FAQs

Yes, we hold open days for creative and technical courses. For full details see Opportunities to Visit. 

Where COVID-19 restricts our ability to hold regular in-person open days, we will run virtual open days online. 

We are unable to offer feedback on auditions or interviews.

From 2023 entry, all applications are made directly to the School.  Full details can be found in the ‘How to Apply’ section of your chosen course.

Details can be found in the ‘How to Apply’ section of your chosen course.

We can only consider one application per year, for a single course. If you are uncertain as to which course you should apply, please read the information on each course profile carefully. If you need further advice, you are welcome to contact the School by email: [email protected] or telephone 0117 973 3535 for further advice.

No. We only accept one application, per applicant, per year.

If you are unsuccessful, you are welcome to reapply in the following admissions round. From 2023 entry, there is no longer any restriction on the number of consecutive years that you can apply.

• For acting courses, applications will be accepted from September each year until the last working day of February the following year. We do not accept any late applications.
• For Technical and Production BA Hons, FdA and MA/MFA courses, applications will be accepted from early September until the last working day of February. In some circumstances, we may extend course closing dates, so please continue to check individual course pages on our course finder.

• All applicants must be aged 18 or over at the start of the course.
• Every applicant is seen for audition or interview regardless of academic background and previous experience
• The current maximum number of students accepted each year is as follows:
• Undergraduate Courses
• Acting:
• BA Hons (3 years) – up to 28 students
• Production Arts:
• BA (Hons) (3 years) and FdA (2 years) – up to 24 students
• Costume:
• FdA (2 years) – up to 8 students
• BA Hons Top-up (one year) – up to 4 students
• Postgraduate Courses:
• Acting (International):
• MFA (1 year, 40 weeks) – up to 14 students
• Drama Directing:
• MA (1 year) – up to 8 students
• Drama Writing:
• MA (1 year) – up to 8 students
• Professional Voice Studies:
• MFA (1 year) – up to 6 students
• Performance Design:
• MA (1 year) – up to 8 students
• Screen Acting:
• MA (1 year) – up to 16 students
• We have approximately 210 students at the School in any year.

• For Acting courses there is no deferred entry.
• For Technical courses deferred entry may only be offered in exceptional circumstances.

For 2023 entry, there is only an application fee for BA (Hons) Professional Acting. For further details, see the ‘How to Apply’ section of your chosen course. Further information about the School’s fee waiver system is also available.

No. The fee is non-refundable.

No. Students rent through private landlords/letting agents in the Clifton/Redland area of Bristol, close to the School. Our Accommodation Officer is available to assist students find accommodation prior to the start of their course and throughout their time at the School. Please contact admissions for further information.

Due to changes in government funding to UK Higher Education institutions, graduates can apply for our undergraduate BA Hons courses, however please remember that applicants will not be eligible for student funding and will have to fund the course themselves. If you require any further information, please contact Admissions.

There is very little room for part time work in the first year. A Saturday or Sunday job with a flexible employer may be possible in the second year, if you can manage your workload efficiently, although there will be times when you will have to work on school productions over weekends. Be prepared to work unsociable hours and be aware that work experience is often fitted into school holidays.

See our auditions page for full information.

• We operate a two-stage process for admission. The first is a preliminary audition, which is normally held over Zoom (or other online platform), with a panel of two auditioners. If you are successful at the first stage, you will be required to attend a recall workshop, which is normally held in-person at the Theatre School.Preliminary auditions are normally held between November and April. Recalls are normally held between January and June.

  Each preliminary audition lasts for roughly fifteen minutes. You need to perform two contrasting monologues. Each piece should last no longer than two minutes; if you exceed this time limit you will be stopped. We aim to make these auditions as informal and friendly as possible.

  Your monologues should be from a play and should not be extracts from poems, novels, films or television scripts. We no longer specify when these speeches should have been written. However, contrast is important for us to assess your acting potential and you should choose your pieces carefully. There are further tips to help you below.

  To complete your preliminary audition, you will need access to a PC, laptop or tablet computer with a webcam and stable internet connection. You will also require a quiet space to perform freely without disruption or distraction. We aim to provide a choice of days and times to help ensure this is possible for you. Please note that we are unable to offer feedback on your audition.

  Tips for your preliminary audition

  • Contrast is important for us to assess your acting potential. This could be achieved by performing a classical and a contemporary speech, a comedy and a drama piece, or by choosing two very different characters.

  • Your speech can be translated from another language and may be for either male or female actors.

  • Speeches should involve a character close to your own age and at least one speech should be performed in your own accent.

  • It will help you if you’ve read the whole play and understand the context of the speech.

  • Think about who your character is speaking to and where they are.

  • Think about what your character is trying to achieve, and see if there’s a change of direction in the speech

• For MFA Acting course: Each audition lasts between twenty-five and forty-five minutesAt your audition, you will be required to present:
  • A speech from a classical English play (written before 1800 – Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration or Eighteenth Century – Shakespeare is always appropriate).
  • A piece in prose from a modern play (written in the 20th or 21st Centuries).
  • A short, unaccompanied song – we suggest avoiding contemporary pop songs.

  Each piece should last no longer than two minutes; if you exceed this time limit you may be stopped. For the song, you may wish to perform a verse and chorus from your chosen piece.

• Where this is not feasible due to COVID-19, the selection procedure will be completed virtually.

Acting applicants will be offered a maximum of two audition dates in most cases. To guarantee an alternative audition date, applicants are advised to apply before January, as limited audition dates are available after this time. We also encourage applicants to let us know of any dates they cannot attend on their application.

The School will endeavour to ensure that no applicant is unfairly disadvantaged through Covid-19 impacting their ability to travel to an audition destination.

We operate a two-stage process for admission. The first is a preliminary audition, which will be held over Zoom for 2023 entry, with a panel of two auditioners. If you are successful at the first stage, you will be required to attend a recall workshop at a later date. We hope to hold recalls in-person at the School, but this is subject to lockdown and social-distancing measures.

Preliminary auditions are normally held between November and April. Recalls are normally held between January and June.

Yes. From 2023 entry, we are able to accept applications from international students for our BA (Hons) Professional Acting course. We will usually accept up to four international students for this course.