Undergraduate

Acting

Two drama students performing a play called 'Everyman'. They are looking off-camera at something in the near distance.
Four students performing with microphones under spotlights on a dark stage. Their portrait photos are above them.
Three students performing a play called 'Our Little Secret'. They're wearing dark eye makeup and are handing out apples.
A student is smiling while dressing a mannequin in the costume department of the Gulbenkian Centre, University of Hull.

Look around

Our students go on to work for some of the world's most prestigious theatres, including the Royal Court Theatre and the Bouffes du Nord in Paris.
Join our tight-knit community of creatives. Actors, performers, producers, directors, designers: you’ll get the chance to work with all of them.
From your very first week, you’ll be learning on the job. And you’ll hone your acting skills in regular performances throughout your degree.
The Gulbenkian Centre is the home of acting at Hull. Inside are performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, design studios, and a costume department.
As well as working on your own performances, you’ll be invited to regular masterclasses, workshops, and guest shows with our industry partners.
Two drama students performing a play called 'Everyman'. They are looking off-camera at something in the near distance.
Four students performing with microphones under spotlights on a dark stage. Their portrait photos are above them.
Three students performing a play called 'Our Little Secret'. They're wearing dark eye makeup and are handing out apples.
A student is smiling while dressing a mannequin in the costume department of the Gulbenkian Centre, University of Hull.
Donald Roy Theatre
Drama & Music - Acting

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Code

Duration

Mode

  • Standard course
  • With a foundation year

Our students go on to work for some of the world's most prestigious theatres. The artistic directors of both the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre are both Hull drama graduates. 

Join our tight-knit community of creatives. Actors, performers, producers, directors, designers: you’ll get the chance to work with all of them.

From your very first week, you’ll be learning on the job. And you’ll hone your acting skills in regular performances throughout your degree, as well as be invited to regular masterclasses, workshops, and guest shows with our industry partners.

  • Grade II-listed

    theatre and studios

  • Industry links

    with global arts organisations

  • 93.3% of students

    in work or further study 15 months after graduating 1

  • World-class

    400-seat performance venue

  • Joint 10th in the UK

    for Graduate Prospect Outcomes 2

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Course overview
Module options

About this course

BA Acting is a practical, production-based degree, delivered in partnership with Middle Child Theatre Company and Prague Quadrennial.

Most of our modules are practice-based. You work on various performance projects within a production ensemble setting. The rest of our modules focus on the practical training (voice, movement, etc) and theatre knowledge you need to be a professional actor. You learn on-the-job, starting work on your first production in week one. And you’re involved in regular production work right up until the end of your third year.

You get exclusive access to our fantastic theatre facilities. Our Gulbenkian Centre is the most flexible theatre space at any European university. Inside, you’ll find studio performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, design studios, and a costume department.

You’re invited to regular masterclasses, workshops, and guest shows with our industry partners. These include Arts Council England National and Portfolio Organisation, Middle Child Theatre Company. And Prague Quadrennial, the world festival of scenography and performance design. You also get to work with students across Drama, Game and Graphic Design, and Media Production.

Scheduled study hours and how you’re assessed

Throughout your degree, you’re expected to study for 1,200 hours per year. That’s based on 200 hours per 20 credit module. And it includes scheduled hours, time spent on placement and independent study. How this time is divided across the year varies and depends on the module you are studying.

How you'll be assessed depends on the course you study, and the modules you choose. You may be assessed through a mix of examinations, coursework, presentations and group projects.

Choose your modules

Each year, you’ll study modules worth a certain number of credits, and you need 120 credits per year. Most modules are 20 credits – so you’ll study six modules each year. Some longer modules, such as a dissertation, are worth more. In these cases, you’ll study fewer modules - but the number of credits will always add up to 120. Some modules are compulsory, some are optional, so you can build a course that’s right for you.

Academic Writing Skills

Developing confidence in expression, oral as well as written, is a key feature of this module, which also aims to familiarise you with submission and assessment procedures in the context of Higher Education. This is a clear building block onto your degree programme and places you at a distinct advantage when you move into the following year.

Compulsory•20 credits

Foundation in Data Analysis

Develop a strong foundation in data collection and analysis. This module will introduce you to qualitative and quantitative data and how to analyse it; the collection of primary and secondary data; the production of high quality graphics; and report writing.

