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Undergraduate Course

Acting BA (Hons)

Create unique stories and perform in your own plays, as you become a knowledgeable and diverse actor.

Black and white image of student acting

Study the techniques and history of acting on this performance focused degree. Develop your practical skills as you explore the use of voice, movement and acting and build your unique identity as a performer. Connect with industry partners as you use performance to understand the world we live in.

92% Music and Theatre students responded with a 92% positivity score for how often teaching staff make the subject engaging. (National Student Survey 2024)

64% of our Performance research has been rated as “world leading” or “internationally excellent”. (Research Excellence Framework, 2021)

York campus

  • UCAS code – W410
  • Duration – 3 years full-time, 6 years part-time
  • Start date – September 2025, September 2026
  • School – School of the Arts

Minimum entry requirements

104 UCAS Tariff points

3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.

Tuition fees

UK 2025 entry £9,535 per year full time

International 2025 entry £12,100 per year full time

Application Support Session

Tuesday 21 January 2025, online

Book a place on our UCAS January Deadline Application Support Session. You'll hear from our Admissions team, get guidance on your application and be able to ask us questions about York St John.

Book Application Support Session

Discover Acting

Professor Claire Hind, Lecturer in Acting, introduces us to Acting BA at York St John University.

Course overview

On this degree you will explore a range of approaches to acting and develop a professional acting portfolio. You will learn how acting can be a transformative experience by performing in plays and ensemble works. You will also work on solo pieces where your individual talent is at the heart of your performance. Use your imagination to develop personas and characters to tell your unique stories. We place high importance on practice where visual and textual interpretation through playing and experimenting with contemporary forms are encouraged. 

You will learn in our dedicated studio facilities on campus, including the state of the art theatre in our Creative Centre. Throughout the course you will be supported by lecturers and technical staff who are all experienced theatre practitioners, writers and researchers.

When you study Acting with us you will join our thriving arts culture on campus and in the community. Through our partnerships and relationships with professional bodies we encourage a culture of outward facing opportunities for you. You will have the opportunity to become involved in projects and partnerships including:

  • Working with York Theatre Royal, who are key partners in our Acting degree
  • Working with visiting artists and performers who share their work with us
  • Engaging with the contemporary work of an international theatre programme hosted on campus
  • Writing and editing for our Theatre Pages magazine

Course structure

Year 1

Our academic year is split into 2 semesters. How many modules you study each semester will depend on whether you are a full time or part time student. 

In your first year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

  • 3 compulsory modules in semester 1
  • 2 compulsory modules and 1 optional module in semester 2

If you are a part time student the modules above will be split over 2 years.

You can find out which modules are available in each semester on the Course Specifications.

Modules

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

By participating in a series of workshops, you will explore approaches to using your voice for live performance. With an initial focus on techniques such as breathing, alignment and articulation, you will move onto study various texts including prose and verse, soliloquy and chorus work.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will take part in practical exercises to develop your understanding of acting techniques and training. You will draw on the methods outlined by practitioners such as Stanislavski and Chekhov, as well as contemporary techniques used by companies including the Wooster Group and Forced Entertainment. You will consider the contested role of the actor and acting training in the 21st century.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will work with your classmates to create original ideas and bring them to life. You will work from a dramatic text to inspire your ideas as a collaborative group, sharing ideas and working together. This module will give you a whole new perspective on performance.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will contemplate what performance means to you. You will also consider how various interpretations of performance are rooted in our history and culture, and how they have influenced society. You will study key movements, ideas and practices in 20th and 21st century performance, theatre and dance. Topics will include:

  • The Space and place in performance
  • The body, including movement, gesture and voice
  • Ritual and play

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will work together with your classmates on a devised performance, using a political 'text' as inspiration. This could be a photograph, painting, written document, or even a costume. You will develop a range of creative, compositional and performance strategies to help you understand the complex political times we live in.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

Further your knowledge of areas such as acting, facilitation and voice techniques. On this module, you will explore contemporary theatre practices in both dramatic and postdramatic contexts. These methods are career focused and will be a great opportunity for you to explore working with live briefs. Your own artistic practice will be further enhanced within the contexts of social justice, communities and politics. We will work with you to explore your curiosity into how career and society can be related for an artist.

