Foundation
Acting for Stage & Screen
An intensive year to get into drama school or professional acting.
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation Acting for Stage & Screen
WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?
DEVELOPING YOU.
The course provides a safe and supportive environment for you to develop your core acting skills and expand your knowledge so that when you take the next step, you’re ahead of the game.
AUDITION READINESS.
The focused training and audition preparation significantly increases your chances of gaining admission to drama school.
INDUSTRY INSIGHT.
You gain valuable insights into the performing arts industry, including its demands and the skills needed to make it your career.
CONFIDENCE.
The continual feedback, personal support and practical experiences help you build your confidence and give you the mind-set to succeed.
FLEXIBILITY AND EXPLORATION.
The course allows you to explore different areas of acting, whether screen acting, stage, classical or devised, and also different elements of the performance process, so you can decide which is the right path for you.
BRISTOL
UCAS Code: CASS
Duration: 1 year full time
Start date: September 2026
Location: The Actors’ Workshop
The South West’s Only Conservatoire-Style Foundation Acting Course
24 hours a week over 3 full terms of training
The only Foundation Cert HE with fully staged productions at the end of the course
Whether you're aiming for a place at a top drama school or looking for a taste of drama school life before deciding whether to embark on actor training, our Cert HE will help you take that next step.
We have teamed up with The Actors' Workshop Bristol, who have an unrivalled reputation for foundation-level training. For almost two decades their part-time foundation course has been getting 90% of its students into BA Acting courses at accredited drama schools every year.
Thanks to this partnership, the course is available with a fully funded route and 24 hours a week of teaching over three terms. The course provides a unique, responsive curriculum that explores everything from screen acting and Shakespeare to theatre-making and targeted audition preparation, including monologue work, self-taping, devising, singing, interview technique and mental strategies for success.
It'll support you through the whole drama school application and audition process, making sure that you showcase your very best work.
Throughout Terms One and Two you'll take modules in Acting Processes and the Expressive Actor. You are introduced to fundamental skills and theories to develop your personal acting process. You delve into Stanislavski-based methodology and work through exercises to develop truthful response. You bring those acting skills into text analysis, growing in sophistication from contemporary scenes to Shakespeare. At the same time you develop your voice and movement skills to acquire the foundation of a psychophysical actor.
In Term One, you work on a collaborative theatre-making project and begin your Pathways into Acting module. This helps you explore your options for further training and a career in the industry, alongside coaching for auditions, interview technique and self-taping.
In Term Two the acting, voice and movement work culminates in assessment while you embark on an Acting for Camera module, which introduces you to the techniques and practices of acting specifically for film and television. You'll learn how to understand camera angles, continuity, hitting your mark, and how to access the vulnerability and sensitivity required of screen acting. Your audition technique classes continue, as does your career guidance.
Term Three is taken up with rehearsals for fully staged productions of a classical and a contemporary play in a professional venue in Bristol. Alongside rehearsals you receive one-to-one support on drama school choices and preparation for further study.
The degree is delivered in partnership with Plymouth Marjon University.
If you have any queries on the application or audition process contact us at auditions@bristolschoolofacting.com
Entry onto the course is by audition. All auditions are FREE.
Your first round audition will be online with a tutor via Zoom. You will be asked to prepare 2 contrasting monologues that last are 2.5 minutes each; one from a Shakespeare play and one from a contemporary play (written after 1970). You’ll also have an interview with one of the course leaders.
Our standard offer is:
– 3 A-Levels at grades CCC or above
– Level 3 BTEC/UAL triple grade MMM or aboveHowever, applicants are considered on an individual basis, taking into account any skills and experience that may not be reflected in A-Level scores. The most important consideration is that you have the qualities and potential to succeed so if you don’t meet our published offer criteria do get in touch with us. As a minimum you must have GCSE English at grade 4 or above.
Continuous assessment, practical skills assessment, written assessment and self-assessment.
£9,790 tuition fee per year (subject to annual inflationary increases). For more information, click here.
Student Finance Wales
The guidance around designation within the Welsh government has changed. BSA’s degree courses are not automatically designated by the Welsh Ministers, which means BSA would have to adhere to a fee cap of £6,355 per year for all Welsh students who will be using Student Finance Wales to fund their tuition.
We know we cannot fairly offer the same service at a lower rate for Welsh students and still charge the standard £9,790 for students across other principalities of the UK. Therefore, we have been forced into a difficult position and are unable to accept new applications from Welsh students who intend to use Student Finance Wales to fund their tuition and who are interested in enrolling at BSA from September 2026 onwards.
We understand this is disappointing, and we resonate with that too. If you are Welsh and in a position in which you are able to fund the course tuition through an alternative method, we would warmly welcome an application from you. However, if you would need to use Student Finance Wales to fund your tuition, we would be unable to proceed with your application. Should you want any further information, you can contact Student Finance Wales.
Please note, these are provisional dates and are subject to change
Term 1:
21st September – 23rd October 2026
(Reading week: 26th – 30th October)
2nd November – 11th December 2026
Term 2:
4th January – 19th February 2027
(Reading week: 22nd – 26th February)
1st March – 26th March 2027
Term 3:
26th April – 25th June 2027
(No reading week)
If you’d like to talk to us or ask any questions about the course you can email us at hello@bristolschoolofacting.com