Compulsory•20 credits

Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

This module will equip you with the necessary skills to conduct and analyse research in a specific interest, supported by academics within your subject. You'll navigate through the research process, from identifying an area of interest to presenting their findings to your peers.

Compulsory•20 credits

Introduction to Study in the Humanities

This module equips you with a suite of analytical and theoretical tools to support you as you progress along your academic journey. You'll develop an interdisciplinary understanding of approaches to study in the humanities by working with a variety of resources, including novels, films and aspects of the visual arts.

Compulsory•20 credits

Preparing for Learning in Higher Education

This module is designed to give you the best possible start to your university studies, making sure you have all the essential skills you need to succeed. Through lectures and workshops we will teach you how to write in an academic style, how to find quality sources, how to reference work, culminating in writing up a mini-research project.

Compulsory•20 credits

Group Challenge (Humanities)

Formulate and execute a group led enquiry into texts, cultural artifacts, film, music or dance. You'll explore their topics in groups at supervised workshops and develop questions on the cultural object relates to the living world of human experience, as well as developing your own methods to answer these questions.

Compulsory•20 credits

Students who require Foundation Year study will register on the Film Studies with Foundation Year programme.

Upon successful completion with a score of 50% or above you will progress directly onto BA Acting. The foundation year has been designed to prepare you for entry on the degree.
6 Modules

Approaches to Theatre Exploration

How do processes of making theatre inform our understanding of Drama? Can we develop the same kinds of insights by doing as we can by reading? Are ‘embodied’ insights qualitatively different, and how might they be communicated? In this module you will explore the creative and cultural context of performance by engaging in processes of production.

•20 credits

Drama Industry Case Study

How should you prepare for your career in the Creative Industries? In this module you will explore the roles that interest you, discover what the professionals really do, and find out how to maximise your future employment opportunities across this vibrant and growing sector by making effective choices right now.

•20 credits

Introductory Performance Techniques

Develop practical and theoretical skills in theatre making. You'll work with your peers to create short devised performances, responding to plays from classical, Renaissance and contemporary theatre.

•20 credits

Production Project

In this module you will be introduced to the processes and expectations of production practice and will have an opportunity to shape your first production to meet consolidate the experience you have gained before coming to University.

•20 credits

Movement and Voice

Develop skills in areas of performance practice and develop basic competencies to enable you to engage in production practice later in the programme.

•20 credits

Approaches to Theatre Discourse

What intellectual and conceptual skills do we need to develop to become well rounded creative practitioners? How can discursive modes of enquiry like reading, discussing and presenting to peers inform our understanding of Drama? How might we communicate our ideas to others? In this module you will explore the creative and cultural context of performance by engaging in critical, contextual and historical material.

•20 credits
6 Modules

Live and Recorded Media

In this module you will work with specialist students from other programmes to deliver fully realised media work (screen and recorded). The skills you develop here will add to your developing CPD profile and the outcomes of these projects will contribute material to your professional showreel.

Compulsory•20 credits

Theatre Practice: Research and Development

How should I plan for a major creative project? In this module you will bring together specialist skills that you have developed in techniques modules with culture making skills that you have looked at in Performance Perspectives modules to propose and plan a production project that you will complete next semester.

Compulsory•20 credits

Intermediate Technique

Develop your skills and understanding in one of the following production areas: scenography; stage management; play and scriptwriting.

Compulsory•20 credits

Theatre Practice: Production

In this module you'll work with other students to create a fully resourced production project, in line with the proposal that you developed in the Research and Development module.

Compulsory•20 credits

Exploratory Practices 1

This module focuses on the skills for developing a production, including textual and thematic context, practical methodology, creative concept, planning and time management.

Compulsory•20 credits

Performance Perspectives: Contexts and Criticism

What intellectual and conceptual skills do we need to develop to become well rounded creative practitioners? What use is context and criticism if you are only interested in making performance? Examine frameworks for understanding performance from a range of perspectives. You'll explore theatre historiography, cultural theory, sociopolitical analysis and aesthetics.

Compulsory•20 credits
6 Modules

Performance Perspectives: Approaching Audiences

What intellectual and conceptual skills do we need to develop to become well rounded creative practitioners? Consider how theatre of different eras, genres, locations and aesthetics has approached audiences, and how the relationship between audience and performance can function.

•20 credits

Making Performance: Research and Development

Work independently to bring together specialist skills that you have developed in techniques modules with culture making skills that you have looked at in Performance Perspectives modules to propose and plan a production project that you will complete next semester.