Year 2

In your second year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

  • 4 compulsory modules across semesters 1 and 2
  • 2 optional modules across semesters 1 and 2

If you are a part time student, the modules above will be split over 2 years.

You can find out which modules are available in each semester on the Course Specifications.

Optional modules will run if they receive enough interest. It is not guaranteed that all modules will run every year.

Modules

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

This is the first of 2 modules that will introduce you to different politically engaged performance practices from the 20th and 21st centuries. Lectures will chart key events in modernist and postmodern performance.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

Take what you have learnt in Politically Engaged Practice 1 and deepen your understanding of performance as a political act. On this module you will explore the relationship between arts practice and political activism, considering your own art as a form of political activism and exploring the potential effects of art as politics.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module we will introduce you to physical theatre; a genre used by many contemporary performance companies. You will start by examining the history of the genre and go on to explore a range of techniques used by physical theatre practitioners. Dance and drama students work together on this module, so you can share knowledge and broaden your skills.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will explore how, as an actor, you can also direct your own short film production for the screen. You will have the opportunity to act in a film while also engaging with your own artistic vision for the production. Taught workshop practices will guide you through the practical and technical aspects of acting for camera and making short film sequences. You will also work on interpreting screenplays and learn to grasp the language of a writer’s material. On this module you will become both the performer and the visionary.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

The re-emergence of the vignette, a short or one act play, has encouraged new formats for performance in independent theatres across the UK. This module provides you with the opportunity to specialise in a training method called The View Points. This is a contemporary method for actor training which encourages you to work spontaneously and intuitively. You will participate in weekly workshops in which you will explore contrasting forms and styles of performing vignettes.

Credits: 20

Optional module

This module gives you the skills and understanding needed to create performances that use theatre to address political and social issues. As part of this you will explore existing play texts and performance practices that have stimulated political or social change. You will investigate key practitioners to develop your understanding of social responsibility and the impact you can have as a theatre maker.

Credits: 20

Optional module

Through a series of workshops you will examine key practitioners in the practice of witnessing. You will develop an understanding of the societal responsibility of the artist when representing lived and non-lived experiences. You will also continue to develop your understanding of collaboration and its relationship with cultural and social practices.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will learn about key autobiographical performers, and develop a practical understanding of autobiographical performance. You will learn to create autobiographical work that not only tells stories about yourself, but uses the details of your life to explore universal issue.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will develop and facilitate workshop and performance activities for children and young people. You will then deliver these activities in both formal and informal youth settings, and gain valuable experience for your future. Through this you will explore drama in education techniques and develop the creative skills needed for workshop design and project planning.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will explore a range of practices and theories relating to social performance. You will work on a community project engaging with people in the criminal justice system, older people, those with dementia, or people who use mental health services. The topics we will cover include:

  • Dramatherapy
  • Arts and health
  • Community dance
  • Facilitation skills

Credits: 20

Optional module

There is currently a demand on dance professionals to use a range of styles and techniques to re-imagine and re-create dances in new contexts. On this module you will deconstruct and experiment with the style of a chosen influential choreographer such as Jerome Bell, William Forsythe or Pina Bausch. Through dance classes and workshops you will develop a range of technical and performance skills as well as the ability to critically evaluate dance repertoire.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will learn about the growing trend of taking dance and theatre out of traditional spaces and into unusual sites and public spaces. You will explore what happens when the moving body engages with site, place and environment through a combination of personal practice and critical investigation.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will explore how the works of Samuel Beckett have influenced theatre writers and key practitioners of contemporary theatre. Your workshops will be experimental and will encourage you to interpret the material as a method of finding your own strategies of creative writing. After engaging the works of Beckett and other 20th and 21st Century playwrights, you will write your own creative material, as well as considering ways to stage and perform this material.

