FdA Performing Arts
Study LevelLevel 5 Course TypeHigher Education Duration2 Academic Years Start DateSeptember 2025 (+ more) Study ModeFull-time LocationLister Building UCAS CodeW474Overview
If you are an aspiring acting professional who wants drama to take centre-stage of your career, our degrees in performing arts will prepare you for your acting debut.Taught by industry professionals, this programme combines high quality performance training with hands on learning aimed to develop your skills and understanding needed to forge a successful career in the Performing Arts.Our course tutors respond to the latest industry trends and make sure that the course content is up to date and relevant.From self-taping to self-promotion, workshop-leading to work experience, ourFoundation Degree in Performing Artswill immerse you in the industry by providing opportunities to learn from and work with local, regional and national arts organisations.
Key Info
Students are trained for diverse and complex portfolio careers and throughout the course are exposed to all facets of the industry. On graduating students will be skilled in:
- Performance in a theatrical setting
- Acting for camera and microphone
- Creating their own content for live and recorded performance
- Self-Promotion
- Research
The course encourages your learning through participation in a wide variety of activities including lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, rehearsals, blogs and journals, group discussion, collaborative learning and peer assessment.
Each year consists of five modules which result in two performances, one each semester as well as developing vital skills such as camera acting technique, writing and producing content, how to fund productions etc. Year 1:
- Creative Industries Context
- Teaching in the Creative Arts
- Specialist Skill 1 (Acting)
- Performance Project 1
- Media Performance
Year 2:
- Creative Industries Professional Practice and Entrepreneurship
- Work-based Experience
- Content Creation
- Performance Project 2
- Specialist Skill 2 (Acting)
Entry to this course requires 80 UCAS tariff points. T Level qualifications are accepted, a T Level PASS with a minimum of a grade A*-C (equates to 96 UCAS points). We also consider individual applicants who can demonstrate relevant learning, work/voluntary experience, using our Recognition of Prior Learning process.
We take an innovative approach to assessing our students. We use a range of new methods including the use of YouTube videos, podcasts, online blogs, with vlogs replacing the use of logbooks and viva voce spoken assessments replacing the more traditional written evaluations. We aim to make sure that the skills you develop for an assessment are transferable and while we still use traditional forms of assessment such as performances and essays for some aspects of the course we make sure that both the content and the format of these assessments are relevant and valuable to you in a professional setting. There is an opportunity for collaborative work with students from your programme and those from other areas of the School. This often includes Performing Arts students working on performances alongside Film, Media Make-up, Fashion and Music to create professional standard productions. These collaborations also lead to networking opportunities with other creatives and the forging of relationships that endure after graduation. An example submission for a piece of performance;
- A weekly vlog of your progress through the rehearsal period
- The recording of the performance
- A recorded viva voce
There will be a work placement (40 hours minimum) and this could be over a number of weeks, as part of day release, or in a block. Examples of placement opportunities include a runner on a TV set, an actor with the Graduate Company, an assistant director with at a theatre or a writer with a production company. As part of the Teaching in the Creative Arts module you will be required to undertake some teaching practice. The minimum requirement is 30 hours and this could be over a number of weeks, partial day release or in a block. In Year 2 of the FdA, students follow a year-long work experience module with opportunities to embed themselves in a locally based company. In recent years students have worked at The Science and Media Museum; Liberty Arts, Yorkshire; Falling Stars Theatre Company; The Brick Box; Bradford Fringe Festival and with acclaimed dance artist Vince Virr. Through our relationship with Bradford Producing Hub we are expanding the number of work experience partners that we work with and every student will be allocated a placement that embeds them within the local cultural ecology which is currently gearing up to making a bid for City of Culture in 2025. All of our placement providers are committed to nurturing locally based creatives and developing longer term relationships which may lead to employment post-graduation.
Our Graduates progress into a number of different pathways, most stay to complete their full degree with our BA (Hons) in Performance Top Up year. From there they can join our Graduate Company and take advantage of the industry links they have made and the opportunities that are increasingly available in the local area. This is an excellent way to gain paid work in the Performing Arts.
Other Costs: Approx. £500 for trips, visits to exhibitions and shows. (all optional)
This is representative of the most common fees scenario, but actual fees can vary depending on a number of factors. Please contact us if you need more guidance.
If you have any questions or require any additional information, please contact [email protected]
Disclaimer: Our prospectus, college documents and website are simply here to offer a guide. We accept no liability for any inaccurate statements and are not responsible for any negative outcomes if you rely on an inaccurate statement. We reserve the right to withdraw any programmes or service at any time.