•20 credits

Advanced Technique

Refine and develop your core area of production practice. You'll develop advanced skills of design/management and finish your continuing professional development portfolio, preparing you for the world of work.

•20 credits

Showcase

Develop skills in areas of performance practice and develop basic competencies, which will enable you to engage in production practice later in the programme. Experience of performance will help you develop as a well rounded creative professional with an understanding of the industry as a whole.

•20 credits

Making Performance: Production

Are you ready yet? It’s time for your final large scale show. In this module you'll work independently to produce a fully resourced production project, in line with the proposal that you developed in the Research and Development module. It’s your final rehearsal for your career in the creative industries.

•20 credits

Exploratory Practice 2

Through experimental practice, you’ll come to understand a range of range of styles and techniques connected to developing individual and collaborative theatre skills.

•20 credits
6 Modules

Playlist

Dr Lucy Fielding

Course Overview 2 mins

James Graham

Graduate story 1 min

Drama Department Tour

Course highlight 1 min

Life on campus

University Life 2 mins

Entry requirements

What do I need?

We consider experience and qualifications from the UK and worldwide which may not exactly match the combinations above.

But it's not just about the grades - we'll look at your whole application. We want to know what makes you tick, and about your previous experience, so make sure that you complete your personal statement.

Have questions? Our admissions team will be happy to help.

What do I need?

If you require a student visa to study or if your first language is not English you will be required to provide acceptable evidence of your English language proficiency level.

See other English language proficiency qualifications accepted by the University of Hull.

If your English currently does not reach the University’s required standard for this programme, you may be interested in one of our English language courses.

Visit your country page to find out more about our entry requirements.

Fees & funding

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

Our academics

From directing plays to working on virtual theatre resources, our staff are active in the industry. And they bring their experience into everything you learn.

We also work closely with our industry partners, who help deliver the programme on a weekly basis.

See more academics for this subject
Dr Lucy Fielding
Featured academic

Dr Lucy Fielding

Lucy directed the new play 'Safer' by Dr Sarah Jane Dickenson, which toured Hull Pride, Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and Brighton Fringe Festival among other venues.
Amy Skinner
Featured academic

Dr Amy Skinner

Amy is an active theatre director and scenographer, specialising in interactive and immersive theatre and productions of texts in translation or in multiple languages. She also has experience as a community theatre practitioner.

Take a look at our facilities

Gulbenkian Centre

With performance spaces, workshops, design studios and a costume department, this Grade II listed building is the home of acting at Hull.

The Anthony Minghella Studio

The Anthony Minghella Studio is an experimental-teaching and theatre-production space. Complete with a sound and light control room, most of our productions take place here.

Donald Roy Theatre

Our students take ownership of this space, becoming responsible for every element of a production. This helps you to become the performer you want to be.

Middleton Hall

The centrepiece at our world-class cultural venue is a 400-seater concert hall. A versatile space which is regularly used as a theatre and surround-sound cinema.

See more in our virtual tour

Look around

Look around

Look around

Look around

Drama Gulbenkian Centre Foyer Box Office
Drama Minghella Studio
Donald Roy Theatre
Middleton Hall Auditorium
Drama graduate, Carys Tavener, stands smiling to the camera while out and about on Hull's Humber Street.

Future prospects

Our students go on to work for some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and companies, such as the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Opera House, and the Bouffes du Nord in Paris. Many go into broadcasting, including for the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky.

Our alumni are illustrious. Playwright James Graham, Indhu Rubasingham (Artistic Director of the National Theatre) David Byrne (Artistic Director of the Royal Court), theatre director Marianne Elliott, musical director Martin Lowe, and award winning sound designer, Paul Arditti.

Watch

See Carys' story
University of Hull Open Day

Your next steps

Not ready to apply?

Visit our next Open Day, and see all that Hull has to offer for yourself. Talk to our lecturers about your subject, find out what university is really like from our current students, and take a tour of our beautiful campus and amazing facilities.

Book your place now

You may also be interested in…

Course

BA (Hons) Drama

1. 93.3% employability (Drama) UK domicile full-time first degree leavers; Higher Education Graduate Outcomes statistics, for the academic year 2021/22, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency June 2024.

2. Drama at Hull is ranked  joint 10th in the UK for Graduate Prospect Outcomes. Complete University Guide 2025

All modules presented on this course page are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.

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