Credits: 20

Optional module

On this module you will explore how movement is an essential part of performance, considering movement as an expression of emotion and energy. By participating in regular workshops you will practise dance technique, somatic practices, and movement invention methods. You will learn about the intelligence of the body and develop an understanding of how movement is used to communicate in dance and theatre making.

Year 3

In your third year, if you are a full time student, you will study:

  • 2 compulsory modules across semester 1 and 2
  • 1 compulsory module in semester 1
  • 1 compulsory module in semester 2

If you are a part time student, the modules above will be split over 2 years.

You can find out which modules are available in each semester on the Course Specifications.

Modules

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

This is your chance to conduct independent critical research on an area that interests you. You can choose an element of your performance practice to focus on and explore it through analysis, theory and reflection. A dissertation tutor will be assigned to you and they will support you through this module, meeting with you regularly to discuss your progress.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

On this module you will have the opportunity to work as a theatre or dance company with your peers. You will work together to develop collaborative skills and expand your ability to create original performance work. The project you undertake within your company can be decided by yourselves, and can be negotiated with your module tutors.

Credits: 20

Compulsory module

Continuing from your previous modules, you will further develop the work you created with your ensemble. You will continue to work with the same group and the content of this module will support your creative collaboration. In addition to your performance, we will also assess you on producing promotional materials appropriate for a professional theatre company.

Credits: 60

Compulsory module

This module is an opportunity to demonstrate autonomy as an actor, and as an actor and as analytical thinker. The module focuses on your own personal creation and/or interpretation, situating your work within professional contexts of its creative production. Through this you will:

  • Showcase your individual style and approach to making new work
  • Develop an understanding of how your work can respond to an engage with contemporary society and culture
  • Build your self-confidence in reflecting upon work, pitching and presenting work

 

Teaching and assessment

Teaching and learning

Throughout your course you will have individual direction of your learning. You will learn through:

  • Workshops
  • Seminars
  • Lectures
  • Tutorials
  • Field trips

Our teaching draws on both our research and professional experience. This means your learning is informed by the most current thinking in the subject area. You can find out more about our research and backgrounds by visiting our staff pages.

Assessment

We are committed to authentic and relevant assessment methods, meaning your assessments reflects the kinds of work you may carry out in your future professional career. You will be assessed through:

  • Group and solo live performances
  • Workshops
  • Reflective documents
  • Reports, articles and essays
  • Performance lectures
  • Placements

Throughout this course there are plenty of opportunities to gain professional experience through work placements. There are optional modules in which you will be able to attend work placements with guest artists and our community partners.

Professional Skills

Building your CV and gaining valuable experience and technique is central to the course. There will be frequent opportunities for you to assist with your tutor's professional practice or research. You will also have the opportunity to publish your own written work in our publication, Theatre Pages, which is distributed across the UK. We encourage festival and competition entries, and have professional technicians who can support you with this. You will showcase all of your skills in your final projects, which will be presented in the professional standard theatre in our new Creative Centre.

Career outcomes

Your future with a degree in Acting

This degree will give you the skills and experience you need to succeed in your career. When you graduate you will have developed new performance skills, an understanding of acting technique and processes, and the ability to critically analyse your work. You will also have had the opportunity to develop your own professional acting portfolio.

This degree could be the first step toward your career as a:

  • Actor
  • Theatre director
  • Theatre stage manager
  • Broadcast presenter
  • Touring actor

Discover more career options on Prospects careers advice pages.

PGCE at York St John University

Further your education and work towards a rewarding career in teaching by studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) after you graduate. For over 180 years, we have worked with enthusiastic individuals who want to shape the future of young people across both primary and secondary school settings. You'll spend a lot of time in schools, developing your practice by teaching. You will graduate with Qualified Teacher Status and become part of the well respected alumni of York St John educators.

Discover more about PGCE

Whatever your ambitions, we can help you get there.

