for our students. Collaborative professional partnerships include the BBC, the National Theatre of Scotland, and the Citizens Theatre.

In your final year you are actively encouraged to seek professional work. As well as aiming to give you a full practical training, our goal is to prepare you for a long and successful career. We focus on developing you as a creative artist, giving you a sound grounding to continue that development throughout your working life. You will undertake professional development modules, ensuring that you graduate as a truly entrepreneurial industry-ready actor, with all the contacts you need, and a great deal of professional experience.

As a student you will also be invited to participate in several national competitions including the Spotlight Showcase, The Sam Wanamaker Festival, The BBC Carleton Hobbs Radio Drama Award, Sir John Gielgud Bursary, and The Laurence Olivier Bursary, all of which have been awarded to BA Acting students. There is also the chance to partake in international opportunities during your studies.

Our BA Acting Showcase, held in both Glasgow and London is very highly regarded in the industry, and attended by agents, casting directors and potential employers.

**Curriculum Review** We are currently in the review cycle for our DDPF undergraduate programmes starting in 2024, these courses are currently designated 'subject to revalidation'. This is standard practice during curriculum review periods. The outcome of this processes, may mean there are some changes to how your programme is delivered.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£27,968
per year
International
£27,968
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

The Royal Conservatoire is able to offer a number of entrance scholarships which are awarded as part of the audition/selection process on the basis of merit and financial need. Please see our website for more information - https://www.rcs.ac.uk/apply/finance/scholarships/.

The Uni


Course location:

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Department:

School of Drama, Dance, Production and Film

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

64%
Drama

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Drama

Teaching and learning

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
73%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
82%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

59%
Library resources
75%
IT resources
77%
Course specific equipment and facilities
30%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

75%
UK students
25%
International students
41%
Male students
59%
Female students
14%
2:1 or above
1%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
A
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Drama

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
high
Average annual salary
100%
high
Employed or in further education
82%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

71%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
13%
Design occupations
6%
Customer service occupations

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Drama

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£14k

£14k

£14k

£14k

£21k

£21k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here