Our careers service, LaunchPad, provides career support tailored to your ambitions. Through this service you can access:

  • Employer events
  • LinkedIn, CV and cover letter sessions
  • Workshops on application writing and interview skills
  • Work experience and volunteering opportunities
  • Personalised career advice

This support does not end when you graduate. You can access our expert career advice for the rest of your life. We will help you gain experience and confidence to succeed.

Entry requirements

Qualifications

Minimum entry requirements

    104 UCAS Tariff points

    3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including English Language.

Calculate your UCAS Tariff points

International students

If you are an international student you will need to show that your qualifications match our entry requirements.

Information about international qualifications and entry requirements can be found on our International pages.

If English is not your first language you will need to show that you have English Language competence at IELTS level 6.0 (with no skill below 5.5) or equivalent.

International entry requirements

Mature Learners Entry Scheme

If you have been out of education for 3 years or more and have a grade C GCSE in English Language or equivalent, you are eligible for our entry scheme for mature learners. It's a scheme that recognises non-traditional entry qualifications and experience for entry onto this course. Information on how to apply can be found on our dedicated page.

Mature entry offer scheme

Audition 

If your application is successful you will be invited to provide a digital audition.

Terms and conditions

Our terms and conditions, policies and procedures contain important information about studying at York St John University. You can read them on our Admissions page.

Fees and funding

To study for an undergraduate degree with us, you will need to pay tuition fees for your course. How much you pay depends on whether you live inside the UK, or internationally (outside the UK).

Tuition fees are reviewed annually and may be increased in line with inflation, prior to the start of each academic year, and subject to the fee cap set by the UK government. Such increases to fees will be at the Retail Price Index (RPI) forecast rate, as advised by the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Office for Students. The only exception to this would be where government legislation deems otherwise.

If a rise in the tuition fee becomes necessary, we will endeavour to inform you as soon as possible and we will explain the reason(s) for the increase. Any tuition fee increase will only be applied from the start of the next academic year and will not be applied 'in year'.

UK 2025 entry

The tuition fee for 2025 entry onto this course is:

  • £9,535 per year for full time study
  • £7,145 per year for the first 4 years if you study part time

These prices apply to all UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man students

You can find out more about funding your degree by visiting our funding opportunities page:

Funding Opportunities

Placement year funding

If you choose to take a placement year, and your course offers it, you can apply for the Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loan for your placement year. How much you are awarded is based on the type of placement being undertaken and whether it is a paid or unpaid placement. The tuition fee for your placement year will be reduced.

Tuition fees

    UK 2025 entry £9,535 per year full time

    International 2025 entry £12,100 per year full time

International 2025 entry

The tuition fee for 2025 entry to this course is £12,100 per year for full time study.

This price applies to all students living outside the UK.

Due to immigration laws, if you are an international student on a Student Visa, you must study full time. For more information about visa requirements and short-term study visas, please visit the International Visa and Immigration pages.

Find out more about funding your degree:

International fees and funding

Additional costs and financial support

There may also be some additional costs to take into account throughout your studies, including the cost of accommodation.

Course-related costs

While studying for your degree, there may be additional costs related to your course. This may include purchasing personal equipment and stationery, books and optional field trips.

Study Abroad

For more information on tuition fee reductions and additional costs for studying abroad, please visit our study abroad pages.

Accommodation and living costs

For detailed information on accommodation and living costs, visit our Accommodation pages.

Financial help and support

Our Funding Advice team are here to help you with your finances throughout your degree. They offer a personal service that can help you with funding your studies and budgeting for living expenses. 

For advice on everything from applying for scholarships to finding additional financial support email fundingadvice@yorksj.ac.uk.

Course highlights

Acting and Theatre projects

Co-Create Festival

Co-Create festival is a project between our staff, students and local school children culminating in a 1 day festival.

Takeover Festival

Hear from those involved in our annual Takeover project with York Theatre Royal, where our students get to run a festival at this prestigious venue.

More to explore

Student writing in notebook at table

Join us in 2025

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What makes us different

Get in touch